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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Bush is lying again
By VictorM:President Bush is now using a new tactic to justify the drilling at ANWR trying to link the current costs of gasoline with the need for more oil from Alaska. Why is this a blatant lie?
In 2004, the EIA released a report saying that if Congress were to allow drilling in ANWR that year, the oil would not actually begin flowing until 2013 and peak production would not be reached until 2025.The truth is even if we went ahead with the drilling, it would not have any impact on oil prices for many years to come.
Let's face it: Bush was instrumental in fucking up the economy. No amount of lies is going to fool the American people about that fact.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Obama on stinking Fox
By VictorM:As the Democratic primary goes on, I continue to lose faith in both Democratic candidates. In their desire to win, both candidates have engaged in bonehead moves that worry me. The latest move comes from Barack Obama who, after months of avoiding Fox News and even claiming he would take them on, decides to give credibility to that fake organization.
I have to do along with Kos:
So Obama showed weakness by caving to right-wing bullying taunts (thrilling our political foes), disrespected his base, gave Fox a propaganda victory, exposed his campaign as a bunch of liars who promised something their candidate was clearly incapable of delivering, and defended the Democratic spinelessness that gave us the most ridiculous Supreme Court in generations.At least Hillary's bonehead moves have shown strength; by going on Fox, Obama just behaved like the weakling I worry he might be.
Friday, April 25, 2008
A badge of honor, really
By VictorM:The daddy party really views its politicians differently. By that I mean, they think their politicians are above the law. Take for example, Senator Domenici:
In Republican circles, that letter is a badge of honor, and really, will not be seen as a negative. The senator's reaction proves that:Retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., created an appearance of impropriety when he called a federal prosecutor in New Mexico to inquire about the timing of corruption indictments, the Senate ethics committee said Thursday.
The committee criticized Domenici in a letter to the senator, but it recommended no punishment.
...Now that this matter has concluded favorably, I am anxious to focus all of my time and attention on the business of the people of New Mexico."There you go. "Concluded favorably."
I bet that when these people see the movie "History of the World Part 1" and Mel Brooks, as the king, delivers the line "It's good to be the king", Republicans don't laugh, they just nod in agreement.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
It's OK if they don't love it
By VictorM:John Feinstein takes a stroll down memory lane to the days when he was covering the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL), which for a few years in the late 70's seemed to be on the verge of making it in the US.
There are many lessons to learn from those days, some of which the current Major League Soccer (MLS) seems keenly aware, but there is one thing in the article that I hope today's soccer fans learn.
Remembering Gordon Bradley, who made his name as a coach in the league, and Johan Cryuff, one of the greatest players of all times who finished his career in the USA, we have this:
What made Bradley and Cruyff great to deal with is that neither ever acted as if you had to love soccer. They both loved it, had grown up with it -- Gordon in England; Johan in Holland -- but they knew it was going to be an acquired taste in the U.S.That's right! No one has to love the sport and soccer fans secure enough about the game should be able to accept that.
For those who grew up without it and have enjoyed other sports, becoming a soccer lover isn't likely to be in the cards. And that's fine. The empty seats around me at some games are better company than those who sit there asking why a goal isn't worth 7 points and offering suggestions to "fix" the world's most popular and loved sport even when this is their first ever soccer game.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The creeps are coming, the creeps are coming
By VictorM:With the Republicans in danger of losing the White House and further losses in the House and Senate, the fighting will get nastier than ever as the Republican party has sold it's soul (a term I use loosely) to the devil. So this bit of news about a plan to attack Barack Obama comes as no surprise:
Starting Tuesday, a group of conservative activists led by Floyd Brown, author of the famous Willie Horton ad used so effectively against Michael Dukakis in 1988, will begin a campaign to tar Obama as weak on crime and terrorism, a strategy that aims to upend Obama's relatively strong reputation among Republican voters.
I saw their first video against Obama and must say that they have to do much better if they plan to tar the Senator from Illinois, but I have no doubt that they will continue to try.
When few words are enough
By VictorM:There's no need to use lots of words to explain why any decent American should vote for a Democrat and not John McCain. Howard Dean delivered those few words in an email:
Seriously, you have to be a rotten creep, a bitter jackass, or a right wing conservative to think of voting for John McCain.Unemployment is up. Gas and food prices are up. Inflation is on the rise. The housing market is in a slump. The pundits are saying we're in the worst economic mess in decades. But John McCain keeps defending his friend George Bush, saying everything is just fine.
Providing tax cuts for the wealthy, allowing oil and gas companies to make huge windfall profits and turning a blind eye to the problems in the home lending market -- these are John McCain's solutions. American families can't afford four more years of failed Bush economic policies.
