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Saturday, September 29, 2007
The great American hypocrisy tour
By VictorM: When we read about Republican hypocrisy bit by bit, it's hard to keep track of just how many of these situations there have been. Mark Morford gives us "The great American hypocrisy tour," which includes visits to some of the most talked about scandals of recent times.Tourists are flocking to see the bathroom in the Minneapolis airport where U.S. Sen. Larry Craig was arrested in a sex sting. "It's become a tourist attraction," said Karen Evans, who staffs the information counter at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "People are taking pictures." -Associated PressAfter taking you on the fictional tour, Mark makes this additional offer:
Options galore, indeed.Please note, the options listed here are merely the beginning. Call us in advance, and we will happily customize your trip to your exact specifications. Feel free to mix and match your desired tour stops from our enormous master list of suspected/convicted Republican pedophiles, adulterers, drug users, johns, felons, bribers, sodomizers, deviants, closeted homosexuals, and deadbeat dads who have besotted the "family values" party for the past, well, pretty much forever.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Hope is the hope
By VictorM: The USA Women's soccer team has been a dominant force in the world, and entered the 2007 World Cup in China as one of the favorites. But on the semifinal match they were humiliated by a faster, more skillful Brazil team, losing to the colorful Brazilians by a score of 4-0, a score that is misleading; it could have been worse.The big controversy before the game became much larger after the game. The US coach replaced Hope Solo, the regular goalkeeper, with Briana Scully, who had not played a game with the team in over three months. Would the US have beaten Brazil with Hope in goal? Of course not, but there's no doubt that a couple of goals were easy saves for Hope. No matter how you look at it, this was one of the biggest bonehead moves I've seen in the sport.
Should Greg Ryan, the USA coach, be fired? Yes! Not because he's a bad coach. In fact, his record with the USA is excellent. But this move justifies my belief that national team coaches should be replaced with certain frequency. The reason being that since they are not the ones dealing up close with new players, like club coaches do, they tend to revert back to the ones they are most familiar with. This was Bruce Arena's downfall when he selected the men's team for 2006, and the team proved too slow and too old for the task. And it was the case now with Ryan.
Hope Solo is the future of American goalkeeping. She should have played against Brazil. Ryan screwed up because he reverted to the old trusted player. But besides that, the midfield was slow and lacked creativity. Ryan has plenty of young talent to pick from but again, he stuck with the old-timers. Bonehead!
It's time to thank Greg Ryan for some excellent years, and to pick a new coach for the USA Women's National Team.
Atheist-bashers really hate freedom of speech
By Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, taking on atheist-bashers:I have absolutely no wish to "convert" religious believers to atheism. How would I do that anyway? I can't threaten you with a hell or promise you a heaven in which I don't believe. Only religious believers have made a business out of converting people by threatening them with damnation or promising them eternal rewards (and, oh yes, by killing them if all else fails)...
The atheist-bashers really hate freedom of speech. They would have preferred a Constitution that guaranteed freedom of religion but not the freedom to speak out against religion. They lost that battle when the Constitution was written in 1787, and they have never gotten over it.
Climate change: Our moral obligation
By Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, on our moral obligation to do something about climate change:OVER the past few years the questions have been asked ever more forcefully whether global climate changes occur in natural cycles or not, to what degree we humans contribute to them, what threats stem from them and what can be done to prevent them. Scientific studies demonstrate that any changes in temperature and energy cycles on a planetary scale could mean danger for all people on all continents.
It is also obvious from published research that human activity is a cause of change; we just don’t know how big its contribution is. Is it necessary to know that to the last percentage point, though? By waiting for incontrovertible precision, aren’t we simply wasting time when we could be taking measures that are relatively painless compared to those we would have to adopt after further delays?...
The end of the world has been anticipated many times and has never come, of course. And it won’t come this time either. We need not fear for our planet. It was here before us and most likely will be here after us. But that doesn’t mean that the human race is not at serious risk. As a result of our endeavors and our irresponsibility our climate might leave no place for us. If we drag our feet, the scope for decision-making — and hence for our individual freedom — could be considerably reduced.
Bono's warning about the monsters in America
By attytood, providing in-person coverage of Bono, lead singer for U2, getting the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia:"America is my country," he declared, to loud applause. And the Irish rocker, wearing a medal that had just been placed around his neck by ex-President George H.W. Bush, who chairs the Constitution Center, indeed had quite a few good things to say about this nation that he's adopted, at least philosophically...
