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Saturday, March 31, 2007
We, the Good People Will Prevail
 By VictorM: It was a beautiful day in Washington, DC, so I decided to go downtown to watch Manchester United vs Blackburn in an Irish pub, and then made my way to the Washington Monument area to catch a glimpse of the cherry blossoms in full bloom. As I walked among the many thousands of good people it was clear to see I was not the only one enjoying myself. People were flying kites, picnicking, strolling, reading poetry, taking photos, listening to music, eating ice cream, waiting patiently in line for the restrooms, playing with their children, and in general, just enjoying a glorious spring day.
Just like me, I assume that most good people there shoved aside the knowledge that there are a number of folks in foreign lands who would do us harm if they could, and some at home so bent on having things their way that they lie, cheat, and invent "facts" to scare the bejesus out of us. I am sure that many of those good people would disagree with me on many of the issues facing our society, but throughout my walk from the Metro station, around the Washington Monument, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and back to the Metro station, not once was I called a traitor, unpatriotic, a coward, a faggot, a communist, or an appeaser. We, the good people may never fly a "Mission Accomplished" banner, but I know that we will prevail against those who would do us harm or try to scare us. [PS. To see my pictures from today, including pictures of the cherry blossoms, click here.]Labels: cherry blossoms, good people, washington monument
Idiot of the Day: Cold Fury (Mike)
 By VictorM: In this series of posts, if nothing else we've shown that right-wingers live in a land of make-believe. Well, more precisely, in the land of make-shit-up. We have another example today. This idiot goes about making statements that are totally made up simply because it fits a preconceived notion in his distorted little mind. Talking about Democrats and the Afghanistan war, he says: They never supported that war either, despite their lying insistence on treating it as “the good war” now. Their support for the Afghanistan campaign began the moment the Iraq war did and not one instant before...
Does he include any references to justify that view? No. Does this view have any resemblance to the truth? No. It's just more made-up shit from a delusional right-winger who doesn't care if American kids are dying in the streets of Baghdad for no good reason. Labels: idiot of the day, Iraq war, stupid democrats
Friday, March 30, 2007
You listen to the American people for a change
By Harry Reid: President Bush has to understand there’s a new Congress. For six years, he’s ignored Congress. The Republican-dominated House and Senate gave President Bush everything he wanted, and look at the fix we’re in as a country. We have 3,300 dead Americans in Iraq, we have 25,000 wounded, we have a President who didn’t take care of the necessities so that these men and women coming back to America after fighting in Iraq would have proper training to get them well. It simply has been a mismatch from the very beginning. So I say to President Bush: Understand that this Congress has done what the American people asked us to do. You listen to the American people for a change.” Labels: congress, George Bush, harry reid
Thin Resumes and Lack of Experience
 By VictorM: The more we learn about Purgegate the more disturbing things become. Forget for a moment whether there are illegal or unethical activity. Just the knowledge that people like Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling, who have extremely thin resumes and amazing lack of experience, were placed in the position of recommending the removal of far more experienced attorneys boggles the mind. This is not a partisan issue, at least it shouldn't be. Shouldn't we, no matter what political party is in power, expect that qualified people get hired for important positions? Something is really rotten with the way this administration conducts business and even worse, with those who defend their behavior. Labels: kyle sampson, monica goodling, purgegate
An enemy that at its core is pure evil
 By Andrew Sullivan: How do we keep up with the nightmare of Iraq? You get numb, until some new atrocity leaps out from the void: In Kirkuk, residents walked in shocked silence behind a funeral procession for two nuns, who were sisters and longtime residents of the city.... There is one thing that this president has gotten right in this war. We face an enemy that at its core is pure evil. It's a tragedy that he has gotten almost everything else wrong. And evil is therefore winning the early battles of this war. Labels: andrew sullivan, Iraq war
Idiot of the Day: Joe Lieberman
By VictorM: One thing you can say about Joe Lieberman is that he has been consistent about his position on the Iraq War. But this means he has been forced to repeat his prognostications and assessments. If that wasn't bad enough, he has been dead wrong each time! March 29, 2007: Since taking command, Gen. Petraeus has been true to his word. The result? Sectarian violence is down in Baghdad. The radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has fled. The Mahdi Army, which terrorized Baghdad last year, appears to be splintering. And the Iraqi government — its spine stiffened thanks to our renewed support — is taking the critical steps for political reconciliation. December 29, 2006: Because of the bravery of many Iraqi and coalition military personnel and the recent coming together of moderate political forces in Baghdad, the war is winnable. We and our Iraqi allies must do what is necessary to win it. November 29, 2005: Progress is visible and practical. In the Kurdish North, there is continuing security and growing prosperity. The primarily Shiite South remains largely free of terrorism, receives much more electric power and other public services than it did under Saddam, and is experiencing greater economic activity. The Sunni triangle, geographically defined by Baghdad to the east, Tikrit to the north and Ramadi to the west, is where most of the terrorist enemy attacks occur. And yet here, too, there is progress. April 26, 2004: Thanks to the brilliance and bravery of American and allied forces, we won that war. Labels: idiot of the day, joe lieberman
Thursday, March 29, 2007
So many scandals, so many names
 By VictorM: Lurita Doan, Monica Goodling, Mike Battle, Harriet Miers, Carl Rove, Tim Griffin, Steve Bell, Senator Domenici, Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales, Paul McNulty... the list goes on. I bet there's one guy sitting in Florida, whacking off to high-school graduation pictures, very happy that his name has vanished from the headlines. Yep, Mark Foley is so yesterday's news. Labels: alberto gonzales, kyle sampson, lurita doan, mark foley, monica goodling
Heading Towards 19th Century Internets
 By VictorM: We focus so much on the major disasters of the Bush Agministration -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, Environment, Veterans' Benefits, Purgegate, etc. etc. -- that it's understandable we seldom talk about the total reach of neglect by this administration. It's not surprising they have shown no vision. After all, as Hillary Clinton put it, this administration has built a bridge to the 19th century. If Hillary had been wrong, this would not have happened: The US has lost its position as the world's primary engine of technology innovation, according to a report by the World Economic Forum. The US is now ranked seventh in the body's league table measuring the impact of technology on the development of nations. A deterioration of the political and regulatory environment in the US prompted the fall, the report said... Countries were judged on technological advancements in general business, the infrastructure available and the extent to which government policy creates a framework necessary for economic development and increased competitiveness. What did we expect from a president who knows nothing about the "internets", doesn't use e-mail, and was surprised they had bloggers in Baghdad? Labels: bush administration, hillary clinton, internets
Idiot of the Day: George W. Bush
By VictorM: This selection is a no-brainer. George W. Bush, the president of the United States of America, the world's only superpower, currently engaged in a disastrous four year old war, resorted to defending his latest plan as "encouraging" based on the words of two... count them... two bloggers in Baghdad. George W. Bush... an idiot! Labels: baghdad blogger, George Bush, idiot of the day
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Reasons for a National Healthcare Plan
 By Kevin Drum: I don't usually tout cost savings as a big argument in favor of universal healthcare. It's true that a national healthcare plan would almost certainly save money compared to our current Rube Goldberg system, but I suspect the savings would be modest. Rather, the real advantages of national healthcare are related to things like access (getting everyone covered), efficiency (cutting down on useless -- or even deliberately counterproductive -- administrative bureaucracies), choice (allowing people to choose and keep a family doctor instead of being jerked around everytime their employer decides to switch health providers), and social justice (providing decent, hassle-free healthcare for the poor). Labels: health care, kevin drum, universal health insurance
Idiot of the Day: Rush Limbaugh
By VictorM: What can we say about Rush Limbaugh? The man is vile and vulgar. He has been picking on Elizabeth and John Edwards since she was diagnosed with cancer with comments like "most people when told a family member's been diagnosed with the kind of cancer Elizabeth Edwards has, they turn to God. The Edwards turned to the campaign. "I'll let VetGrl take it from here: Hey, Rush. Shut your fucking mouth about Elizabeth Edwards for just five minutes. There's something I want to tell you. You don't get to sit your fat ass down in your radio studio and talk about how a woman -- any woman -- ought to react or behave when she has breast cancer. I know, I know, you think the weight of the world has been on your shoulders these last few years, what with your drug addiction and your non-functioning penis. But you don't know shit about breast cancer, but I do. I got to watch my sister die from it...
Rush, I'll never get people like you. You don't understand suffering. You don't understand kindness. You don't understand love and support, whether between two people or among a community. You seem to understand nothing but your ego and your own ignorant sense of self importance. But for as much as I don't get about you or your kind, there's one thing I'm pretty sure of: When you try to check in at the pearly gates, it'll be my sister who's going to kick your fat ass straight to hell. Labels: elizabeth edwards, idiot of the day, john edwards, rush limbaugh
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Pizza is good for you
 By VictorM: I figure that with food, if you wait long enough, some new study will find whatever was no good for you yesterday, fine today. So the news that pizza can be healthy is long time coming: University of Maryland food chemists said on Monday they had found ways to enhance the antioxidant content of whole-grain wheat pizza dough by baking it longer at higher temperatures and giving the dough lots of time to rise. Antioxidants are substances that protect cells from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Some experts believe antioxidants can lower the risk of cancer, heart disease and other ailments.
Yeah, yeah, there are some warnings about fatty toppings... blah, blah, blah... I didn't read the rest of the article. I pick and choose what I like from the news. I don't bother with the details, particularly if they contradict what I want to believe. *This was a brief right-wing-approach-to-reading-the-news moments* Labels: health food, pizza, right-wing
She Sounds Like She Knows What She's Talking About
 By Catherine Durkin Robinson, commenting on PMS and PMDD: Cramps? Put down the remote, get off your slowly spreading ass, and walk around the block a few times. Exercise those bad boys right out of your body. Feel bloated and nasty? Put down the processed food and try some yogurt with flax seed. Ignore chocolate ice cream for a few days and eat granola bars instead. Ever hear of a vitamin? Food is medicine you put in your body every day. Make a good f*cking choice for a change. Labels: bad food, cramps, pmdd, pms
Idiot of the Day: Tom Delay
By VictorM: This comment by Tom Delay pretty much stands on its own as an example of what the heart of the right-wing is like. This is not the comment of a fringe group. This is not an isolated post by someone out of step with the whole group. Tom Delay IS the voice of the right-wing: "I believe it was Adolf Hitler who first acknowledged that the big lie is more effective than the little lie, because the big lie is so audacious, such an astonishing immorality, that people have a hard time believing anyone would say it if it wasn't true. You know, the big lie — like the Holocaust never happened or dark-skinned people are less intelligent than light-skinned people. Well, by charging this big lie" — that DeLay violated campaign-finance laws in Texas — "liberals have finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler." Labels: hitler, idiot of the day, liberal, tom delay
Monday, March 26, 2007
If only they read their Bible AND our constitution
 By the (liberal)Girl Next Door, commenting on the Pew survey that showed a decline in the Republican brand: It’s more than a little ironic that the most immoral administration in the history of this country continues to enjoy the unflinching loyalty of the Holy Rollers. I just wish that these “patriots” would take the time to read their Bible AND our constitution. If they did, Bush surely wouldn’t have any support left. Labels: pew survey, republicans
Katie Couric and John and Elizabeth Edwards on 60 Minutes
 By Kevin Drum: Taegan Goddard asks: Why did Katie Couric keep pressing John and Elizabeth Edwards on 60 Minutes last night about their decision to continue his presidential campaign when she didn't give up her job as host of the Today Show when her husband was diagnosed with cancer? Good question. My guess is that she was a little too desperate to establish her serious journalist cred, and figured that the best way to do that was to pretend she was Mike Wallace interviewing a suspected child molester. Labels: media
Climate and Human Cranial Capacity
 By VictorM: You know what we need in this whole Climate Change/Global Warming debate? Controversy. Come on, you have got to admit, everyone who matters is so on board already. Yes, *yawn* Global Warming is real. Ah! Not so fast! Via Wired, a study that might pump some excitment back into the whole global warming debate: Jessica Ash and Gordon Gallup studied 109 fossilized skulls from different latitudes to determine that "climate may have been an important selective force behind the evolution of human cranial capacity," according to Gallup, who theorized that changes in global temperature could account for as much as 50 percent of the variation in headmeat. "Specifically, we found that as the distance from the equator increased, north or south, so did brain size," he said. The researchers will publish their study in the spring edition of Human Nature. That explains Senator Inhofe and other rednecks from a certain part of the country -- they're just dumber than most of us! Spread the word. Labels: climate change, global warming, senator inhofe
The Case of the Shrinking Party
 By VictorM: For the guys reading this, imagine being a teenager, in bed with your date, getting really excited, and then, unexpectedly her parents come home and storm into her bedroom, catching you with your hands in the cookie jar. Well, Republicans can relate to the kind of shrinkage that would result: The survey, by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for People and the Press, found a "dramatic shift" in political party identification since 2002, when Republicans and Democrats were at rough parity. Now, half of those surveyed identified with or leaned toward Democrats, while only 35% aligned with Republicans.