Monday, April 21, 2008
My fear of Obama as a candidate
By VictorM:I'm nervous of a Barack Obama campaign against John McCain because Obama is bound to repeat these types of verbal mistakes:
“You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain – and all three of us would be better than George Bush,” Mr. Obama said. “But what you have to ask yourself is, who has the chance to actually, really change things in a fundamental way?”McCain better than Bush? After the Democratic party has gone to great extents to paint McCain as George Bus's third term?
Obama later said: “We can’t afford to have four more years of George Bush policies under the guise of John McCain.” Clearly he was trying to back paddle from his earlier mistake.
Can Obama just give prepared speeches? Because when he's allowed to improvise the results haven't been all that good.
My main worry still is that Obama doesn't have the killer instinct for national politics and his "let's get along" tendency is going to let him down against the Republican machine.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Stupid people
By VictorM:Some people are saying Barack Obama was giving Hillary Clinton the finger when he was scratching his face. I wish we could shoot such stupid people. See it for yourself:
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Maybe I was wrong
By VictorM:Was I wrong? I said for months that the Democrats have two excellent presidential candidates and I'd be happy with either one as the nominee.
Maybe I was wrong, but I'm not bitter and I'm not making any 3 AM calls. I'll just vote against the idiot who wants to stay in Iraq the longest.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Darn, people like him
By VictorM:Al Franken is running for a US Senate seat in Minnesota. Unlike Barack Obama, Franken has drawn sharp contrasts with Republicans and is not afraid to take them on. Unlike Barack Obama, he's gotten some of my money.
A Navy officer and Iraq veteran named Tim Wellman Jr. has this to say about his support for Al Franken:
He brings a clear vision of right and wrong... He's been very strong about confronting Republicans on their own issues, like strength and war.But my main reason for supporting Al Franken was best expressed by Kevin Drum:
Personally, I'd vote for anyone who wrote Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, so I don't need a lot of convincing.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Confession, Christopher, Confession
By VictorM:The very annoying "journalist" Christopher Hitchens would like to ask the Pope something:
We already know that the Pope is a Roman Catholic. What we need to hear is his reason for giving sinecure and asylum to the man [Cardinal Bernard Law] who organized and excused the rape and torture of tens of thousands of American children.Christopher, you charlatan, Cardinal Law probably just confessed to his sins. He then was ordered to pray for oh... I don't know, maybe 15 minutes, and presto! His sins are gone. He's as good as new.
It's good to be Catholic.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
It's Petraeus's war now
By VictorM:Bush has been transferring the war in Iraq from something that he owns to one the military owns now:
President Bush today accepted the recommendation of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus to indefinitely suspend a drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq to consolidate recent security gains and said he told his top commander in the country that "he'll have all the time he needs.And then we have this:
But Bush also said U.S. troops increasingly would assume a supporting role in Iraq, and he moved to reduce the strain on the military by announcing a reduction of Army combat tours from 15 months to 12 months.Doesn't this sound like 2004? Or 2005? Or 2006? Or 2007?
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The Iraq War will forever be a failure
By VictorM:General Petraeus comes to Congress with his many charts trying to explain that the surge is working. Frankly, the whole thing makes me want to puke.
Look, that whole mess was and will always be a failure. Anyone claiming "victory" or "progress" from that mess is in denial.
Watching the Iraq war and all the spinning by the Bush administration is like watching a suicide happening before your own eyes. All we're doing now is trying to come up with justification for it, and standing around wondering what to do with the body.
The stench reeks from anyone defending that disaster.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Keep the sodas and candy away
By VictorM:There really is no surprise with the results of the experiment shown below in terms of the consequences of this diet program:
The question is: will our political leaders have the wisdom and the will to push for such changes across the nation? Doubtful, of course, as the soda and candy companies will be out lobbying in force, but the benefits we'd get as a nation would be enormous, particularly when it comes to health care.Five Philadelphia elementary schools replaced sodas with fruit juice. They scaled back snacks and banished candy. They handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices. They spent hours teaching kids, their parents and teachers about good nutrition...
The number of kids who got fat during the two-year experiment was half the number of kids who got fat in schools that didn't make those efforts...
The bad news: There were still plenty of new overweight kids in the five schools _ over 7 percent of them became overweight compared to the 15 percent in the schools that didn't make changes.
1650 words
By VictorM:Meteor Blades is one of the front page writers at Daily Kos. He just wrote a 1650 word piece to basically say what he could have said with four words: "Hillary, be a quitter."
What's with the rush to allow the Democratic party nomination to follow its process? If they need to change the party primary rules, so be it, but until then, allow any candidate to fight for the nomination. John McCain isn't going to get any better or erase his lousy record between now and a Democratic nominee is chosen. His stupid policies and war-mongering views will be alive and well for the Democratic candidate, whomever he or she is, to kick his butt.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Woman versus African-American
By VictorM:Is the USA ready for either a woman or an African-American to be president? I am of two minds about the question itself. On one hand it's sad that the question is even asked, but given where we have been, it is good that question is being asked seriously because for the first time ever we have a candidate from each group with a realistic shot of winning (even if Hillary's chances are now fading).