BUT...
But his strongest words of the night were this warning:
Today I read in the Economist an article reporting that over 38 percent of Americans support some type of torture in exceptional circumstances. My country? No. Your country? Tell me no. Today, when I receive this great honor, I ask you, I implore you as an Irishman who has seen some of these things close up, I ask you to remember, you do not have to become a monster to defeat a monster. Your America’s better than that.
He expounded on that theme earlier in the day, when he met with some editorial writers and reporters at the offices of the Daily News and Inquirer. He was asked a question about America's standing in the world, in light of Abu Ghraib:
You lead the world in fighting HIV AIDS,, but these are dangerous times for America. Brand USA has never been in such a vulnerable state," Bono responded.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Beckham in best Bext XI list
By VictorM: A common cry in the aftermath of MLS having signed David Beckham was that he was past his prime, a player that was coming to the USA to make lots of money and live like a movie star. It seemed obvious to me that the people who made those comments were either ignorant of soccer or angry with this decision.After the signing, Beckham was benched at Real Madrid. The negative comments seemed justified. But Beckham's response proved them all wrong. Not only did Beckham earn a starting stop with Real Madrid, but even after joining the Galaxy he was called up to the English National Team.
Now comes further evidence that MSL and the LA Galaxy got a player that is not yet past his prime. David Beckham was just included in the list of 55 players to be selected as the best eleven in the game. Even if Beckham does not make the final eleven, this is still a major accomplishment.
Oh yes, and what's the sound I hear? Ignorant American sports writers and stubborn old farts in Europe eating crow!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
When freedom is news
By VictorM: I'm currently vacationing in Portugal and it's quite interesting to see a view of America from the outside.In the news last night they were praising the USA for allowing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University. They claimed it was a great exercise in the freedom America so often boasts about.
Funny thing is, I remember when something like this was not news (other than the speech itself maybe).
Rudy and 9/11
By VictorM: The former mayor of New York city is leaving no shameful stone unturned in his quest to get the Republican nomination. His recent reason for supporting the NRA and gun control, a flip-flop if ever there was one, is a clear indication of how low he's willing to go.Considering his track record in this campaign so far, if Rudy Giuliani gets elected president in 2008, you can expect the following changes:
- The value of Pi would be 9.11
- We would replace the decimal system with the 9.11 system
- A perfect routine in gymnastics would earn a 9.11 score
- Bo Derrick would be a perfect 9.11
- David Letterman would have a top 9.11 list on his show
- Baseball would have 9.11 innings
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
MoveOn.org ad: a big success
By Dallasdoc, commenting on an article claiming the MoveOn.org ad in the New York Times exposing General Petraeus lies has been a success for the liberal organization, and it has been that success that angered Republicans and scared some Democrats in the the USA Senate:Since last December the Administration has been puffing up Petraeus as the second coming of Alexander the Great, holding him up so high he was clearly (and expressly) intended to be above criticism. This was quite deliberate, because they needed a spokesman above reproach to deliver Bush's mendacious September propaganda blitz.
The Republicans spent months propping up their hallowed General and pimping the critical importance of the September report. Their strategy seems transparently obvious in retrospect. And it would have worked perfectly, except....
The MoveOn ad cut this strategy off at the knees. The Republicans overreacted in feigned fury and spread the "Betray Us" meme far and wide, giving MoveOn much more success than they ever could have anticipated.
The Republicans have committed the biggest strategic screw-up since George Bush detoured to Iraq out of Afghanistan, and thereby gave Osama bin Laden his heart's desire. Let's keep talking about the MoveOn ad. Every day the wingers keep this story alive, they're shooting their warmongering message in the heart.
Monday, September 24, 2007
USA: a nation of cruelty and degradation
By Don Hazen, in an article about how pornography has become more extreme, more degrading to women, and more popular then ever:"If pornography is increasingly cruel and degrading, why is it increasingly commonplace instead of more marginalized? In a society that purports to be civilized, wouldn't we expect most people to reject sexual material that becomes ever more dismissive of the humanity of women? How do we explain ... increasingly more intense ways to humiliate women sexually and the rising popularity of the films that present those activities?" [Author Robert] Jensen concludes: "... this paradox can be resolved by recognizing that one of the assumptions is wrong. Here it is the assumption that the U.S. society routinely rejects cruelty and degradation. In fact the U.S. is a nation that has no serious objection to cruelty and degradation."