Yes, it was fun for a little while, she was willing, but the grown-ups had other ideas. The flirtation with a failed ideology is over. Deal with it! Labels: pew survey, republicans
Bush Bring A War Back Home
By S.W. Anderson, commenting on a poll about how Iraqi's view the presence of Americans in their country and how they have carried out their responsibilities: Meanwhile, most Americans have come to realize the Bush administration has made Washington, D.C., the central front in the war on honest, intelligent and well-executed policy. Labels: George Bush
The Greedy, Cheap, Selfish Bastards
 By VictorM: Attacking liberals about the Iraq war in a dumb post (see today's Idiot of the Day), Kevin McCullough makes two disconnected points which I'd like to put together. At the top of the post he says: why don't [liberals] have at least some modicum of pride about the greatest nation the world has ever produced? Then, in the conclusion he says: Personally I believe I work far too many hours, for not nearly enough money, to be paying the exorbitant amount of taxes
For now I'm not going to disagree with either statement but let me ask, would you expect to become a member of the Augusta Country Club for the same fees you pay your local public golf course? If you are a member of the greatest golf course, wouldn't you expect to pay accordingly? So why are conservatives so unwilling to pay their share of living in the greatest nation on Earth? That is, for reasons other than being greedy, cheap, selfish bastards?Labels: conservative, greatest nation, paying taxes
Idiot of the Day: Kevin McMullough
By VictorM: Kevin McMullough is our Idiot of the Day. In true right-winger fashion, he makes up stuff, comes up with silly predictions which he dresses up as fact, and ignores the irony that he predicts impending disaster for an idea different than the one he supports, oblivious to the fact that his supported approach has produced nothing but disaster. With credibility like this, he becomes our version of Baghdad Bob. Let's take a look at some of his utterly silly remarks: What is this obsession that liberals have with seeing America destroyed?... In other words, why are they so insistent on seeing America pummeled?... In their own echo-chamber vanity Murtha, Pelosi and company believe themselves to be smarter than the commanders of the operations in the war on terror... But they didn't just author defeat - they campaigned for it. Dude, we tried it your way. It has given terrorists reason to celebrate. It has brought shame to America. It has rendered us more vulnerable. It has increased the number of terrorists and terrorist attacks. It has been a miserable failure. The American people are fed up with your way.
If you love America, get out of the way and let the adults try to minimize the consequences of your dastardly deeds.
Labels: idiot of the day, Iraq war
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Republican Manipulation of Evangelicals
By VictorM: There has never been any doubt in my mind that the marriage between the anti-abortion evangelical crowd and the Republican party has been fabricated to produce results at the polls. The truth is that Republicans never gave a crap about abortion and they still don't. Slowly but surely evangelicals are getting that "I should have had a V8" moment: No polling data show conclusively that opinion has shifted among conservative evangelicals. But some national evangelical leaders say debate about -- and, in some cases, opposition to -- the war is breaking out among Christian conservatives whose support was key to President Bush's election victories. Frustration with Republicans' failure to overturn abortion rights is said to have fueled skepticism among some evangelicals. See that? They are anti-war now because like a spoiled two-years-old they didn't get their way on abortion. Serves them right! They were manipulated to be anti-abortion in the first place and in return they supported a criminal war. The same thing happened with homosexuals. A non-issue became a major political issue when it became necessary for the Republicans. Evangelicals were all too eager to dump civil rights and "we're all children of God" as a result. Republican evangelicals... family values worthy of a family of porn stars (with my apologies to porn stars).
Idiot of the Day: Pamela Geller Oshry
By VictorM: This right-wing blogger demonstrates the amazing ability by right-wingers to make up statements without any references or even resemblance to reality. In this example, while commenting on an article about a German judge who made a lousy ruling based on the Koran because the couple in the dispute were Muslims, Pamela Geller Oshry makes this remark: Not that strange considering how Europe has surrendered to Islam. How many such cases does the blogger list? Just this one. Where did the above comment come from? You got it -- she pulled it out of her conservative ass. But in addition, this blogger does something very typical of right-wingers: she omits that which is inconvenient. I decided to read the original article and sure enough, it says something that contradicts the nature of the made-up statement: On Wednesday, after the Tuesday evening publication of the story on SPIEGEL ONLINE, the attorney received a fax from the Frankfurt court granting the conflict of interest claim and excusing the judge from the case... the judge who heard the case may have to face further consequences for her decision... numerous politicians in Berlin voiced their horror at the verdict -- and demanded disciplinary action against the judge.
So, not only is Pamela making shit up, she's utterly dishonest about how "Europe" reacted to the decision of one judge. Arggg Pamela Geller Oshry is idiot scum! Labels: german judge, idiot of the day, islam
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Supreme Court: Bong Hits 4 Jesus
 By VictorM: In 2002, Joseph Frederick was a teenager in high school. As a joke , he displayed a 14-foot banner that said: “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”. His teacher, Ms. Morse, took down the banner and suspended him for one week. The punishment was doubled when he refuse to name who else was involved. Joseph sued her claiming violation of his First Amendment rights. His case has made it all the way up to the US Supreme Court. The case was heard last week. While a decision is not expected until June, the comments of some of the Justices are interesting: Chief Justice John Roberts said: "I thought we wanted our schools to teach something, including something besides just basic elements, including the formation of character and not to use drugs."
But Justice David Souter suggested otherwise. "It sounds like just a kid's provocative statement to me," he said. "It's political speech, it seems to me. I don't see what it disrupts."
Meanwhile, Justice Stephen Breyer sought to find some middle ground. A ruling for Mr Frederick, he said, could result in students "testing limits all over the place in the high schools". At the same time, a decision against him "may really limit people's rights on free speech".
Kenneth Starr (yes, the vomit inducing one) is defending Ms. Morse and the Bush administration has gotten involved in the case supporting the teacher. However, they may not get the support from conservatives one would expect: [Antonin Scalia] told the administration's lawyer that he found Ms Morse's argument "very, very disturbing" on the grounds that schools could choose to define their educational mission so broadly as to suppress political speech and speech expressing fundamental student values.
A number of conservative groups that might normally ally themselves with the administration have found themselves backing Mr Frederick, out of concern that a ruling for Ms Morse would also allow schools clamp down on religious expression. Of course conservatives aren't taking this position because they give a crap about Frederick's First Amendment rights; they just care about how a decision in this case might impact their agenda. The problem here is that we have too many stuck-up assholes involved in this decision making a huge deal out of nothing. This was a teenage prank that hurt no one. The teacher overreacted. I hope for all our sakes that the Supreme Court rules in his favor. Labels: antonin scalia, bong hits 4 jesus, first amendment, supreme court
Idiot of the Day: John Hawkins
By VictorM: This right-wing blogger has an article trying to explain how George Bush could get his approval ratings back to 50%. Then, sticking to typical right-winger's make-believe world, he goes on to daydream: The war has obviously been a big drag on Bush's approval. However, the surge has proven to be extremely effective so far and we now have good reason to be optimistic about how things will turn out in Iraq. Really, as hard as it is to believe, I think he was serious. I didn't see a smiley after that statement. Then he pulls numbers out of his hairy ass: Get the conservatives back on board, get a quarter of the 34 percent of the public that considers themselves to be moderate to go along, and Bush would practically be back to even. If Bush is willing to show a little bit of flexibility, toughness, and willingness to defend himself, getting back to a 50 percent approval rating should be very possible. And how are those people going to get back on board? Ah.. magic, I suppose. Just like the magic that would be needed for Bush "to show a little bit flexibility". Hell, this isn't wishful thinking; this is just plain idiotic. Labels: bush approval, idiot of the day, john hawkins
Friday, March 23, 2007
Constitutional crisis
By rreppy: This is the letter I have sent to every Congressman today. Anyone who wants to use it has my permission to do so. I urge you Yanks to write your representatives, because believe me buckos, this is a big deal. The prez is essentially saying he is exempt from the subpoena power of the Congress. No, no, no; he isn't. Dear Senator: Who the hell does this president think he is to think he is above the law? What divine right of kings does he invoke to ignore and defy Congressional subpoenas? He thinks he is offering a "compromise" by "allowing" access to Karl Rove and his staff. It's not his to offer! If Congress subpoenas Rove then he is to show up and that's that. If he ignores the subpoena then Congress should call out the National Guard or the Marines or whoever to grab Rove out of his house and march him to Chambers, in handcuffs if need be, and apply the law like it would be applied to any of us. Bush is setting the ridiculously dangerous precedent here of unilaterally declaring the president to be Above the Law. Since when? Since when are we no longer a Republic, a nation of Law, with equal branches of government and an Executive that is NOT above the Constitution. This is not to be borne! He has gone too far. He has crossed the line. When Bush took the oath of office - only after the unprecedented and questionably legal ploy of a decision by a Supreme Court full of cronies appointed by his father to forbid an accurate counting of votes, it is worth remembering - he swore to uphold the Constitution. Yet no-one in the history of this great nation had done more to weaken and abuse it. If breaking his oath is not grounds for Impeachment, then what is? Has the Oath become meaningless, or shall we, as a People, hold our leaders to it? This is a battle Bush must lose and Congress must win, or the fabric of America is torn forever, and we will have become a dictatorship in fact, with no way for the Legislative and Judicial branches to exercise any real control over an Executive gone beserk with power. Join us at the ARGville forum for further discussion on this topic: Constitutional crisisLabels: congress, constitutional crisis, George Bush
Idiot of the Day: Free Republic
By VictorM: The regular members of Free Republic are a good sample of people that reflect right-winger mentality. Take a gander at some of their reactions to the news that Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, has been diagnosed with non-curable cancer: C'mon, Dan, let us have a little shadenfreude. Just because a man's wife has breast cancer is no reason to suddenly get all compassionate and understanding is it?
I will hold a good thought for his family but if that scumbag uses this down the line to bash conservatives it wouldn't surprise me.
He could be using this as a cynical ploy to get a sympathy vote later. He is a sleazy trial lawyer after all. I don't put anything past them.
