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Commentary
5/26/07 - Accumulated Thoughts
It's been about 3 months since my last column about Claudia. Certainly our lives have changed dramatically, but she's doing very well after a 4-week stay at the Issels Medical Clinic in Santa Barbara. She and Hannah return to Santa Fe later today. Time for the next stage of our lives.
I haven't written, though I've followed the news the last 90 days. I didn't write sooner because I didn't feel entitled to vent my anger at politicos when I was really enraged at the cancer. And I didn't think it appropriate in any event. Hell, I was busy being a single-father, butler, maid, cook and driver.
But I'm back
COWER, CAVE & CAPITULATE
Well, it didn't take long for the DC Dems to thoroughly disappoint me with their cave-in to the worst and least popular president in history. I have to wonder, does the Moron and the NSA have lots of photographs of DC Dems in compromising positions? I can't think of enough scorn to heap upon them. What I really despise is their cynicismthat we'll all forget this act of cowardice by November 2008; and that we'll just vote for Dems no matter what because the alternative is so bleak.
That's a part of Democratic policy that erupts boils on the body politic. I really hate these folks. And they're correctI'd rather stick hot needles in my eyes than to ever vote for a republican pig.
HERE THEY COMEAGAIN!!!
I don't really like Hillary, but when the Media and the attack slime of the GOP begin smearing her, I find myself coming to her defense and once again, hating her enemies more than I dislike her. Just why do the Times and the Post and man-love Chris Matthews continue to waste valuable time and space on her and her marriage to Bill?
Really!!!!! Recycling the same old bullshit from the 90's is front page news!..or worthy of an entire episode of Hardballs? Just what is this unhealthy obsession that reflects more poorly on the media than on Hillary. It just so goddamned juvenile.
And meanwhile, the Moron continues to skate free of any investigation.
And then there's the continuing obsession with John Edwards' haircut and his speaking fee. I guess in today's Media, if you're keen on helping the poor, you are not entitled to enjoy the fruits of your own labors. I guess you have to be a gutter rat to speak to poverty and health care. I guess you have to live in a shack; use a blunt razor to shave; and damaged scissors to trim your hair.
What utter bullshit. Edwards is the American Dream come true and he only wants to make sure that all Americans get the chances he got. That's fine by me. But, as usual, the GOP and their Thugs will relentlessly attempt to feminize and demean him as a hypocrite.
What utter bullshit, but again, I'm not surprised. I just hope that he fights like hell as the trail lawyer he was. If he repeats his passivity from 2004, he's sunk before the first Iowa caucuses. I like John Edwards. I like his programs. We'll see.
FOX'S UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH ROSIE
Why oh why is Fox so obsessed with Rosie and her spat with the blond bimbo on The View? I mean, who gives a shit? Rosie's goneend of 'story.' Was Fox and the others just trying to protect the little airhead Valley Girl from being pounded upon by the big fat lesbian? Was American womanhood at stake, here?
Againwho gives a shit?
OkayI'm already bored. But my heroes continue to be Stephanie Miller and Keith Olberman. Heroes from the Democratic Party are in very short supply these days. Maybe that'll change, but I doubt it. I used to respect and like Rahm Emanuel, but he's a Class B schmuck.
Till next time, whenver that isBob
3/19/07 - When Time Takes a Break
Do you know the feeling of leaning on your broken down car on the freeway and watching all the other cars and drivers gliding by with no troubles at all?
Do you know the feeling of looking forward to the weekend on Friday, only to then awake and it's Monday and you just don't care?
Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you?
Have you ever seen life slow down so much that every movement, every task, every request appears as an insurmountable fortress wall?
Has time ever become your enemy in ways that each second is an hour and each minute is interminable?
When you get news that your loved one, your spouse, has cancer you begin to understand Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim getting 'unstuck in time.'
You watch the terror settle in on your spouse. You see the tears and the fear. You look at your two daughters and catch a split in the seam of time and see yourself raising them alone. You see their agony and the results of losing a Mom..of having no maternal guidance. You see it all falling on you.