Idiot of the Day: John Hawkins
By VictorM: When I read most right wingers sites, I shake my head in disbelief at how removed from reality those people seem to be. They literally make shit up as they go along. Take this idiot's view, for example:Liberals love to think of themselves as intellectual and nuanced, but liberalism is incredibly simplistic. It's nothing more than "childlike emotionalism applied to adult issues." Very seldom does any issue that doesn't involve pandering to their supporters boil down at its core level to more than feeling "nice" or "mean" to liberals. This makes liberals ill equipped to deal with complex issues.Truly, the whole paragraph is idiotic and the last statement is laughably stupid. It's funny to see one in a crowd of "bumper sticker thinkers", "follow the leader" sycophants, "let's go kick some ass" foreign policy advocates, do what they claim we do, that is, break everything down to either "nice" or "mean". Talk about who can't deal with complex issues.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Anbar: Security Risk Status is High
By Watching Those We Choose:Notice anything about Anbar Province? The Security Risk Status is High, and has increased from the last report. Now, why is that? Why is the United Nations giving us such a dire assessment of the situation in Anbar Province? Why does this list show that attacks and security risks have increased, and why is it so bad that they have had to evacuate Anbar? Could it be someone, somewhere is lying? I'm sure the assorted wingnuts will tell us all sorts of bad things about the United Nations.
But look at the good news from this report--the extreme north and south of the country are only moderately dangerous. And ALL of the border crossings are wide open.
So, if we're to believe what we're being told--why does the UN feel Anbar is so dangerous they had to flee from it? And if we believe what we're told about the threat from Syria and Iran, why the hell are the border entry points wide open for travel?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Bush: The Economy slacker
By VictorM: During his most recent press conference -- an embarrassing affair on so many levels -- the worst president in the United States history said, in response to a question about the risk of an economy recession that "You know, you need to talk to economists. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low and being fiscally responsible with the people’s money."Not to be too picky, but Michael Roston takes a look back at Bush’s college transcripts. Bush received grades of 71 and 72 in Economics — a grade that “would correspond with a C-” not a B.
But more importantly, Bush’s tax cuts have
“been the single largest contributor to the reemergence of substantial budget deficits.” “Between 2001 and 2006, the passage of the Bush tax cuts without the offsetting savings have cost $1.2 trillion in lost revenues, or more than 80 percent of the cumulative deficit during this period.”
Friday, September 21, 2007
They all betrayed us
By VictorM: My take on MoveOn.org's General Petraeus commercial is simple: everything they said on the ad is true but aiming it at a military man, even one who let himself become a pawn for the lies that followed, was a mistake (they should have gone after Bush); the Senate resolution was shameful and uncalled for and only served to change the subject, and the Democrats who voted for it will not get a single dime of my money.Bush, the Republican party, and some Democrats simply kicked the first amendment on the teeth. And of course, Rudy Giuliani is acting like a royal ass about it too, saying this about the ad: "It passed a line that we should not allow American political organizations to pass." . These people really do hate our freedom.
I'm pleased to read this piece in an email from MoveOn.org:
Yesterday, an amazing thing happened. After the Senate's shameful vote, and after President Bush called MoveOn "disgusting,"... came the donations. By midnight, over 12,000 people had donated $500,000—more than we've raised any day this year—for our new ad calling out the Republicans who blocked adequate rest for troops headed back to Iraq.
Women's soccer; women's rights
By VictorM: FIFA' Women's World Cup is going on in China at this time, with 16 nations making the final cut. Some of the comments I've read about female participation in the sport has been both predictable (from Egypt) and surprising (from England).From Egypt, this expected passage:
From England, where they have shown a general atmosphere of condescension toward women’s soccer:As [reporter Michael] Slackman writes, “It is a challenge to get men to give up some of their control over women.”
Some of that same attitude is on display in this remarkable seven-minute Al-Jazeera report on women’s soccer in Egypt. As a women’s team practices on a city field, a male player nearby tells the camera: “If my fiancee wanted to play football, I would forbid her. I only respect men playing. It could also distract her from her home. In Egypt we believe the woman should look after the home.” Another says of a female player: “She cannot wear a headscarf and play. This is against religion. Football and sports are haram — forbidden.”