I think if we looked hard I'm sure we'd find a heart in the bunch. Very hard. I took the above quotes from Pairodimes. Please visit that site for more quotes and commentary.Labels: cancer, elizabeth edwards, free republic, john edwards, right-wing
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Romario and George Bush: Masters of Manipulation
 By VictorM: A Brazilian legendary player whose skills inside the penalty area were second to none, Romario is one of the all-time great strikers in the game of football (soccer). When the 1994 FIFA World Cup was played in the United States, Romario was the tournament’s MVP (Golden Ball winner). OK, what does this have to do with politics, and more specifically with George Bush? I’m getting there, itchy pants. Romario is now 41 years old, still playing soccer and in search of being one of the few players in history to score 1,000 goals in his career. As I write this he stands at 998. So he says. The problem is, research of his illustrious but troubled career reveals that he’s at least 100 goals shy of that mark. He is counting youth games and unofficial exhibition games, which is not kosher. Just like the president’s many false assertions that have made it into the media and are now repeated as if they are fact, Romario offers another example of that feat. Although some articles about Romario’s chase for 1,000 goals will mention how dubious the number is, the world sporting press continues to cover his quest and the preparations for the celebration of his 1,000th goal. And so, while many of us know that the 1,000th goal will be a lie, it will be a matter of fact to most. Romario, just like Bush, is showning us how easy it is to pull the wool over the masses' eyes just by simply repeating a lie over and over. Although Romario has had a string of trouble outside the soccer pitch (a playboy lifestyle, fights, paternity suits, ex-wives galore, badmouthing former greats, etc.) and is to many a petulant little jerk, there are two big differences between him and Bush: one, no one has ever died because of Romario's lies; two, Romario was good at what he did. Labels: George Bush
Nailing Purgegate Smack on the Head
By Kevin Drum, talking about the Bush administration: They've now had nearly two months to come up with a simple, clear, understandable explanation for why they chose those eight to fire but not the others. So what is it? And why has it taken such an interminable amount of internal chaos to come up with something? People aren't stupid. If there were a simple, innocent explanation we would have heard it in January. The fact that the president of the United States held a press conference eight weeks after this issue first hit the media and still didn't have a plausible story to tell suggests pretty strongly that there is no plausible story to tell. Labels: bush administration, kevin drum, purgegate, us attorneys
Idiot of the Day: Emperor Misha I
By VictorM: This feature is called Idiot of the Day, but for today it should be called Fucking Filthy Idiot of the Day. This worthless pile of junk of a right-winger, after quoting some disturbing way that terrorists killed a couple children, has this to say: Those are the animals that Michael Moore calls “Minutemen”, those are the beasts that liberals want to have free reign in the streets of Baghdad, those are the subhuman slime that the likes of Jack Murthafucker, John Silky Pony Edwards, Barack Hussein (oh the sweet irony of that middle name) Obama and the Hildebeest want to leave in control of Iraq as soon as they can get our troops pulled out... Think about all of that, and think of the two innocent kids deliberately blown up by the liberals’ friends the next time you run into one of the yellow-bellied, disgraceful, backstabbing, terrorist-loving bastards. This guy hates his fellow Americans more than he hates the terrorists. What a sad, pathetic person. Labels: Barack Obama, idiot of the day, Michael Moore
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
George W. Bush: President Petulant Pissypants
 By TBogg, commenting on president Bush and his performance during the most recent press conference: One thing that is fascinating about George Bush is how little he has grown in office. No, that's not right. It's not that he hasn't grown, he has gotten smaller; less Presidential, more sad little man watching his paper boat circle the drain. After six years of playing The Decider he should at least have a thin candy shell of gravitas as opposed to coming across like one of those guys on Peoples Court who not only has an unshakable belief that people won't see through his bullshit, but that no one will notice his artful comb-over either. As bad a president as George W. Bush has been... he is a worse person and it shows whenever he is under pressure; he melts down into a greasy little puddle of glares and smirks and incipient panic. But tonight was special. Tonights performance lays to rest any notion other than the fact that he's not a very bright man who has nothing but contempt for a world that refuses to dumb down for him. Labels: George Bush, worst president ever
Purgegate: distrust of e-mail communications
By BobcatJH, concluding a post that contains research justifying the statement that the Bush administration top brass do not use e-mail: If you couple the president's obvious distrust of e-mail communications with the fact that both he and other top officials don't use e-mail, a picture begins to emerge. When you add to these facts the notion that other administration officials are conducting official business using unofficial e-mail addresses, the picture becomes clearer. Given this administration's history of avoidance of openness and distrust of democracy, this matter is definitely worthy of further discussion and research. One doesn't doubt that, the more stones we overturn, the more we'll find. And something else lost in this is that these are our employees. They work for us. They may not think so, but the inconvenient truth is that they do. And when they're conducting our business, their communications should be subject to our oversight. Anything short of that, anything that attempts to either cloud or circumvent the transparency that lies at the heart of our democracy is, quite simply, un-American. Do you have something to hide, Mr. President? Does your administration? America deserves an answer. Labels: bush administration, e-mail, purgegate, white house
Potterville: Teenage Wasteland
By VictorM: jurassicpork at Potterville has come up with another doozy. As he points out: Including Coalition forces, as of March 19, 2007, the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War, 225 teenagers have been killed in Iraq since 3/19/03 in the time it takes to get a full college education. 214 were American.Whether you know the words to the song Teenage Wasteland by The Who or not, you really need to do yourself a favor and go visit this teenage wasteland. Labels: Iraq war, teenage wasteland
Ah, the rumor I heard
 By VictorM: I heard a rumor that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has confessed to being the author of the "1984" anti-Hillary Clinton video that's been spreading like Bush lies across the YouTube community.
Idiot of the Day: Jonn Lilyea
By VictorM: Remember when someone said this about the terrorists: "They hate our freedoms -- our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."? This right-wing idiot not only seems to not buy into that sentiment, he's a willful parrot for Dick Cheney who wants us to keep silent about all the evil they've done: What makes this “surge” an open ended escalation is the refusal of the media and the Left to shut up and stop encouraging the jihadists. I’m not saying you should shut up for all eternity... Just shut up long enough to make the jihadists at least think there’s no way out, no way he can win the war. Unless, of course you want to “waste” more American lives. The jihadists don't think they're winning because of the left's words; they are winning, and they know it, because you can't win an occupation -- specially one so poorly planned -- and because of stupid idiots like this guy who won't join us in exercising our freedoms to point out what a bad idea this war is and how badly it has been prosecuted. It is because we don't want to waste lives that we will not shut-up; the right-wing silence is what's helping to waste them! Labels: dick cheney, George Bush, idiot of the day, Iraq war, wasted lives
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Purgegate: Now In Full-Blown Cover-up Mode
By pointsoflight, commenting on president Bush's press conference and White House unwillingness to testify under oath: Exerting executive privilege and not allowing testimony under oath only shows that they're hiding things. If it's just a personnel issue that's getting blown out of proportion, wouldn't you just come clean. Even the average Joe understands that this smells rotten...that they're now engaged in a full-blown cover up. Labels: cover-up, George Bush, press conference, purgegate
George Bush: Monumental Track Record of Being Wrong
By VictorM: When people ask me what our course of action in Iraq should be, I'm reluctant to give an answer because as I see it, there are no good solutions. No matter what we do there, disaster looms. I know for sure that staying is wrong but pulling out, the most sensible solution, seems fraught with problems too. But, George Bush said something that made me realize that pulling out may in fact turn out not so bad: It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home... That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating. Well, if Mr. Bush thinks that packing up and going home is so bad, I can only conclude that the opposite is true. After all, this is the "Mission Accomplished" guy, the "we'll get him dead or alive" guy, the guy that has been dead wrong about everything that matters: wrong on Social Security, wrong on Health Care, wrong on Medicare, wrong on education, wrong on every step of the Iraq war, wrong in Afghanistan (save for going there in the first place), wrong on fighting terrorism, and just about every other decision I can think of he has been wrong, wrong, and wrong! And he hasn't been alone. Virtually all his advisers and major supporters have shared his capacity for being wrong. A small sample: "There's a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular." ---Bill Kristol, 4/1/03 [Liberals] can't deny that President Bush has won his two wars, and won them resoundingly. ---Paul Mirengoff, Powerline, 4/26/03 "The only people who think this wasn't a victory are Upper Westside liberals."---Charles Krauthammer, 4/19/03
"The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics' complaints." ---Tony Snow, Fox News, 4/27/03 Labels: George Bush, Iraq war
The Bush Tush Is Hitting Bottom
By Stirling Newberry: [T]here is a very strong indication that Bush is now at his floor of support. This is not to say that he cannot break through this floor, and indeed, it will be when this base finally abandons him that his power to act dictatorially will collapse - but as long as the economy holds out, this is what the shape of the body politic is going to look like outside the beltway... Looking forward, however, the economy is now all - it is the last bulwark keeping Bush above 30, just as it kept Clinton above 60. It is worth noting that the major outlets and the Republicans treated Clinton with a great deal more vicious contempt at 60% than Bush has gotten at 30%. Labels: bush polls, clinton polls
Idiot of the Day: Bird Dog
By VictorM: Commenting on the peace marches during the weekend, this right-wing blogger's post does the so very typical: it latches on to a slogan from so long ago and just won't let it go because, frankly, they have no valid arguments: "They always blame America first." That was Jeane Kirkpatrick, describing the "San Francisco Democrats" in 1984. But it could be said about a lot of Americans, especially highly educated Americans, today. No, they don't blame American first. They blame George Bush, they blame Dick Cheney, they blame the neocons, they blame the Republican leadership, they blame war-mongers, and they blame right-wing nuts like you. That is far from blaming America. Labels: blame America first, idiot of the day
Monday, March 19, 2007
Division: The Real Reason Behind Bioethics
 By VictorM: Starting about 30 years ago, the involvement by evangelical Christians in every day politics has dramatically increased. This group has joined forces with more conservative Catholics on the issues they have in common to forge a formidable political force: By some measures, the change among evangelicals has been dramatic. A generation ago, leaders rarely spoke out against abortion; even the Southern Baptist Convention voted in 1971 to support making it legal under conditions including rape and "severe fetal deformity." Today, Americans who identify themselves as evangelical are the most opposed of any faith group to abortion -- far more than those who identify themselves as Catholic -- even in cases of rape or danger to the mother's health, according to a new survey by Baylor University. What changed? Did a new revelation occur? A new Bible verse discovered? No. Then what? I have maintained for many years that the change had nothing to do with religion; all to do with politics. After getting beaten for decades, conservatives, after many years of studying and organizing, recognized that their best bet was dividing the American people. With the Democrats losing the south over civil rights, Republicans went from a Darwinist party to just about all-religion. Abortion being their golden goose. And so the rolling out of a strategy to divide was carried forward. This kind of transformation is very easy to do using the Bible. All you need is an eloquent speaker who introduces his interpretation of the words of the Bible, and henceforth the word "up" starts meaning "down". How? Well, by explaining that "up" based on the root Greek word, when compared with the Hebrew word, and analyzing the etymology of the Latin word, really means "down". And presto! -- Mission accomplished. Who in the flock is going to question this PhD guy with the fancy suit and the sharp tongue? No one. So abortion goes from being supported in 1971 to being the work of the devil in 10 years. Same Bible. Same God. Same Jesus. Same word. New guy with sharp suit... and millions from conservatives donors. Labels: abortion, bioethics, catholic church, evengelicals, religion today
The Real Reason Behind the Push for School Vouchers
 By Kevin Drum: [V]oucher proposals are really just a stalking horse to bust teachers unions. It implicitly assumes that the biggest contributor to poor public education in America -- so big that it's worth literally anything to get rid of them -- is the existence of grievance procedures and seniority. Unfortunately, there's no evidence to back this up. Unions appear to have, at most, modest and variable effects on student outcomes. Even the most hostile reading of the evidence doesn't come anywhere close to suggesting that unions are the single biggest obstacle in the way of educating our children properly. Labels: education, kevin drum, teachers unions, vouchers
Yahoo Helping Send Men and Women to the Gulag
 By VictorM: Yu Ling is a 55-years-old Chinese woman visiting the United States to sue Yahoo for causing her husband's arrest in China. His crime? Writing pro-democracy articles and e-mailing them anonymously. Or so he thought. Yahoo provided all the information needed for the Chinese police to arrest and convict him. Now he's serving 10 years in Chinese prison. Yahoo aren't the only ones cooperating with the enemies of freedom: To comply with government requirements, Google's China search engine blocks access to sites the government deems objectionable. Microsoft launched its Chinese blogging service in 2005 with filters that prohibited sensitive words such as freedom and democracy in blog titles. And Cisco supplies internet backbone equipment the Chinese government uses in the so-called Great Firewall that shields citizens from websites about Tibet and the Tiananmen Square massacre.
What are the chances that Yu Ling will win her lawsuit? Very slim, experts say. And what are the chances she can help stop this collaboration? Let's face it, in search of the almighty yuan, companies from all over the world, not just America, will continue to look the other way and collaborate with the Chinese. Yu can't stop that. Given our form of capitalism it's unrealistic to expect that companies will voluntarily turn their backs on the largest developing market in the world. This case is a good example where a US government really committed to democracy is needed. Lip service isn't cutting it, but that is what we're getting. Meanwhile, Wang Xiaoning, Yu's husband, rots in jail just for writing his opinions -- Yahoo put him there. [Update: Kvatch has another take and implications of this story.] Labels: collaborating with China, Wand Xiaoning, Yu Ling
Idiot of the Day: Dennis Kucinich
By VictorM: Last week Nevada Democrats finally agreed to cancel a planned televised debate of the Democratic candidates on Fox News. The pressure to cancel came from many quarters of the party, most notably the big liberal blogs. Just about all the candidates agreed with the cancellation, except for Dennis Kucinich. His reason: "If you want to be the President of the United States, you can't be afraid to deal with people with whom you disagree politically," Kucinich said. "No one is further removed from Fox's political philosophy than I am, but fear should not dictate decisions that affect hundreds of millions of Americans and billions of others around the world who are starving for real leadership." This isn't about people who disagree with you; this is about a TV station run by liars who are unbalanced and unfair. You want to waste your breath talking to the morons who watch that station, go by yourself. I'm sure you'll convert as many of them as your chances of winning -- zero, to be exact. Labels: Dennis Kucinich, fox news, idiot of the day
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Bob Barr: Clinton Didn't Also Do It
By VictorM: After Purgegate -- the firing of federal prosecutors by the Bush administration for political motives -- picked-up steam, one of the cries of those defending the administration was that "Clinton also did it". Among those paying attention that claim has been totally debunked, but with this crowd, it never hurts to pile on. Bob Barr was a Reagan appointee who went on to serve as a member of the House from 1995 to 2003. It was during this period that Mr. Barr became a prominent member of the conservative movement. He was a relentless pursuer of articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. Here's what he said in a Rolling Stone interview: I and a number of others were critical of president Clinton when he first came into office and almost immediately removed all U.S. Attorneys. But that’s not the same thing as what’s happening now. We’re seeing a president in his second term go after U.S. attorneys of his own party for reasons that are clearly political: not moving fast enough against targets on the other side of the aisle, succumbing to pressure from Senators for example. That is very, very corrosive, both to morale for U.S. Attorneys as well as in terms of reducing the confidence that the public has that the system is fair and impartial and non-partisan.