And you look again at your wife and her fears and the sorrow and grief opens a chasm that is as black as it is deep.
You try to put on a brave face; you rush to her side; you both endlessly speculate about the depth of the cancer itself and the treatment. And you have to wait a very long weekend before you have any answers or direction or results of CAT scans. You try to stay normal for your wife, for your children. Your wife tries to stay strong in front of the children, especially the 8-year-old, who is sensitive beyond all explanation.
Finally, after all the speculation, the surgery is scheduled. Out come various body parts; sections are biopsied; take out a few more parts. Viola! The hard part is over. We know what it was and how serious it is.
She'll live..a few pounds leaner and a few organs short ,but my wife will live. She has the fire and spirit of High Plains Mustang. She's lifted my spirits and our daughter's. I even finally gave into all the pressure and bought a Maltese for Hannah.
Things will change in our household. They have to. But so far, these changes are all for the better.
A POEM FROM A FRIEND:
HARD TO FACE THE TRUTH
It is hard to face the truth
when your son or daughter
comes home in a flag draped box.
How bitter is the taste to your soul
when you know you have
outlived your child.
So you wave the flag and say
that any of those who protest this war
over there in the desert somewhere
in the mideast, you say that they
are traitors to America because
it is your child whose bones
are rotting in the crying ground.
And you do not want to hear
that your child has died for
a no-bid contract and graft.
You do not want to hear
that your child died in vain
for money and greed.
So you tell the world you are
fighting for freedom and liberty
and things like that.
But do you ever lie down at night
and look deep inside your heart
that grieves for your child
who should have outlived you?
Do you ever feel like howling
like a timber wolf, at the moon?
Or do you feel like keening like
a banshee outside a window
and admitting the truth you do not
want to face because it would make
the aching in you so unbearable?
No, your child did not die in vain.
Your child died because they had
something called honor.
They took a vow to serve their country
and they honored that vow.
They did not die in vain because
war profiteers wanted to make a buck
and did not care if your child
returned home whole or with
breath in their body or with a sound mind.
Your child did not fail you nor did they
fail America merely because
they came home from a war
that should never have began.
Face the truth, grieving parent.
Your child died with honor intact.
And no death from honoring one's word
is in vain. They did not die in vain.
But those who live by causing the death
of the honorable and the noble
by lies, by heinous lies,
they live and they will die in vain.
But do not turn your faces away
from the truth of how wrong this war is.
Do not allow the death of your child
to blind you to the evil of this misadventure.
Those who protest this travesty,
they are not traitors. They are Americans,
the same as you are.
Yes, there are among them those who
have also lost their children to this
hideous excuse of making money
for the rich and the cruel.
And their children have not died in vain either.
They also died in honor to keep their word.
Would that those who sent them there
had honor. They have no honor.
The dead will rise up en masse one day
to condemn and damn the souls
they think they can buy with the money
they earned from the blood of your children.Cynthia Summers
March 19, 2007
Hollywood, California
CAN THE WASHINGTON POST FINALLY ADMIT THE TRUTH OF VALERIE PLAME?
In fact, the Bush administration may have desperately wished to blow Ms. Plame's cover for its own political purposes, but the CIA sure didn't want it to happen. Bill Harlow, the agency's then-spokesperson, testified to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that at least three days before the column was published he warned Novak in the strongest possible terms that Plame's name should not be revealed. Harlow said that he checked Plame's status after speaking with Novak and confirmed that she was an undercover operative. He said he called Novak back to repeat that the story Novak had related to him was wrong and that Plame's name should not be used. But he did not tell Novak directly that she was undercover because that was classified.[2] (In fact, Plame was not only a genuine C.I.A. undercover officer. She ran the Joint Task Force on Iraq, which was part of the Counterproliferation Division of the C.I.A.'s Directorate of Operations, working overseas, frequently under "nonofficial cover" on efforts to determine the scope of Iraq's alleged WMD program.)[3]
Take care....Bob
2/13/07 - Brown Rain, Dismal Capitalism and Drizzle Justice
The stench of Brown Rain permeates the House debate on Iraq. Everytime I witness a goofy GOP'r making the usual RNC talking points - fight 'em there so we don't gotta fight 'em here!; oh what a bloodbath if we leave!; oh how dreadful that America will run! - and other such bullshit, I find myself screaming at the TV YOU ASSHOLES STARTED THIS MESS! DEAL WITH YOUR UTTER AND COMPLETE FAILURE HERE AND STOP RAMPING UP THE RHETORIC AND MONEY!