In a lot of countries around the world, it takes guts simply to play the game in the first place. In those places, the sight of a woman on a soccer field, the very thought of it, is in itself subversive and dangerous.
Even in the pages of the Guardian, a politically forward-thinking newspaper whose soccer coverage is generally unparalleled, you can find surprising expressions of that condescension in passages like this: “The traditional male sneer is to compare women’s football to monkeys playing tennis, but this is wrong and unfair. These days it’s more like watching weak men playing football; or men who aren’t very good at football playing football.”
They sure need a break
By VictorM: These are the guys that George Bush and Republicans think need tax cuts:One billion dollars is no longer enough. The price of admission to this, the 25th anniversary edition of the Forbes 400, is $1.3 billion, up $300 million from last year. The collective net worth of the nation's mightiest plutocrats rose $290 billion to $1.54 trillion.
Condemning free speech
By Chris Bowers:The GOP-introduced resolution condemning MoveOn just passed by a huge margin, 72-25. Roughly half the Democrats in the Senate supported it.... At least we know who our allies are.... I wonder what they will vote to condemn in the future. Maybe it will be one of my blog posts that Republicans don't like. Maybe it will be something someone in their family says about Bush that Ann Coulter didn't like. Let the condemnations begin!
Damage on the culture of democracy
By Joe Conason:Appalled by the Tasering of student Andrew Meyer during an appearance by Sen. John Kerry at the University of Florida, [TV talk show host Chris] Matthews said on "Hardball" that he regards that incident as "an iconic moment" in the degradation of free speech during the Bush years...
As Matthews noted... the Bush White House standardized those methods for squelching speech in a manual for presidential advance teams... Then he quoted a telling section: "If demonstrators appear likely to cause only a political disruption, it is the advance person's responsibility to take appropriate action. Rally squads should be dispatched to surround and drown out demonstrators immediately."
That October 2002 manual... includes copious instructions for ensuring that dissension need never be seen nor heard. Its repetitive themes include "the best method for preventing demonstrators," "deterring potential protestors from attending events," and "designat[ing] a protest area ... preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route." Potential protesters are to be ignored only "if it is determined that the media will not see or hear" them.Unfortunately for the White House, such strategies are patently unconstitutional and violate several provisions of the Bill of Rights... Last month, the ACLU won a settlement of $80,000 for Jeffery and Nicole Rank, a Texas couple who had worn T-shirts critical of Bush to a July 4, 2004, event at which he spoke in West Virginia.
But in the meantime the Bush Republicans have inflicted a great deal of damage on the culture of democracy.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Fair play: alive and well
By Bruce:Last month in a League Cup match in England, Leicester defender Clive Clarke collapsed on the field from a heart attack (he luckily survived). The game was near half time and immediately called off with opponents Nottingham on top 1-0. Last night the match was replayed, and in a show of sportsmanship the Leicester team allowed Nottingham to start the match by walking down the field and scoring untouched to bring the score back to where it hand been in the initial match. Leicester said they allowed Nottingham to do that because even though the first match was abandon, it was the score in the first game and it was the right thing to do. Kind of amazing really. Incidentally Leicester came back to win the game.
Barack Obama: Too cautious for my taste
By VictorM: I'm not yet paying too much attention to presidential candidates. I think the three leading Democrats are fine and I will never, ever vote for a Republican, so I will slowly make up my mind about one of the Democrats. But as of now, I have to agree with Kevin Drum on Senator Barack Obama:I know the Obama fans out there are going to jump all over this, but I have to say that the guy's losing me. He's an inspiring speaker, and given the realities of how presidents exercise power that's no small thing. But he sure is cautious to a fault. His big foreign policy speech was fine, but cautious and mainstream. His big healthcare speech was fine, but cautious and mainstream. And now his big tax speech is....just cautious and mainstream. I really want to hear something big and controversial from Obama, something that demonstrates a desire to shake up the status quo. But he just doesn't seem to be willing to take any chances. That's a shame.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Hillary Health Care: Smoke and mirrors?