So, how do Americans feel about this race and gender issue?
A poll by CNN and Essence magazine released Thursday found that Americans believe the country is more ready to elect an African-American president than a woman...Yes, Hillary has been the subject of more abuse, no question about it.The good news is that the vast majority of voters think the country is ready for either a woman or an African-American. But I was sad to see lower support for a woman -- though after this campaign, I wasn't surprised. I think it's clear that Hillary Clinton has suffered more sexist abuse than Barack Obama has experienced overt racism this year: men yelling "Iron my shirts" on the campaign trail; Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge hyping unflattering photos of Clinton and predicting that Americans will be repelled by the sight of a female president aging, debate moderators telling her she's just not likable, cable commentators trashing her with sexually charged analysis and statements. Remember when that John McCain supporter, a woman, asked "How do we beat the B-word?" about Hillary, and McCain and everybody in the crowd laughed? Imagine if she'd used the same kind of slur about Obama.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Numbers will solve the problem
By VictorM:Sports Illustrated has improved its covered of soccer, with writers who know the sport well. Clearly a positive trend that I wish continues. But they are not above the usual, ignorant, remark about the sport. The latest comes in the form of an editorial:
Are we suppose to believe that the American sports fans who think that soccer is a communist sport, for sissies, too low scoring, with unAmerican ties, and is boring and plain stupid is all of sudden going to be taking the whole family to the nearest soccer game if only the sport had more stats? And what numbers are we talking about? How many times David Beckham scratches his goldenballs? How many times each players blows his nose? The notion that numbers are the problem is utter silliness.American sports fans adore stats, the more the better. We revel in points per game and games per home run and home runs per home stand. Stats provide context; they empower us. You tell me Kobe is better than LeBron? I tell you 30.4, 8.0 and 7.3.
Which leads me to the problem with soccer, or at least with pro soccer in the U.S.: not enough numbers.
Look, soccer does not have a problem. It hasn't made it to major league status in the USA because Americans have three great sports, with great and long traditions, which attract the greatest of athletes, and are deeply embedded in the culture. Asking Americans to accept a sport they did not grow-up with and is not part of their culture is asking the impossible. If soccer is going to make it here, it needs to do what those three other sports took decades to do: grow slowly, attract great players, mix it with good business people, and most importantly, become part of the culture. That's not an easy task, as American football has discovered when trying to win over Europe.
Right now, the only numbers that soccer needs are more butts in the seats. And slowly but surely, that's happening, without the help of dumb stats.Friday, April 04, 2008
Eternal optimists or idiots?
By VictorM:Time and time again we've heard that once Iraqi troops are properly trained, US troops can start a withdrawal. So many people have been buying that line, even when it's obvious that the statement is based on a premise that never seems to materialize:
How many times did the White House tell us that it was only a matter of months before the Iraqi security forces would be able to stand up for themselves, so we could stand down? Yeah, I lost count too but judging from their performance during the Basra offensive, it appears the real answer is never. At least 1,000 to 1,500 deserted during the battle, including dozens of officers, and at least two senior field commanders in the battle.Yes, yes... mission accomplished is just around the corner... blah blah blah... and yet some fools buy this nonsense.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
The torture little step
By VictorM:Commenting on the Yoo memo "asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes," this TPM poster has this to say:
My parents were Hungarian holocaust survivors.The question most asked them about that era was, "how could it happen? What could have been done?
My mother's reply was that tyranny takes little steps. People get upset, and then accept it. Then another little step. A few more little steps and you have death camps.
Yoo's defense of torture is one more little step moving us away from civilization and closer to madness. Where is the outcry?
Indeed, little steps have been taken since Bush has been president and the Republicans controlled Congress. Today, we are further along the path of little steps than we should. We have been down this road before -- Joe McCarthy being one such example that comes to mind -- but is there a "Have you no sense of decency?" moment in our near future? I hope so.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
How the times have changed
By VictorM:Not that long ago, the USA seemed headed to a single political party dominated by the Republican party. Not so anymore:
Still, we shouldn't think that the 2008 presidential election will provide the country with a win by nominating a Democrat. Don't dismiss the Republican's ability to create a fear factor that can only be helped by electing a strong, powerful daddy to keep us safe.Their party brand has been destroyed by one of the most unpopular administrations in American history and one of the most despised wars ever. The American economy is as weak and precarious as it has been in decades. And their nominee is inextricably tied to all of the policies that have eroded our national strength on every level and made Americans dislike and distrust their government more than ever before. Even McCain supporter David Brooks recently acknowledged:
The Republican Party is more unpopular than at any point in the past 40 years. Democrats have a 50 to 36 party identification advantage, the widest in a generation. The general public prefers Democratic approaches on health care, corruption, the economy, and Iraq by double-digit margins.