Labels: bill clinton, bob barr, clinton also did it, purgegate, rolling stone
Bush's USA and Israel: The Moral of the Story
 By VictorM: George Bush's United States has become too close to what we despised about our 20th century enemies. Now, the United States and Israel, two of the countries we regard as "the good guys", have a message for the rest of the world, as understood by Daniel: The moral of the story is: all ye who are invaded and occupied, give up all thoughts and actions of resistance. Then, after we've occupied you for an indeterminate period of time (which we unilaterally decide and it could be years or decades), if you say you love us and forgive us for our brutality and oppression and killing and destruction, we might, just possibly, there's a slight chance of, don't get your hopes up mind you, we could, it's not guaranteed remember, allow you to have your own country as long as you don't mind that we keep most of it, and that we set all the peace terms, and that you agree that, from the air, the sea and the land, we still continue to control your bastardised, inferior, non-sovereign land. Labels: invaders, israel, occupiers, usa
Communism and Conservatism: Same Destination
 By VictorM: Much was made of the conservative wave brought on by Ronald Reagan. With great campaign slogans and ideas that looked great on paper, they took over and have been in control, except for the eight Clinton years (not by accident, the best eight years in every respect since 1980). Things have not gone well. The promise of a sunny day has turned into a night time national nightmare. The Time has a piece that asks, How Did the Right Go Wrong: [E]verything that Reagan said in 1985 about "the other side" could easily apply to the conservatives of 2007. They are handcuffed to a political party that looks unsettlingly like the Democrats did in the 1980s, one that is more a collection of interest groups than ideas, recognizable more by its campaign tactics than its philosophy. The principles that propelled the movement have either run their course, or run aground, or been abandoned by Reagan's legatees. Government is not only bigger and more expensive than it was when George W. Bush took office, but its reach is also longer, thanks to the broad new powers it has claimed as necessary to protect the homeland. It's true that Reagan didn't live up to everything he promised: he campaigned on smaller government, fiscal discipline and religious values, while his presidency brought us a larger government and a soaring deficit. But Bush's apostasies are more extravagant by just about any measure you pick.
I have a simpler answer. I'm convinced that conservatism is just like communism in this regard: there is no way to do either of them right. Soviet Communism and American conservatism seem like two divergent roads going off in opposite directions but ultimately both wind up in the same destination: control of the few over the many. Both ideologies invite promotion from within, a follow-the-pack mentality, intolerance to challenges or dissent, preference for one party rule, forcing their views on others, and yielding control to the most conniving and corrupt at the expense of everyone else. Labels: bill clinton, communism, conservatism, ronald reagan
Marilyn Monroe: Tricked to Commit Assisted Suicide?
 By VictorM: There's a report of a recently discovered FBI file indicating that Marilyn Monroe was talked into trying suicide to get sympathy from the public. She was told she would be saved in time but the plan all along was to let her die to prevent her from disclosing a sexual relationship with Bobby Kennedy. The people involved in this plan included Robert Kennedy, his brother-in-law Peter Lawford, her psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson, her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, and her secretary and press agent, Pat Newcomb. The document was uncovered by Australian film director Philippe Mora who admits he is not sure what to make of the file. He asks: "Is all this the elaborate dirty tricks of Kennedy haters from decades ago, or are we getting closer to the historical truth?" Let me get this straight... Robert Kennedy, Peter Lawford, Marilyn's psychiatrist, her housekeeper, her secretary, and her press agent were all involved in this cockamamie idea? Color me skeptical, I don't buy it. Now, if this plan had been devised by members of the Bush Administration... Labels: marilyn monroe, Philippe Mora, robert kennedy, suicide
Idiot of the Day: Rahm Emanuel
By VictorM: It's time to shine the spotlight on a Democrat. One of the many complaints against Democrats is their preponderance for being too careful, too measured. This accusation got new legs this week: Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, has told new Democratic members of Congress to steer clear of Stephen Colbert, or at least his satirical Comedy Central program, “The Colbert Report.”
Rahm, please dude, get a sense of humor. Besides, san antone rose thinks you're a p_____ over this. Labels: Colbert report, idiot of the day, Rahm Emanuel, Stephen Colbert
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Right-wingers: Why They Are Scared of Their Own Shadow
 By VictorM: Why do right-wingers feel that some gun controls mean we’re taking away their guns? Why are safety laws an intrusion into their lives? Why would gays being allowed to marry threaten their own marriages? Why if you’re not religious you threaten all of society with lawlessness and lust? Why are they supporting the reckless war in Iraq? The simple answer is FEAR! Right-winger attitudes have roots in terrifying fear that sees anyone not like themselves a threat that must be destroyed, not just opposed. To gain a better understand of the dynamics that cause this attitude, read "The Authoritarians", by Bob Altemeyer. You can read the whole book online for free by going here, but this quote gives us the general idea: High RWAs [right wing authoritarians] are, in general, more afraid than most people are... we do know that they were raised by their parents to be afraid of others, because both the parents and their children tell us so. Sometimes it’s all rather predictable: authoritarians’ parents taught fear of homosexuals, radicals, atheists and pornographers. But they also warned their children, more than most parents did, about kidnappers, reckless drivers, bullies and drunks--bad guys who would seem to threaten everyone’s children. So authoritarian followers, when growing up, probably lived in a scarier world than most kids do, with a lot more boogeymen hiding in dark places, and they’re still scared as adults. For them, gay marriage is not just unthinkable on religious grounds, and unnerving because it means making the "abnormal" acceptable. It’s yet one more sign that perversion is corrupting society from the inside-out, leading to total chaos. Many things, from stem cell research to right-to-die legislation, say to them, "This is the last straw; soon we’ll be plunged into the abyss." So probably did, in earlier times, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, sex education and Sunday shopping. Thanks to JuliaAnn for pointing out this book and website.Labels: Authoritarians, Bob Altemeyer, fear, right-wing
Senator McCain's Derailing Campaign
 By VictorM: Senator McCain stumbled during an answers/questions session with reporters. He was asked if he support the distribution of taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of H.I.V.? What followed was a long series of awkward pauses, glances up to the ceiling and the image of one of Mr. McCain’s aides, standing off to the back, urgently motioning his press secretary to come to Mr. McCain’s side. I think the blog State of the Day has the right assessment: Note to John McCain: "Straight talk" means never having to consult a position paper before answering a question.
Not only have the wheels fallen off John McCain's Straight Talk express, I think the undercarriage just dropped as well. Labels: john mccain, straight talk
Toensing: Bush Junta's Best Defense
 By , commenting on Valerie Plame's testimony and Republican mouthpiece Victoria Toensing's attempts to discredit her: Labels: valerie plame, victoria toensing
Bad old FEMA back in inaction
 By VictorM: Back in February a tornado hit Arkansas. No one died but many families had no place to stay as their houses were destroyed. That should not have been a problem but it didn't turn out that way: Down the way, some 180 MILES, just a 3 HOUR DRIVE, were 8,420 "FULLY BRAND NEW, FULLY FURNISHED FEMA TRAILERS" sitting unused in HOPE, Arkansas. On TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27th Arkansas Governor Beebe asked for federal help and along with his congressional delegation in Washington begged FEMA director DAVID PAULISON to send in 150 of those UNUSED TAXPAYER PURCHASED TRAILERS. NOTHING HAPPENED.
You can read the rest of the story to see the same inaptitude -- or lack of caring, I don't know which -- that we saw during Katrina. But hey, same leaders, same callous attitude, same mismanagement skills, so what do we expect? Same old mess! Labels: arkansas, failure, fema, katrina, tornado
Idiot of the Day: Little Green Footballs
By VictorM: In the aftermath of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "confession" that he had planned to kill Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, there was a chorus of support for that idea from many of the regulars at the Little Green Footballs website. Little Green Footballs is a very popular blog for right-wingers. While sites like that can't be held responsible for everything posted in them, we can draw some conclusions when there is quantity of posts and concurrence expressed by most regulars for sure a heinous idea. The Little Green Footballs crowd proved once again they are very sick idiots. Labels: bill clinton, idiot of the day, jimmy carter, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, little green footballs
Friday, March 16, 2007
Evengelicals Against Torture
 By VictorM: The National Association of Evangelicals has come out strongly against torture and violations of human rights. Among the various points they make, this one stands out to me: 3. Human Rights: Human rights, which function to protect human dignity and the sanctity of life, cannot be cancelled and should not be overridden. Recognition of human rights creates obligations to act on behalf of others whose rights are being violated. Human rights place a shield around people who otherwise would find themselves at the mercy of those who are angry, aggrieved, or frightened. While human rights language can be misused, this demands its clarification rather than abandonment. Among the most significant human rights is the right to security of person, which includes the right not to be tortured. Maybe this is a sign that some people who believe in hell want to avoid it. I hope more evangelicals come to their senses and realize what nightmare they've enabled for the past 6 years. I hope they realize that the political capital they gained for selling their soul to the devil and supporting the evil that has been the Bush administration was not worth it. I hope... but I'm not holding my breath. Labels: evangelicals, human rights, religion today, torture
Darn! They're wrong once again!
By VictorM: So, Valerie Plame was indeed a covert CIA agent. And her undercover status “was not common knowledge on the Georgetown cocktail circuit,” as some people have suggested. No worries, the right-wing lunacy will invent other lies. Labels: right-wing, valerie plame
Conservatives' Definition of "Encouraging"
By VictorM: Conservatives have perfected the use of language for political gain. We all know about catch phrases like "tax relief" to mean "tax cuts", "fair and balanced" to mean "our view of the world", "no spin zone" for "any lies necessary", etc. The latest one I detected is the use of the word "encouraging" to reflect their assessment of the "surge" in Iraq (examples here, here, and here). "Encouraging" is a good word because it promises nothing, delivers nothing, but can't be easily disputed. So, how do we in the real world know what that means? Let me explain with an example. I want to be a billionaire. That's right, a BILLIONAIRE. Two weeks ago, after I paid all my bills, I had $347.25 cents in my checking account. Yesterday I got my paycheck, and after I paid my bills, I now have $375.32 in that account. Relative to my goal of becoming a billionaire, conservatives would define my financial situation as "encouraging" (totally disregarding the fact that my variable rate mortgage has now increased my monthly payment by around $300 and I won't be able to keep my house). (Note: No real dollars were harmed and no one of my family will be living on the streets as a result of this made-up scenario) Labels: encouraging, framing, surge
Purgegate: Same pattern as Scooter Libby
By VictorM: The pattern by this White House continues in the same manner it did with the Scooter Libby case. That is, they deny, they evade, they lie, all along claiming they did nothing wrong. If they did nothing wrong, why the lies? Here's the latest example:E-mails released this week, including a set issued Thursday night by the Justice Department, appear to contradict the administration's assertion that Bush's staff had only limited involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, which Democrats have suggested were a politically motivated purge... The latest e-mails between White House and Justice Department officials show that Rove inquired in early January 2005 about firing U.S. attorneys We're only scratching the surface on this case. Does this mean they did something wrong and are trying to hide it? Their pattern of behavior surely suggests that. They were so used to getting away with criminal and unethical activity that they weren't even careful. This is what happens to people who do the things they do simply because they can -- eventually, they get caught. Labels: carl rove, prosecutors, purgegate, scooter libby
No Bozos, Clinton Didn't Also Do It
By mageen, commenting on allegations that Clinton also fired prosecutors: Take a better look at this so-called comparison between the Clinton [Department of Justice] and the Bush/Rove/Gonzalez [Department of Justice]. It is customary to require the resignation of all presidential appointees from the previous administration. Just ask Linda Tripp. The difference here is that this clutch of fired prosecutors were let go for cause despite their glowing performance reviews. In their case, there was a pattern displayed by [Department of Justice]/White House. The cause in their cases were mostly the fact that they were following the law in prosecuting Republican "friends" of the Bush White House. In the Clinton [Department of Justice], there were really only two remarkable cases of firing for cause: one attorney tried to choke a reporter and another attorney bit a woman. Labels: alberto gonzales, bill clinton, prosecutors, purgegate
Bigger Stain Than The One On Monica's Dress
By ken grandlund: For the last six years, the Bush presidency has operated under a veil of secrecy... While Congress sat complacently by and allowed Team Bush to run amok with American reputation, treasure, and future generations, all sorts of malfeasance was taking place, from crafting secret energy policies with major private energy interests to plotting against his own appointed federal prosecutors... The stain Bush has put on the ‘honor of the office’ is a whole lot bigger than the one left on Monica’s dress. But it seems that Congress has finally found themselves a bottle of Spray-n-Wash, and in a rare bi-partisan effort, nearly 3/4 of the House voted to reverse one of the first pieces of the Bush House of Deceit... The House vote is so lop-sided as to be veto-proof. And the Senate has plans to produce a similar bill. Let’s hope it receives the same support as in the House. Labels: bush administration, secrecy
Idiot of the Day: Sam Brownback
By VictorM: I could pick this guys as the idiot of the day on just about any day. Really, this guy is so damn obnoxious. Anyway, it's time he made the list for his views on gays : Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback agrees with Gen. Peter Pace's remarks on homosexuality, saying he also believes homosexual acts are immoral. He also says the military's "don't ask, don't tell" is "an appropriate policy." Labels: don't ask don't tell, homosexuality, idiot of the day, sam brownback
Thursday, March 15, 2007
BREAKING! BREAKING! BREAKING!