By eugene, commenting on Hillary Clinton's health care plan:Her plan is a lot of smoke and mirrors. It relies on her employing the language of reform to coddle us into thinking she's on our side, but without the substance to back it up. As someone currently uninsured, I do not want to be forced to give what little money I have to the insurance bloodsuckers so they can jerk me around and deny me care.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
John McCain's slow, slow train wreck
By VictorM: John McCain's presidential campaign continues to derail. The latest development is that of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox quitting his position as McCain's state campaign chairman.Early on McCain got my sympathy from his Vietnam imprisonment, but I caught on to McCain's weakness as a leader during the Kosovo war. Back then he was a man willing to stab our military in the back to score political points. Of course, as usual, the man was wrong as that war went rather well. And his position on the Iraq occupation continues to show his disdain for those in the military.
I echo the sentiments of poster Bob Loblaw who had this to say about Cox's resignation:
I love the fact that his campaign is a slow-moving train wreck. Drag it out John, nice and slow. Bleed all that GOP money away, drip drip drip. No surrender! Straight talk! Maverick! Whatever! In 6 months you can make yet another trip to Iraq wearing your flak jacket and with your helicopter gunship backup and tell us how much progress has been made there since your last visit.
USA: Loss of power and prestige
By Stephen Fidler:The US has suffered a significant loss of power and prestige around the world in the years since George W. Bush came to power, limiting its ability to influence international crises, an annual survey from a well-regarded British security think-tank concluded yesterday...
The deterioration of American power had led to a "non-polar" world in which other actors, such as Russia, had been able to assert themselves...The failings in Iraq created a sense around the world of American power "diminished and demystified", with adversaries believing they will prevail if they manage to draw the US into a prolonged engagement.
In the Middle East, the survey says, the loss of US influence encouraged some countries - notably Iran - to flex their muscles in the region; it provided ammunition for radical groups seeking to discredit the leaders of countries maintaining solid links with the US; and it encouraged some countries to hedge their diplomatic relations with the US by strengthening their links with other regional powers.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Bush Administration: Wrong and Dangerous
From Crooks and Liars, transcript from the Real Time TV show with Bill Maher featuring Republican Senator Chuck Hagel:Maher: Isn’t a dirty trick on the American people when you send a military man out there to basically do a political sell-job?”
Hagel: It’s not only a dirty trick, but it’s dishonest, it’s hypocritical, it’s dangerous and irresponsible. The fact is this is not Petraeus’ policy, it’s the Bush’s policy. The military is — certainly very clear in the Constitution — is subservient to the elected public officials of this country.. but to put our military in a position that this administration has put them in is just wrong, and it’s dangerous.”
Idiot of the Day: Gina Cobb
By VictorM: Right wingers are notorious for seeing enemies everywhere. This is why they can't trust diplomacy; they just want to go kick everyone's ass. Their lack of trust includes all Americans who don't see eye to eye with them:The surge has helped us make progress in Iraq. Reducing troop levels will risk the loss of that progress. Yet the Democrats demand that troop levels be reduced.... The Democrats are already screaming that the troop withdrawals being planned are not enough. Of course they're not enough! As long as we're winning the Iraq war, the left will be demanding that we withdraw enough troops to ensure that we lose it.This idiot wouldn't know what "progress in Iraq" means -- clearly, she's delusional if she thinks there's progress there -- much less be able to define victory in Iraq. It would be too much to expect her to accept that there are different views of the best possible outcome of a terrible decision, and that those with differences of opinion do not wish to lose. Of course, people like her can keep thinking the way they do because they simply aren't affected by wasteful death and human suffering, including that of our own soldiers.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
If they knew then what they should have known then
By VictorM: Some of the Republicans who have enabled the most corrupt, incompetent, and partisan administration ever seen to be having second thoughts. Too bad it's happening now, after the damage is done. Of course we all know about Colin Powell shameful behavior leading up to the Iraq invasion and occupation, but he's not alone.General Pace has done some second guessing:
One of the mistakes I made in my assumptions going in was that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi army would welcome liberation, that the Iraqi army, given the opportunity, would stand together for the Iraqi people and be available to them to help serve the new nation," said Pace, who will leave the chairman's job on Oct. 1. "If I knew that the Iraqi army was not going to be available, then I probably would have made a different recommendation about the total size force going in.Alan Greenspan is also pointing out things he should have known back then:
For comic relief we even have Newt Gingrich saying this:Mr. Greenspan, who calls himself a "lifelong libertarian Republican," writes that he advised the White House to veto some bills to curb "out-of-control" spending while the Republicans controlled Congress. He says President Bush's failure to do so "was a major mistake." Republicans in Congress, he writes, "swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose.