 By VictorM: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed just confessed to being the Zodiac killer. Jake Gyllenhaal was barking up the wrong tree. Labels: Jake Gyllenhaal, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, zodiac
Need a little controversy in your life?
Pay a visit to our discussion forum and add your two cents to topics such as: Labels: discussion board, group discussion
I did it! I did it! I masterminded it!
 By VictorM: Holy mother of James Cameron, the Washington Post thought this was so important that it's the headline on their website as I type this: Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, confessed at a Guantanamo Bay military hearing that he planned and funded that al-Qaeda operation... So, the guy we tortured for months to tell us that he was the mastermind of 9/11 told us what we wanted to hear. This is breaking news?!?! Headline news to boot!? Hell, all they had to do is threaten me with having to listen to Mariah Carey singing nonstop for a few hours and even I would have confessed to having masterminded 9/11. Labels: al-qaeda, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of 9/11, terrorism
Homosexuality: Another Galileo Embarrassment Coming
 By VictorM: Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville wrote an article about homosexuality that for obvious reasons pissed off a lot of people. I'm not going to dwell on those reasons because they're too stupid for even an insignificant blog like this to address, but there are a few bits that I liked: Mohler conceded in his column what many opponents of homosexuality have rejected -- that there may be a biological explanation for why some people are attracted to those of the same sex... In the interview, Mohler said he's been "barraged by e-mails" from other evangelicals saying that there couldn't be a biological cause for homosexual orientation because that would eliminate the moral responsibility for homosexual acts. "That's just a bad argument," Mohler said. "I am absolutely confident that a large number of homosexuals are telling the truth when they say they did not choose that orientation," he added. Forget about the other nonsense in the article. That this jerk has other religious idiots discussing their shameful and stubborn position on homosexuality is a good thing. The more they talk, the more apparent it becomes that they demand 100% scientific evidence for the views of others while they offer 0% scientific evidence for theirs. There will come a day when they will face another Galileo embarrassment. Labels: homosexuality, religion
Meet The Greatest Footballer in the World
By VictorM: Some people are a bit timid about making this statement, but I'm not: Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest soccer player in the world today. End of story. And I say that despite him being named "Ronaldo" after Ronald Reagan.  Labels: cristiano ronaldo
Idiot of the Day: All Bush Voters
By VictorM: Bush voters had an excuse in 2000, but not in 2004. So running away now and changing their mind for opinion polls doesn't excuse them. They are responsible for the big mess we're in. General Tony McPeak (retired), Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War said it best: This is a dark chapter in our history. Whatever else happens, our country's international standing has been frittered away by people who don't have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment [laughs]. If a guy is stupid, it makes a big difference. Labels: bush voters, idiot of the day
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Mister Gonzales, Say Goodbye to the Supreme Court
By VictorM: No matter how things play out with the firing of the prosecutors and whether any heads roll over this fiasco, and no matter how the Republicans try to spin this with the "Clinton also did it" lie, at least one positive is coming out of this: Alberto "Abu" Gonzales' shot -- if he ever had one -- at the Supreme Court is history. Labels: alberto gonzales, purgegate, supreme court
Don't Ask, Just Tell Them They're Hate Mongers
By VictorM: Common sense alone can't change the mind of those who agree with General Pace's homophobic comment. We need to shame everyone who holds those views for what they are: hateful people in our society. Former Senator Alan Simpson, a Republican who voted for the "don't ask, don't tell" approach to gays in the military has changed his mind. His opinion piece is good encouragement for those of us on the right side of this issue and a slap in the face of the hate-mongers (not that they will care): Since 1993, I have had the rich satisfaction of knowing and working with many openly gay and lesbian Americans, and I have come to realize that "gay" is an artificial category when it comes to measuring a man or woman's on-the-job performance or commitment to shared goals. It says little about the person... Let us end "don't ask, don't tell." This policy has become a serious detriment to the readiness of America's forces as they attempt to accomplish what is arguably the most challenging mission in our long and cherished history. Labels: homosexuality
Internet Religious Worshipping: A Ticket To Hell?
By VictorM: This Washington Post article covers how many people, from all kinds of religions, are looking for new ways to worship and are finding it just a website away: The Internet has become a hub of religious worship for millions of people around the world. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and people of other faiths turn regularly to Web sites to pray, meditate and gather in "virtual" houses of worship graphically designed to look like the real thing. Some sites offer rites from baptism to confession to conversion to Judaism... For many cyber-worshipers, online religious life conducted at home or in an Internet cafe has replaced attendance at traditional churches, temples, mosques and synagogues... The boom in online religion comes at a time when people, especially the young, are questioning traditional institutions... "Old mechanisms of religious authority are changing,"... "There is more emphasis on individualism. We want to decide for ourselves." Any breakaway from most organized religions sound like a good idea to me, but this notion of "emphasis on individualism", well, I got news for you: according to the current fogies who control your after-life, your desire to spend your money elsewhere other than in their institutions mean you're going to suffer the same fate as I am: you're going to hell! Labels: religion
I think those attorneys deserved to be fired
By VictorM: Talk of the prosecutors' purge continues to dominate many liberal blogs. The consensus being that this was a rotten thing by a rotten administration, and damn it, they got caught. JuliaAnn has quite an interesting take. I really recommend that her post be read in its entirety, but here's the gist of it: On the heels of the unpopular surge, we now celebrate the unmasking of the purge, as if this will finally do it, this is the "too far" moment, camel's back meet straw. Frankly, I don't think so. There is a sickness in the land that overwhelms all of it for me. Let's start with this: I think those attorneys deserved to be fired. The reasons JuliaAnn gives are quite compelling and thought provoking. Go read it! Labels: prosecutors, purgegate
The height of intellectual dishonesty
By Carpetbagger Report: As the prosecutor purge scandal continues to become more serious and more damaging for the Bush gang, the right has struggled to come up with a coherent defense. They seem to have embraced one, but it’s surprisingly weak [that Clinton also did it]. The argument is premised on a mistaken understanding of how the process works. When a president takes office, he or she nominates federal prosecutors at the beginning of the first term. Under normal circumstances, these U.S. Attorneys serve until the next president is sworn in. In 1993, Clinton replaced H.W. Bush’s prosecutors. In 2001, Bush replaced Clinton’s prosecutors. None of this is remotely unusual. Indeed, it’s how the process is designed. The difference with the current scandal is overwhelming. Bush replaced eight specific prosecutors, apparently for purely political reasons. This is entirely unprecedented. For conservatives to argue, as many are now, that Clinton’s routine replacements for H.W. Bush’s USAs is any way similar is the height of intellectual dishonesty. They know better, but hope their audience is too uninformed to know the difference. Labels: clinton's fault, prosecutors, purgegate
Darfur: Time To Shame Mainstream TV and Americans
 By VictorM: The disaster that is Darfur remains an issue of minor importance to most Americans. Is it because we don't care or because the news doesn't come to us with the frequency it should? Frankly, I think it's a combination of both. This quote from Nicholas Kristof (via Welcome to Pottersville) says it all: The Tyndall Report, which monitors network news coverage, found that ABC’s nightly newscasts included just 11 minutes of coverage of Darfur in all of 2006, compared with the 23 minutes ABC devoted to the false confession to the killing of JonBenet Ramsey. If only a Darfuri would falsely confess to killing JonBenet, maybe ABC would cover genocide. Labels: media
Idiot of the Day: Kip Volkstadt
By VictorM: Oh boy, I found one of the 29 percenters. I'll let this Republican-American's words say all that needs to be said: Kip Volkstadt, 66, Republican, Stafford, Va.
I agree with what Bush is doing, I just don’t think he’s doing enough of it. Number one, I think we need to put in enough troops in Iraq and go ahead and win this thing and stop pussyfooting around. Also, I think he is all wet on immigration. I think we should not be rewarding people who break our laws to come here. I think if you’re here illegally you’re a criminal. I’d like to see Bush be more affirmative as far as the tax cuts. It’s what made the economy thrive. Start getting the government’s nose out of everybody’s pockets and everybody’s houses. Kip, with all due respect, sir, you are an idiot! Labels: idiot of the day
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Childish President Bush Humor
By VictorM: But it's funny (Will open a new window. Safe for work unless your boss is a Bush supporting jerk devoid of any sense of humor.) Labels: funny picture, humor
Barack Obama's Jewish "Problem"
 By VictorM: In a recent speech, Barack Obama said "nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people." Now, some Jewish leaders are voicing some concern about the Senator's position and are requesting a clarification of that statement. I'm sure that Mr. Obama will have a more diplomatic answer, but there is no doubt that the statement is true. If you compare the life of Jews versus the life of Palestinians, it's not even close -- Palestinians suffer much more. It's probably safe to say that much of that suffering is, in large measure, caused by poor leadership on the Palestinian side, but that doesn't alter the validity of the statement. Labels: Barack Obama, jewish leader, palestinians
Alberto Gonzales: Sweating the Lies
By John Aravosis, commenting on Crook Attorney General Alberto "Abu" Gonzales statements: Oh man, that was fascinating. The man isn't just trying to keep his job, he's trying to avoid going to jail. Labels: alberto gonzales, crook
Republicans Definition of "Voter Fraud"
By figleef, commenting on reports that prosecutors were purged for not being aggressive enough with voter fraud cases: "Voter Fraud" is the GOP euphemism for removing blacks and city dwellers off the voting rolls. They "believe" that many of these people are convicted felons, dead people, democrats or otherwise ineligible to vote. The GOP likes to use behind-the-scenes legal maneuvering to challenge voter lists, and apparently were disappointed that the US Attorneys didn't pursue this tactic as fervently as they wanted. Labels: purgegate, voter fraud
Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War?
By VictorM: Dick Cheney is going around spewing the same stuff about Iraq that he has for years. He has been, and continues to be, dead wrong. Democrats need to attack him and keep the attack going. How? Just like Max Cleland just did: Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War? If you had gone to Vietnam like the rest of us, maybe you would have learned something about war. You can't keep troops on the ground forever. You gotta have a mission. You gotta have a purpose. You can't keep sending 'em back and back and back with no mission and no purpose. As a matter of fact, the real enemy is Al Qaeda, it's Al Qaeda stupid, it's not in Iraq.
I would like to see elected Democrats and liberal talking-heads keep repeating this refrain: "Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War?" every time Cheney talks as if he knows what he's talking about. Labels: dick cheney, max cleland
Tony Blair: UK 'to lead world' in climate change fight
By VictorM: The fight to motivate governments to take climate change seriously has taken another important step. It's good to see that not every world leader has his or her head stuck in oil and is siding with greedy bastards: Britain will lead the world towards combating climate change, Tony Blair vowed today. He unveiled a "revolutionary step" in the Government's blueprint for reducing harmful emissions, binding the UK to a 60-per-cent cut by 2050... "Climate change is a bit of a different type of challenge but a challenge I believe is the biggest long-term threat facing our world." Labels: climate change, global warming, tony blair
Let’s not bicker and argue about who killed whom
 By Carpetbagger Report, commenting on a Wall Street Journal editorial that said critics of the White House should just "get over it": This reminds me a great deal of a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. John Cleese’s Sir Lancelot storms a castle, sword in hand, murdering most of a wedding party based on the mistaken belief that a maiden was in desperate need of a rescue. The castle owner, anxious to curry favor with Lancelot, encourages the survivors of the attack to let bygones be bygones. As the castle owner tells his guests, “Let’s not bicker and argue about who killed whom….” I’m afraid we’ve getting the same message from the right for quite a while. Let’s not bicker and argue about who unnecessarily impeached whom, or who stole which election, or who was responsible for which foreign policy catastrophe, or who viciously smeared whom to win an election. The important thing is that we all “get over it” and look forward. After all, it’s wrong to hold a grudge, right? Maybe it’s just me, but I find it practically impossible to just let bygones be bygones. Labels: get over it, monty python
Idiot of the Day: Gay Patriot
By VictorM: This right winger is quoting an editorial from the LA Times about the how the Democrats are mishandling the Iraq issue. He sandwiches quotes from the article with hyperbole, wrong conclusions, and made-up stuff: And most rational Americans agree at this point. We have reached a whole new level — and it is a far cry from the Vietnam Era which Liberals continue to wallow in. The Democrats have not only surrendered to al-Qaeda, they have surrendered their party’s principles to the Angry Left. Where did he get that "most rational Americans agree"? He made it up, of course! Maybe he's just angry -- if he isn't he should be -- that there is still an al-Qaeda out there, getting bigger and stronger right under the nose of the current administration. That's a failure they can't pin on anyone else. Labels: idiot of the day
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Beatles Are Coming. The Beatles Are Coming. Uh... No, They're Not
 By VictorM: There is no place online to legally download Beatles music. Wippit, a British download site had mentioned they would be the first to offer Beatles music in digital form. But it turns out that is not so. However, there is hope it will happen soon: EMI is believed to be on the verge of releasing The Beatles' back catalogue as digital downloads.
A potential deal with iTunes became more likely last month when the band's record label Apple Corps settled a long-running trademark dispute with technology giant Apple Inc. After settling their differences, Apple Corps manager Neil Aspinall said the Beatles looked forward to "many years of peaceful co-operation" with the computer firm
I just hope that when they offer the Beatles catalog it will be cheap. Do you know how many times I'm bought vinyl, tape, and CD versions of their albums? Come on, I think everyone involved has made more than enough money. Frankly, at some point this stuff should become public domain. Labels: beatles, digital music, itunes, music download
Successful Demonization of the Liberal Label
By echine, commenting on a poll showing that 21% of Americans consider themselves Liberal, and 41% say they are Conservative: this self-identification does not match the same Americans' views on various public policy issues. Many so-called liberal policies have majority support. The interesting question is why people support liberal policies but reject the liberal label, and one answer is that this is a consequence of the successful demonization project of the Wingnuttia Inc. during the last two decades. Labels: conservative, liberal
Neoliberals: More Enemies From Within
By VictorM: This opinion piece by Tony Smith explains why Democrats are having such a hard time deciding what to do about Iraq and why Hillary Clinton is steadfast in not declaring her vote to authorize the Iraq war a mistake -- she doesn't think it was a mistake. Basically, there are those who believe America should use its mighty military muscle to bring freedom to people and spread democracies around the world. I have associated that line of thinking with neocons (Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, etc.), but there is a group of neolibs who support that same vision: In fact, these neoliberals are nearly indistinguishable from the better-known neoconservatives... Dealing with Serbia in the 1990s cemented the neocon-neolib entente. By Sept. 11, 2001, these two groups had converged as a single ideological family. They agreed that American nationalism was best expressed in world affairs as a progressive imperialism. The rallying call for armed action would be promoting human rights and democratic government among peoples who resisted American hegemony... Ironically, the neolibs are more powerful today in the Democratic Party than the neocons are among Republicans. I've thought for a long time, as I watched the American political scene unfold over the last couple decades, that our most dangerous enemies came from within (Christian Right, neocons, Right-Wing sludge machinery, Grover Norquist, etc.). I have always associated them with the Republican party. But given the hesitation by Democrats to make the right call now about Iraq, it's clear to see why: Democrats have their own enemies from within. It's time to stop thinking of Iraq, and its underlying attempt at imperial power, as purely a Republican problem. Democrats are poisoned as well by those who share this belief. Labels: hillary clinton, neocons, neolibs, tony smith
Does Al Sharpton Need A Band-Aid For His Ego Boo Boo?
By VictorM: This story comes from the New York Post, so take it with a grain of salt the side of Gibraltar. I always thought Sharpton was a buffoon who loved the limelight more than anything else, so it wouldn't surprise me if these assessments turn out to be correct: "He's saying that Obama never did anything for the community, never worked with anybody from the community, that nobody knows the people around him, that he's a candidate driven by white leadership," said a prominent black Democratic activist who knows Sharpton... "It's driving Al crazy that Obama is as impressive and popular as he is, and he's not happy about it," said another black Democratic activist. "Sharpton is just terrified of being overshadowed by someone of Obama's class and character." Labels: Barack Obama
Idiot of the Day: Fox News
By VictorM: Yeah, I know, we could name these guys daily as the Idiots of the Day, but I don't because I believe in giving the little right-wingers a crack at it. But today Fox News gets special mention because of this great display of Fox News images. Labels: fox news
Symbolism of the movie "300"
 By VictorM: I wrote a review of the movie yesterday and didn't touch on the much talked perceived symbolism between it and Bush and the Iraq war. Look, I don't know what the motives of the filmmakers were, but to me, every war film could be related to any other war. This issue is not important for 2 reasons: one, Bush supporters are too dumb to make any connections of any kind to anything; two, those of us who think Bush and this war are stupid don't need a film like this to remind us. However, I must confess that when the movie was over, I thought that the Spartans could very well be called insurgents. Anyway, go see the film because it's beautifully done. Labels: movies
It Doesn't Matter That They Are Medically Unfit
By VictorM: The president made up his mind we need more troops in Iraq. There have been many questions about where those troops would come from. Well, this is one way to get some more: As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records. Not a day goes by that doesn't turn this war into an even bigger fiasco. Democrats, oh Democrats, pull the plug on this disaster. Now! Labels: Iraq war, wounded soldiers
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Time To Repeal the Patriot Act
By VictorM: The abuses of the Patriot Act by the FBI and Bush Administration have only just begun. This is a perfect case of "I told you so" - we KNEW this would happen. I just got this letter from the ACLU: As you’ve probably seen in today’s headlines, the government is now reporting rampant FBI abuses of the Patriot Act’s National Security Letter (NSL) provision that gives agents sweeping powers to demand sensitive personal records without court approval.
The report reveals that from 2003 to 2005, the government issued a staggering 143,000 National Security Letters, in some cases barring recipients from even reporting they’ve received a letter. How much more proof does Congress need that this dangerous provision defies democratic values? How many more of us will be investigated and gagged before the FBI is reined in?
There’s only one course of action. It is time for Congress to repeal the expanded Patriot Act powers that opened the door to these abuses. Labels: bush administration
Movie review: 300
By VictorM: “300” is a movie about machismo on steroids: tough men, raised to be warriors, taught to fight and never surrender. The violence abounds, the decapitations are plenty (in slow motion and graphic detail), and whoever did the CGI blood squirting must have gotten paid by the quantity – blood gushes at the audience with amazing frequency. The plot, if you want to call it that, is thin: the Persians have amassed a gigantic army determined to conquer the world. The Spartans will be the next victims, but the powers that be don’t see it coming, so they refuse to send their army to stop the Persians. The king, who knows better, decides to go himself with only 300 of his toughest fighters. And fight they do. It’s that simple. If you want plot and clever dialogue you may want to pick another movie. But if stylish violence, stunning visuals, and amazingly choreographed battle scenes are your thing, this is a must-see movie. It's a smorgasbord of great shots, a fabulous pallet of beautiful colors, and the slow motion to regular speed back to slow motion combinations are used with great skill to give us a series of memorable battle scenes. Labels: movies
Iraq war: Grim Truths and Bad Options
By VictorM: Rolling Stone magazine got together a panel of experts (and it is quite a panel) to ponder the Iraq war. They pretty much agreed that "the war in Iraq is lost. The only question now is: How bad will the coming explosion be?" Here's the three possible outcomes they see: Best Case Scenario: Civil war in Iraq and a stronger Al Qaeda.
Most Likely Scenario: Years of ethnic cleansing and war with Iran.
Worst-Case Scenario: World War III It's nice that such a distinguished panel reaches these conclusions, but those of us in the reality-based world have known this all along. My own most likely scenario is the one already unfolding before us: Years of ethnic cleansing and a stronger Al Qaeda. Labels: Iraq war, rolling stone
The Battle Between Evangelicals
By Kevin Drum: [T]he battle between the "old guard" evangelicals (Dobson, Weyrich, Bauer, etc.) and the younger crowd is heating up... It's not just that [the old guard] want to stay focused on abortion and gay marriage, the Dobson crowd's usual hot buttons... Opening up the evangelical agenda to topics such as citizenship for illegal immigrants, universal healthcare, and caps on carbon emissions risks finding common ground with Democrats: The best-known champion of such causes, the Rev. Jim Wallis, this week challenged conservative crusader James C. Dobson, the chairman of Focus on the Family, to a debate on evangelical priorities.
"Are the only really 'great moral issues' those concerning abortion, gay marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence?" Wallis asked in his challenge. "How about the reality of 3 billion of God's children living on less than $2 per day? ... What about pandemics like HIV/AIDS ... [and] disastrous wars like Iraq?" Just thought I'd let everyone know that there are cracks in the evangelical movement's longtime role as a bought-and-paid-for subsidiary of the Republican Party, and those cracks are getting bigger. The old guys don't like it much, but time may not be on their side. Labels: evengelicals, James Dobson, Jim Wallis, kevin drum, religion
Saturday, March 10, 2007
The Slapsher: Mystery in New York City
 By VictorM: Move over Son of Sam... New York City has a new serial criminal, and he's leaving a mess at the scene of the crime. There a few suspects but so far, none is solid. Dubbed "The Slapsher", this criminal leaves no bodies behind, and no blood is spilled: Late last year, someone with nerve, time and a taste for vivid colors began to deface walls where stars of the semi-underground world of graffiti have left their handiwork. The aftermath always looks the same: a piece of "street art," as it's called by fans, covered in gobs of haphazardly tossed paint, with a pretentious manifesto pasted nearby. New York City always gets all the fun. Labels: graffiti, new york city, slapsher
This food is healthy, no it's not, yes it is, no it's not
 By VictorM: It's never been easy to follow what foods are good for you and which ones are bad. It's a moving target for some foods and if you wait long enough, you'll get the results you want. Via Salon, the New York Times has a story that explains how bakers are now avoiding butter in favor of something heinously unhealthy-sounding called "trans-fat-free margarine" so that they can label their baked goods "trans-fat free" and comply with new laws and ordinances banning trans fat -- even though "some researchers believe that the trans fat that occurs naturally in butter, meat, milk and cheese might actually be healthy." Sometimes I think conservatives are right about all these damn laws and we should scrap them. Ummm... OK, they're not right! That would be like cutting off your leg at the knee with a dull ax just because you have an in-grown toe nail. But, heck, in-grown toe nails can be a pain. Anyway, just remember... moderation and variation. Labels: trans fats, trans-fat free
Barack Obama Is Articulate, Damn It!
By VictorM: A few weeks ago Senator Joe Biden got in trouble for saying Barack Obama is "articulate". Now, Carl Rove just made the news for using the same word to describe Obama. George Bush, who wouldn't know articulate if it bit Ann Coulter on her Adam's apple, also called Obama "articulate". Somehow, this is perceived as negative or even racist. I don't understand what the problem is. Barack Obama IS articulate, damn it. In ways, that George Bush isn't, ever; that Jesse Jackson, who seems to be mumbling half the time, isn't; that Howard Dean isn't (too often he says Saddam when he meant Osama, Iraq when he meant Iran). There are many people who are "articulate" in every day life but would not be so when in the spotlight of a national election. The stakes are higher and the curve for qualifying for that definition spikes up dramatically. Barack meets that threshold while most others, black or white, don't. And after 6 years of George Bush's mangling the English language, that may be reason enough to vote for Barack. Labels: articulate, Barack Obama, carl rove
Guns: Check Your Clocks - This Is the 1800s
 By VictorM: Since 1976, Washington DC has had a strict law against allowing its citizens to own guns. That law was challenged and the court of appeals ruled that the law is unconstitutional. The city will appeal. I wish it didn't. It's time the Democrats realized that a majority of Americans like their guns as much as they like porn, gambling, cheating on their spouses, and other such behavior that today passes for "family values." Besides, gun ownership has no material impact on crime rate one way or the other. I say let the bozos who want the killing machines have them; we all know the criminals do. Not everyone agrees: D.C. resident Kenny Barnes, who became a gun control advocate after his 37-year-old son was shot to death on U Street NW, called the ruling "crazy.""What kind of message are you sending?" Barnes asked. "This is not Dodge City in the 1800s." Wake up, Kenny. Bush is in office and the NRA and the Christian Right control the agenda -- this is Dodge and it is the 1800s! Labels: christian right, dodge city, family values, gun control, nra
Idiot of the Day: Nevada State Democratic Party
By VictorM: On their website, the Nevada Democrats proudly informed us that "FOX News, the Nevada Democratic Party and the Western Majority Project have jointly announced that they will host a 2008 presidential debate, which is expected to attract the top Democratic contenders for President." WTF?! Luckily the liberal blogs revolted, Edwards refused to participate and Richardson recanted on his initial yes. And now, thankfully, the whole stupid idea went down the tubes. The (liberal) Girl Next Door, has the right idea: I hope this is the beginning of the Democrats refusing to legitimize Fox “News” by appearing on their network. Sure, you can reach a lot of people if you go on Fox “News” shows, but if Fox viewers want real news, they need to change the channel.