Gingrich, who represented Georgia for 20 years, indicated that a push he is making for a grass-roots change in how the country is governed, with less partisanship, would take at least five years to develop into a coherent alternative to the current system.As Kos says: "Newt invented the harsh brand of partisanship that currently exists in our politics."
Ignorant Americans
By VictorM: This poll is surprising to me. Sure, I do expect Fox News viewers to believe this nonsense, but Fox News hardly has this many viewers:Six years after the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S., it seems the media still have some educational work to do. A new CBS/New York Times poll reveals that even today, 1 in 3 Americans believe that "Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."Although the White House has admitted there is no relationship between Saddam and 9/11 they have done so quietly while all the while their network of misinformation continues to propagate the lie.
This notion was thoroughly debunked by official sources, including those in the White House, years ago, but the myth endures. Polls have shown that belief in this untruth was a prime component in support for the attack on Iraq.
Did Bush embolden the enemy?
By All Spin Zone, commenting on Bush's speech and his pledge to reduce troop levels in Iraq:[T]his time, it seems like the Bushies really mean it. Of course this “reduction” will only bring the levels back down to where they were before Bush initiated the surge. It’s sorta like taking credit for cutting taxes by not increasing them.
The thing that truly ticks me off about this sly numbers game the Bushies are playing is the fact that we have been told ad infinitum that we mustn’t announce our intentions in Iraq because to do so would embolden the enemy, whoever that happened to be that week. Bush himself repeatedly made this assertion to tamp down the pressure to withdraw.
Friday, September 14, 2007
John Edwards: It is time!
By John Edwards, in a TV commercial:Our troops are stuck between a president without a plan to succeed and a Congress without the courage to bring them home.
But Congress must answer to the American people. Tell Congress you know the truth - they have the power to end this war and you expect them to use it. When the president asks for more money and more time, Congress needs to tell him he only gets one choice: a firm timeline for withdrawal.
No timeline, no funding. No excuses.
It is time to end this war.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Who the "kick their ass" people will vote for
By VictorM: Military personnel have overwhelmingly favored the Republican party. As the numbers shown below suggest, that is changing. But let's get real! This change is temporary and a reflection of dissatisfaction with the current administration, not with Republican politics.I still think that the kind of people who want to "go kick some ass" instead of using diplomacy will eventually cast their votes for those candidates who think like they do, and so the Republicans will get the majority of their votes.In 2002, the last full cycle before Bush launched the Iraqi invasion, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found that 23% of military members’ contributions went to Democrats. So far in 2007, that number is 40%.
More specifically, the drop-off for Republican support within the Army is striking. Before the war, 71% of Army campaign contributions went to the GOP. This year, that number is down to 51%. So, the GOP’s advantage went from more than 2-to-1 before the war, to near-parity now.
Britney Spears and the drowning moose
By Rebecca Traister:Who can believe that there is anything more to say about Britney Spears at this point? But, alas, there is. Spears has come to represent something -- something important enough that it keeps rearing its head. As has been pointed out before, she embodies the disdain in which this culture holds its young women: the desire to sexualize and spoil them while young, and to degrade and punish them as they get older. Of course, she also represents a youthful feminine willingness -- stupid or manipulated as it may be -- to conform to the culture's every humiliating expectation of her...
When I was a kid, my mother told me a story about some men she once saw on a lake in northern Maine. They were in a motorboat, chasing a swimming moose around the lake. They chased it and chased it and chased it until, finally, the moose got so tired and confused that it drowned. This, of course, was the idea: torturing an animal too stupid to swim for shore until it died, all in the name of good fun for the guys at the wheel.
It's a heart-stoppingly sad vision, and I thought of that moose when I watched Spears on the VMAs, thought of how baited and trapped and ogled she was. I hate MTV for putting her up to it, hate myself and everyone else for watching it go down. But as angry as it makes me, I have to admit: The moose never jumped in front of the boat in a rhinestone bikini.