What I want to know is: whose head is going to roll over this stupidity? Someone out there needs to find a new line of work. Stupid Democrats need to be purged! Labels: democrats, fox news, nevada debate, stupid democrats
The Face of War
By Salon: Photojournalist Nina Berman discusses her award-winning portrait of severely wounded Iraq vet Ty Ziegel and his fiancée, Renee, on their wedding day -- and what was really going on behind the lens.  Read Salon's interview with the photojounalist and see a picture of Ty and Renee before the war. If this story doesn't break your heart you're one cold bastard! Labels: Iraq war, Nina Berman, Renee Kline, Ty Ziegel, wedding picture
Shocking Snipped: But Should I Be Shocked?
 By VictorM: Anyone paying attention knows the whole "family values" of the Christian Right is utter nonsense, but they never cease to prove it. Browsing through the news sites, I ran into this snipped above the fold on Yahoo!News: Newt Gingrich's admission of an extramarital affair as he pursued President Clinton's impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky scandal has won praise from another conservative Christian leader: the Rev. Jerry Falwell. This lends more credence -- as if I needed it -- to my Magical and Powerful Vaccine post from yesterday; if you're a Republican nothing you do is wrong. Do I need to say anything else to prove these people are sick? No, I don't -- they're sick. Labels: extramarital affair, Jerry Falwell, newt gingrich
Friday, March 09, 2007
Your Vagina Is Dirtier Than My Penis
 By VictorM: Every time I think I've adjusted to the new America, I seem to find something else to remind me how sensitive some have become. Rachel S., over at Alas, a Blog, points us to an article in the NY Times about three girls who were suspended from school for using the word "vagina". Rachel's students don't give me any optimism that things will get better. Rachel says: We actually had a discussion about this in my sexuality class in the first couple weeks of the semester. The students seemed to agree that many (other) people thought vagina is a dirty word, but none of them expressed opposition to the word themselves. However, most of them agreed that vagina was considered a “dirtier word” than penis. Where does an impression like that come from? And if "vagina" is not kosher, what word would be to describe that part of the female anatomy? The people who have problems with that word think they are improving society but they're not; by taking a perfectly good word and giving it a negative connotation they make people like me want to say that word even more. So, how's your vagina today? Have you seen any good vagina lately? I can't wait to get home and get me a really good vagina. Wow, that's quite a vagina you got there. Vagina, vagina, vagina, vagina! OK, I feel a little better now. Labels: dirty word, penis, vagina
Magical and Powerful Vaccine
Note: Each link in this post will open a new windowBy VictorM: There’s a vaccine you can take that requires no pills to swallow, no needles to prick you, no scrutiny of your past, and no money to pay. What does it do for you? Lots. It will render you incapable of wrongdoing or making mistakes in the eyes of your peers. Any resemblance of you doing or saying the wrong thing will cause your friends to come to your defense. Even if you are a drug addict, a pedophile, a perjurer, a phone sex feign, an adulterer, or advocate assassinations, the door is always open for you. You will automatically be considered a religious person even if you don’t attend church or don’t know the 10 Commandments, and you will forever be regarded as a person with great family values even if you’re a high-stakes gambler, procure the services of prostitutes, and rub your peccadilloes on your wife’s face. You will be free to make racist comments with no discernable negative impact on you. Moreover, you will be able to make stuff up, over and over, knowing the serious people will carry the water for you. Many of your friends will be rich and getting richer while those you don’t care for will get poorer and sicker. And because of this vaccine, even those who get killed or maimed fighting for you for reasons that keep changing while you sit at home will still do your bidding and love you for it, even if you then treat them like dirt. Some say it will even enlarge your penis or your boobs. You will be able to disregard the inconvenient and remember as truth that which are lies but convenient. You will develop the art of deflection, memorize slick slogans, be the laziest son of a bitch and claim it’s hard work, and every time you say ' boo' a nation will tremble. Sounds too good to be true? Do you expect to pay a lot for it? Do you think only a select few can have it? Well, it is true, it’s free, and anyone can have it. All you have to do is call yourself (like you didn’t see this one coming a mile away)… a Republican. It IS that simple. Disclaimer: There are a few drawbacks: your friends will be assholes, and the cool kids will laugh at you.Labels: republicans
Idiot of the Day: Jonathan R
By VictorM: This right-wing blogger probably thought this was brilliant stuff: "Ann Coulter can make some outrageous comments, but that does not detract from the fact that she sometimes makes some very valid points." Yes, in the same way that Ted Bundy was sometimes charming. Labels: ann coulter, idiot of the day, ted bundy
Terrorism and Fear: Great Business in Bush's America
By Glenn Greenwald: Whatever else you might think of him, John Stossel has an excellent article in Real Clear Politics this morning, entitled Fear of Terrorism Overblown?, in which he notes that various political movements, the "terrorism industry," and the media all work in confederation, with some shared motives and some disparate ones, to greatly exaggerate Americans' fears of terrorism beyond what is remotely justified by reason. That is not news to many people, but it is always encouraging when the exploitation of the terrorist threat -- one of the principal weapons used by those who have sought to radically alter our country -- is discussed in mainstream venues. Labels: fear, glenn greenwald, john stossel, terrorism
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Return of Air America Radio
 By Mark Green, on the return of Air America and the plans for Air America 2.0: The twin goals are to make it profitable and influential. One without the other won't work. If it's not a business, it'll go out of business. But it'll be a business with a sharp point of view. The era of on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand liberalism is over... For all those who worry about messianic misleaders governing on a right wing and a prayer, Air America 2.0 will be an answer. For all those fearful of plutocracy and theocracy, the pro-democracy hosts of AAR's programs will be an answer. If the conservative media continue to spout propaganda and call it news, there's now the alternative of truth, justice and the Air American way. Labels: media
Human Rights Report: USA Moral Grounds Eroding
By VictorM: Every year the State Department issues a report on human rights violations across the world. And as usual, China is prominently listed as a violator. In years past, despite their protests, those accusations rang true. However, in recent years, America's moral standing to make those accusations has faltered. The Chinese issued their own report to counter ours: The Chinese accusation, in a retort to the State Department's annual human rights report issued Tuesday, called particular attention to what it said were abuses committed by U.S. soldiers and intelligence agents against terrorist suspects in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo. But it also underlined what it described as increased willingness by Washington to spy on its own citizens by monitoring their telephone calls, computer connections and travels. The Chinese protesting our report is nothing new, and clearly even our worst cases, deplorable as they may be, do not compare to the abuses of the Chinese. For while our abuses are regrettable, they have not been carried out against citizens that merely oppose the views of the country's leaders. But that the Chinese reply is full of truths is something we should be ashamed of; it says a lot about the direction the USA has taken in the last six years. Basically, with all the accusations back and forth between us and them, we have become more like them than the other way around. That's a sad statement. Labels: china, human rights, moral standing, state department
Turkey Not Ready For Prime Time Yet
By VictorM: Time to remind everyone what a good democracy we have going here in the USA. Want a bit of contrast? Look at Turkey: "Access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube has been suspended in Turkey following a court order. The ban was imposed after prosecutors told the court that clips insulting former Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had appeared on the site." See that? Just for a personal insult on the former leader, poof! there goes You Tube. And this is the country that wants to join the European Union? I'd say they have a long way to go. Despite our shortcomings, this could never happen in the good ol' USA. Just don't ask Joe Wilson and the Dixie Chicks. (Yeah, I know it's not exactly the same situation, hence my "good democracy" remark, but their stories are too close for comfort). Labels: dixie chicks, european union, joe wilson, turkey, you tube
Bush Administration: A Government On The Take
 By Bob Higgins: This administration has placed political loyalists, servants of industry in positions once properly held by career professionals and servants of the people thus relieving from public regulation the same businesses whose corporate boardrooms they and their friend's control and in so doing have corrupted nearly every federal regulatory agency with the rotten stench of big money politics while along the way lining the pockets of their grateful class with untold wealth. They want to privatize everything and have the American taxpayer subsidize all of it. It's how the Railroad industry operated in the nineteenth century and Big Oil in the twentieth. If it was good enough for the "Robber Barons" then by golly it's good enough for the neocons. Labels: big oil, bush administration, robber barons
Daniela Cicarelli and You Tube: Invasion of Privacy?
 By VictorM: Daniela Cicarelli, a Brazilian model and ex-wife of soccer great Ronaldo, was out enjoying herself off the beaches of Spain with her new boyfriend. They were being quite frisky and guess what? Yeah, they were caught on video. In no time, it made its way to You Tube. So she filed a lawsuit in Brazil and a Brazilian judge ordered You Tube to prevent the video from being shown there. But, of course, the file name gets changed and the video keeps resurfacing. Now, a panel of judges is considering fining You Tube for not doing enough to block the video. Her boyfriend's lawyer said: "The internet is democratic and has to be defended, but this struggle is to have some level of control to avoid the violations of people's fundamental rights, like privacy and intimacy." I understand all about privacy, but heck, they were on a public beach being indiscreet. I guess the old standard should have been in order: GET A ROOM! Besides, I really don't see how You Tube can stop people from posting the video under different names.Labels: brazilian model, daniela cicarelli, ronaldo, you tube
Idiot of the Day: Fred Barnes
By VictorM: Via Think Progress who have the video to this interview, Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes argued that Bush will pardon Scooter Libby because “he didn’t really seriously impede the investigation,” and “he’s been a loyal and effective member of this administration.” Yarite! And Britney Spears has never gone commando. Labels: fred barnes, idiot of the day
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
It's Not The Incompetence, Stupid
By Red Wind: [T]he scandalous conditions at Walter Reed (and no doubt other military or veterans’ facilities) are not the result of snafus, fuck-ups, or oversights ... —the entire horrible mess is a direct result of the reckless policies of the Bush Administration. It is not a testament to their incompetence—it is a test case for their ideology. As Krugman observes, comparisons with the failures at FEMA after Hurricane Katrina are apt. The administration pinched pennies and privatized with abandon. They replaced competence with cronyism, all in pursuit of some sham dogma and the lining of each other’s pockets—the lives of the people they so easily put in harm’s way be damned... Unfortunately (and unfortunately under-covered), this—like Katrina and Iraq as a whole—is the story of greedy, ideologically driven, and, at their core, craven leaders. Do not let them off the hook by calling them incompetent. Labels: bush administration, conservatism, katrina, paul krugman, walter reed
A Liar In the White House
By VictorM: The Independent, in its story covering the Scooter Libby conviction, includes a very nice summary of what this case was all about: A LIAR IN THE WHITE HOUSE The Lie The Blair Government's September 2002 dossier claims Saddam Hussein has sought to buy uranium for his nuclear weapons programme from Niger. George Bush, in his State of the Union address in January 2003, ignores CIA reservations and repeats the assertion. The claim becomes a central plank in the argument for war. The Doubts The CIA dispatches a former ambassador, Joseph Wilson, to investigate the Niger claims, which he concludes are false. Related documents are subsequently obtained by Italian authorities and passed to the UN nuclear agency which declares them to be crude forgeries in March 2003, just before the invasion. The Whistle-Blower When no WMD are found in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, Joseph Wilson accuses the Bush administration of deliberately manipulating intelligence before the war. His views are first aired in an off-the-record interview with The Independent on Sunday in June of that year, before he goes public in American newspapers. The Smear Campaign Valerie Plame, Joseph Wilson's wife, is identified as an undercover agent by columnist Robert Novak on 14 July 2003 and the search is on for the source of the leak within the Bush administration, accused of deliberately smearing Ms Plame while potentially endangering her life by exposing her as a CIA agent. Revealing a CIA agent's identity is against the law. The Cover-up A special prosecutor is appointed to uncover the leaker, with suspicion falling on the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney, whose chief of staff, Lewis Libby, takes pains to protect his boss. Although no charges are brought over the leak itself, Mr Libby is put on trial for trying to frustrate the investigation. The Conviction Lewis Libby becomes the first Bush administration official to be convicted over the flawed intelligence used to justify the war when he is found guilty yesterday of obstructing justice, lying and perjury. He faces up to 25 years in jail. Many in Washington say it was, in effect, the trial of Mr Cheney, who was responsible for the actions of his aide. Labels: conviction, joe wilson, scooter libby, valerie plame
Idiot of the Day: Ace
By VictorM: I'm not quite sure if this is projection, stupidity, or ignorance, but these folks are clearly living on the edge of insanity: I still think there was no pretext for Fitzgerald's investigation, that he knew there was no possible crime to be investigated here from day one (forcing him to invent the crime of "conspiracy to violate the Wilsons' civil rights," though he couldn't quite say which rights had been violated), which makes this all a travesty and Libby's lies immaterial as a matter of law. "Forcing him to invent a crime"... amazing, all the while he invents what "matter of law" is. Labels: idiot of the day, patrick fitzgerald, scooter libby
Wal-Mart Employee Thinking Big
By VictorM: This story comes from our "friends" at Wal-Mart: An employee for Wal-Mart secretly taped phone conversations between members of its public relations staff and a reporter at the New York Times, and intercepted text messages between people who do not work for the company Poor guy was probably just beefing up his resume to work for the Bush administration.