Idiot of the Day: James Inhofe
By VictorM: Sometimes, the idiot of the day feature just writes itself. This is Republican Senator James Inhofe's take on the Iraq occupation:It's a huge success story.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Obama on Iraq: It really is this simple
By Barack Obama:Let me be clear: there is no military solution in Iraq, and there never was. The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq’s leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops... We must get out strategically and carefully, removing troops from secure areas first, and keeping troops in more volatile areas until later.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Republican Party: brain-dead
By Balloon Juice:The current GOP is a snivelling, brain-dead, spineless group of sewer trout, always focussed on political advantage, never paying a lick of attention to what really matters. In the aftermath of Petraeus’s lame and essentially fact-free testimony, they are not focusing on on the hard decisions that need to be made, they are not soul-searching and trying to determine their role in this mess. Instead, they are doing what they always do- lashing out, trying to achieve one more temporary little political victory.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
And the lying just goes on and on
By VictorM: The Bush administration's claim that things are improving in Iraq is not surprising. After all, if you're engaged in a criminal invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation purely to control their oil all the while claiming it's for our safety, you really can't be expected to be truthful with anything else.The disparity between "many experts within and outside the government" and the worst administration ever is par for the course for the last several years. It really is up to the media to shine the light on these discrepancies. We know there will be plenty of right-wingers ready to betray the best interests of this country and continue to parrot the liar's talking points even in the face of the obvious failure that is Iraq.The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics are questionable and selectively ignore negative trends.
Surge: The wrong answer has failed
By John Kerry:The escalation failed to do the one and only thing it was supposed to do. The entire Iraq policy of George W. Bush has failed since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad. No amount of parsing or spinning can change those simple facts: the escalation is and was the wrong answer...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Josh Marshall is a naughty boy
By Josh Marshall, commenting on Senator Craig's decision to fight his guilty plea and reverse his intention to retire from the US Senate:I must confess that quite apart from the larger issues of public and private, public acceptance of homosexuality and Republican politics, I am in favor of an aggressive defense on Craig's part simply because I cannot resist the novelistic clash of pathos, hypocrisy and ridiculousness of seeing Craig's effort to 'clear his good name' torpedoing the White House's September Petraeus propaganda campaign.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
To some, sex is just as bad as bombs
By Arianna Huffington:In the consensus judgment of America's 16 intelligence agencies, the terrorist threat to our homeland is "persistent and evolving," placing our country in "a heightened threat environment."
Given that chilling assessment, isn't it the height of madness to use America's finite law enforcement resources to seek out and arrest people for tapping the foot of a cute undercover officer in a restroom?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not wild about walking into a public restroom and seeing a couple using the a stall for something other than, as Sgt. Dave Karsnia, the arresting officer in the Craig case put it, "its intended use."
But that is not what Larry Craig did. If he had, someone in the restroom could have done what most people do when they see a law being broken: go get a cop.
And as it happens, since Craig was arrested in an airport, presumably there were plenty of law enforcement officers nearby looking for, you know, real threats -- like explosives or folks on a Watch List. Assuming, that is, they weren't all hunkered down in other bathrooms across the airport, protecting the public against people who might be thinking about having sex.
Let me be clear: I'm no fan of Larry Craig. Indeed, I disagree with almost everything he stands for. And I'd much rather he not be in the United States Senate. But I'd also rather have had his exit be the result of his constituents voting on his ideas and policies, instead of a ridiculous sting operation in an airport bathroom.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Can we still win if we already lost?
By VictorM: Since the beginning of time people have used appearances to control opinions. The Bush administration is pimping a decrease in attacks in Baghdad as a good thing, as a sign of progress. But this other view is worth giving serious thought to:When Gen. David Petraeus goes before Congress next week to report on the progress of the surge, he may cite a decline in insurgent attacks in Baghdad as one marker of success. In fact, part of the reason behind the decline is how far the Shiite militias' cleansing of Baghdad has progressed: they've essentially won.Ethnic cleansing will not start when we leave; it has been going on right under our noses.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
The news ain't good for Republicans
By Tim Grieve:The Republicans' Black Friday
On Karl Rove's last day at the White House, here are the top six stories on the Washington Post's Web site:
Va. Senator Warner Will Not Seek a Sixth Term: Retirement is unwelcome news for Republicans who hope to take control of the Senate next year.
Fed Hopes to Avoid Bailout: Bernanke indicates central bank will take action if the economy as a whole seems to be suffering.
Snow Leaving White House: Press secretary will leave his job on Sept. 14 and be replaced by his deputy, Dana Perino.
Senator Craig Urged to Resign: GOP leaders seek to contain fallout following Idaho lawmaker's arrest in an airport restroom.
Gonzales Testimony Investigated: Justice Dept. probes whether de