Labels: eavesdropping, wal-mart
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Jenna Bush Writing a Book
By VictorM: It's understandable if any kind of good deed coming from a Bush family member will be met with some skepticism, but the story of Jenna Bush working with poor kids in Panama and writing a book about it is one of those stories I'd like to believe is genuine. [Jenna] Bush says she will donate her earnings to UNICEF. She says she "very, very modestly" hopes her book will have some of the influence of two books about girls caught up in the Holocaust: Lois Lowry's novel Number the Stars and Anne Frank's The Diary of Anne Frank. I know I shouldn't blame her for her father's deeds but I can't shake the impression that a picture of her holding a baby with HIV isn't just a photo-op. It would be easier to shake that impression if she hadn't come across as an acorn so close to the tree. But I'm rooting for her book to shine a light on an important topic and for my negative impression of her to be reshaped. Labels: jenna bush, panama, unicef
Christian Environmentalist Needs To Be Pushed Out
By William Saletan: Rev. Richard Cizik, an executive at the National Association of Evangelicals, has led Christian environmentalists for " creation care." In response, several groups have sent the NAE a letter suggesting he should be silenced or pushed out. Their complaints: 1) Global warming may not be caused by humans. 2) It's a left-wing hoax to promote birth control and impede capitalism. 3) It's a diversion from bigger issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and abstinence. Cynical view: Don't worry—if we destroy the world, God can make us another one in six days. Labels: christian right, global warming
Idiot of the Day: Private Pigg
By VictorM: While continuing to deny global warming, this bozo says: One thing I DO know, however, is that if pollution is causing (or will cause) climate change, then liberals are barking up the wrong tree. The biggest polluters are, and will be, the industrializing countries (which is always the case). In this case, they just happen to have 10 times the population of the US. So if you think the US is bad, wait until you see China and India in 20 years. But it’s always America’s fault. How are are liberals barking up the wrong tree? That's exactly one of the many reasons liberals and 98% of the world's scientists say we need to fight creation of greenhouse gases NOW! The Global Warming issue is not an American issue, it's -- how more obvious can this be? -- a GLOBAL issue! Duh! And it's not America's fault; it's people like this idiot's fault! Labels: climate change, global warming
Scooter Libby: Justice Running Amok!
By VictorM: Finally, the news came: Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted Tuesday of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI in an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. This is amazing unfairness -- it's not like he had his penis in a female's mouth. This was not snark; it was a sample of right-wing thinking. Labels: scooter libby
Short, Sweet, and True
By Hesiod: [Ann] Coulter makes Anna Nicole Smith seem classy and sophisticated. Labels: ann coulter, anna nicole smith
Single Payer Is the Way To Go
By Jill: A single-payer model is the only way to get the delivery of health care coverage away from the kind of corporate cronyism that has boards of directors granting multimillion dollar pay packages to executives. A single-payer model is the only way to spread the risk fully across the population. And a single-payer model is the only way to allow doctors to hire staff to help them in their practice of medicine, instead of having one technician, one nurse, and fourteen clerks to handle insurance paperwork Labels: health care, health insurance, single payer, universal health insurance
Monday, March 05, 2007
War on Drugs: A War Not Worth Fighting
By Yellow Dog: Remember when America knew how to wage a war? Start with a just cause, have a clearly defined objective, maintain a moral high ground, and know when to get the hell out. Like every American war of the last half century, the war on drugs is lost. We just haven’t got the good grace to admit defeat... The US will continue to fight wars that we cannot win until such time as we pick battles worth fighting, conduct ourselves in a manner which meets the standards for human rights that we demand of our neighbors, and begin our wars with clearly defined objectives. As that is clearly not the case in the US War on Drugs, I suggest that we exercise another option and get out. Labels: war on drugs
Idiot of the Day: Lonewacko
By VictorM: Commenting on a poll by the NY Times that showed a majority of Americans support Health Insurance for everyone, this right-wing blogger has this to say: The problem is that the Democratic Party has a problem understanding that "Americans" word, and think it includes all of Mexico and most of the rest of the world. I ask, are people born this stupid or do right-winger have to go to some school to learn this "skill"? Labels: health care, health insurance, idiot of the day, right-wing
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Global Warming Foes Losing Another Argument
By VictorM: One of the last refuges of the anti-global warming scoundrels is the negative economic impact of fighting greenhouse gases. But while these people sit our their asses complaining, business people are taking a different view: There are enormous profit opportunities for companies that respond to climate change, water shortages, air pollution and other problems. Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric Co., for example, is selling off his plastics business to focus on high-growth, high-margin environmental goods and services, such as more efficient jet engines, wind power, solar energy and water purification. Will this change the mind of the naysayers? I doubt it. Throughout history there have always been the earth is flat, the sun revolves around the earth, they'll love us in Iraq, the Dixie Chicks are finished kinda folks. Opposing Global warming will be another check-mark on their list of failures. Labels: climate change, general electric, global warming, profit opportunities
Idiot of the Day: Libertas
By VictorM: This fella at this site must be too busy watching movies to follow the news. Quoting an article that a movie about Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson is in the making, he asks: "Will the film include the fact that Joe Wilson is a liar? Will the film question why a CIA opertive [sic] so consumed with her secrecy posed for Vanity Fair?" My lord, these people live in a make-believe world. Those questions have been answered ad nauseum already but it doesnt fit their narrative, so they just ignore the facts. Labels: joe wilson, valerie plame
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Iraq: Three Consequences We All Should Support
By VictorM: If we kill everyone in Iraq whom we believe to be a terrorist or an insurgent, arrest anyone that might have helped either, and kill or arrest everyone standing at the wrong place at the wrong time, we’d still wind up with lots of dead people and a country with three groups that can’t get along. Whether in 6 months, 6 years, or 6 decades, the moment we leave, they will continue -- as they are now -- to go at each other for control of the country. Leaving sooner rather than later will save thousands of American and Iraqi lives, save us billions of dollars, and allow Iraqi’s to control their own destiny (and what could be more noble than that? Well, other than true love and causing Humperdinck humiliations galore.) Sounds to me like three consequences that anyone who truly loves his/her country should support. Labels: consequences, Iraq war
Rick Santorum: From dog turd to chicken shit
By san antone rose: I've missed Rick Santorum so much over the last few months. His tantrums and hissy fits and general dickheadedness delighted me to no end. Well, my Lil' Ricky has been reincarnated. As a contributor to Fox News. That's like living out your life as a dog turd only to be reincarnated into chicken shit. Man, ain't karma a bitch? Labels: fox news, rick santorum
The Point of the Prosecutors' Purge
By Dahlia Lithwick, commenting on the Bush administration's purging of prosecutors for dubious reasons: Perhaps the most important lesson to be drawn from the purge isn't that the Bush administration puts ideology above the rule of law. That isn't exactly news. The real point may be that between inexperienced fumblers at Justice, energized Democrats in Congress, and a public that seems finally to have awoken from its slumber, it's just become harder for the administration to get away with it. Labels: prosecutors, purge
Iraq: Democrats should not settle for half-measures
By VictorM: Democrats continue to wrestle with ways to address the Iraq war. But anything short of total opposition to the president will taint the Democrats. As Senator Russ Feingold correctly said: "It’s still George Bush’s war, but we run the risk of gaining some ownership of it if we don’t make it absolutely clear that we are the party that wants to get out of there." Democrats should insist on ending the war now, and say it loudly, clearly, and repeatedly. If they come up short -- and they will because the Republicans will block them -- then let it be all Bush's way. Don't settle on half-measures like playing games with defunding. If they stick to this plan, the Democrats win either way: if they prevail the American people will reward them; if they don't prevail, Americans will know who to blame -- the Republicans! Labels: democrats, Iraq war, republicans, russ feingold
Idiot of the Day: Ann Coulter
By VictorM: Conservative puke-inducing pundit Ann Coulter said during a speech: "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards." She is the voice of the right. She claims to be a Christian. And the conservative crowd cheered. I hope she keeps it up and is heard by more people. It's fun to see them lose elections and every bit helps. Labels: ann coulter, faggot, idiot of the day, john edwards
Friday, March 02, 2007
NY Times Presidential Approval Poll
By Texancan, commenting on a new NY Times poll on president Bush's approval rating of 29% overal, 65% among Republicans: 65% of Republicans? Are they all sleeping and waking up on FOX NEWS? Cheney will surely declare a great progress for the nation. Keep sleeping…truth will not hurt. Too bad for your children.
By AJ Melbourne, commenting on the same poll: I must admit I just cannot understand how any sane rational person could say they approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president. He is easily the very worst President in the countries history. An abject failure in every aspect of his life and an embarrassment to ever fair minded person on the planet actually not just in the US. Bush is an Icon to Abject Failure. and the people who support him are complicit in his crimes. American history will expose you for your acts and your failure to act.Labels: approval poll, George Bush
Idiot of the Day: Betty, again
By VictorM: Betty, the clueless right-wing blogger asks: "This Blaming Bush for everything going wrong in the world has been an easy path for Europeans in the past six years. What will they do when they don't have Bush to kick around anymore?" Betty, when Bush is gone, not everything will be going wrong with the world. Europeans blame Bush now because just about everything gone wrong in the world has been his fault. Labels: blaming bush, idiot of the day
Katrina Survivors Rebuke Bush
By VictorM: Yesterday, president George Bush made another photo-op trip to New Orleans. You have to admit, this guy has some balls, and he likes to rub them on the face of those he hurts. What did some residents think of his visit? This is what they thought: "We live in a devastated city and you are a big part of the reason why it sill sits in ruins. Your administration has abandoned our children by savaging their public schools. Your administration has tortured our working class people by refusing to reopen the city’s public housing developments. And your administration is fully complicit in placing our uninsured in harms way by ruthlessly pursuing the privatization of local public healthcare in the aftermath of Katrina... Mr. President, we, Katrina Survivors all, do not welcome you to our city, we rebuke you!"Labels: George Bush, katrina, new orleans, photo-op
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Thursday, March 01, 2007
John McCain: American lives wasted
By VictorM: A couple weeks ago I expressed my dissatisfaction with Senator Barack Obama’s too quick apology for having expressed the truth: that the loss of American soldiers’ lives in Iraq were “wasted”. Republican presidential candidate John McCain said this during the David Letterman show: "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives." Does anyone think John McCain will rush to apologize for using the word “wasted”? He might, but frankly, I doubt it. Democratic candidates’ over-sensitivity to their own expressions of the truth is irritating. [Update: After my post above, this: McCain's Senate office released a statement from the senator that did not contain an apology, but suggested that he "should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past."] Labels: Barack Obama, david letterman, john mccain
How to Fix What’s Wrong in School
By William Bucknum: I am in full agreement that the state of public education in our country needs to change, and the most recent national report card on literacy and math skills is evidence of this need... It is quite simple: if we want test scores to improve, we need to make class sizes smaller, invest more money in education (including lengthening the school year and student time in class), and provide more resources to teachers to help with increasingly diverse populations of students of various abilities and learning needs. Labels: public education, public schools, teachers
12-year-old kid dies of a toothache
By Brad Plumer: The Washington Post has a horrifying story... about a 12-year-old kid who died of a toothache. The family had lost its Medicaid coverage and couldn't afford a routine tooth extraction, and so bacteria from the abscess spread to the kid's brain and he died--that is, after six weeks of hospital care and two operations that cost the state over $250,000. It's an extreme case, but it underscores the fact that the lack of dental coverage for low-income families is a much more serious problem than often thought... And then, of course, there's that whole slew of low-income folks who aren't even covered by Medicaid... Labels: health care, health insurance, medicaid
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