If you care to know just why the Republiscums are lying and repeating baseless and inane talking points so frequently, just read the letter below. It was written by the GOP House leadership and instructs their minions to avoid debating anything substantive on Iraq, Iran or the Surge. This is why I hate these pricks:
We are writing to urge you not to debate the Democratic Iraq resolution on their terms, but rather on ours.
Democrats want to force us to focus on defending the surge, making the case that it will work and explaining why the President's new Iraq policy is different from prior efforts and therefore justified.
We urge you to instead broaden the debate to the threat posed to Americans, the world, and all "unbelievers" by radical Islamists. We would further urge you to join us in educating the American people about the views of radical Islamists and the consequences of not defeating radical Islam in Iraq.
The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.
After reading that tripe, I guess I don't have to be screaming at the television anymore. What a relief to see the GOP up to their old dumbass tricks. At least these tricks and rhetoric aren't working anymore on Americans outside the 27% of brain-dead fascists who support anything and everything the Moron does.
And finally, may I add that I believe our brave soldiers who've died in the Iraq Fiasco, have indeed died in vain. And those who so gleefully began this war and sent our kids, deserve a very long time in hell.
Dismal Capitalism is what we experience these days. It's part of the Milton Friedman School of NeoCon capitalism where the Free Market is worshipped above all else. This kind of capitalism reminds me of the ugly days of The Gilded Age when there were 2 classes in America-the very very wealthy and the rest of the populace. In its heyday, Gilded Age Capitalism was unregulated and the Free Market reigned supreme.
So did child labor; 6 & 7-day workweeks; no overtime; no protection for workers; no regulation of Monopolies or Trusts. It was a great time if you were on the right side of the equation.
Mostly however, it sucked to be on the other side.
My point is that the NeoCon Church of the Free Market wants nothing more than to bring us back to the Gilded Age. Assholes.
Capitalism flourishes precisely when there is regulation. Government 'intrusion' actually encourages a Free Market with protections for those employed in it. Government 'intrusion' keeps the ugly side of Dismal Capitalism in check, because left to its own devices, Free Market Capitalism rapidly devolves into crony Capitalism, rigged bids and prices, and finally a plutocratic corporatocracy where once again, workers/employees have no say in their own future or protection.
Kind of like what we have now with the Moron.
And in my dream world there is no proclivity to outsourcing government functions to the 'Private Sector'. I puke at the myth that the Private Sector is far more streamlined and productive than the awful government. Anyone familiar with just how wonderful and accessible our Healthcare System is? And how about that bang-up job Enron did for California when public utilities were unregulated to feed the bowels of Free Market Capitalism? What about the looming future of Freeway construction and management that will be outsourced to the Private Sector? I'll bet Californians and other citizens are gonna love to pony up tolls in the near future. That's surely an extra tax now, isn't it?
In a nutshell here's what I believe:
1. There at least 3 Government functions that should never,
ever be turned over the Private Sector:
HEALTH CARE [How can it be fair that an HMO works primarily for
its shareholders and administration rather its patients/clients?]
PUBLIC UTILITIES [They should stay in the Public Sector, period.
ROADS [See above]
Once again, the myth of Private Sector superiority to government is nothing more than a myth designed to lull us into letting our health and wellbeing be decided by top-heavy overhead drenched bloated corporations where CEO pay and shareholder return [increased by REFUSING TO SPEND MONY ON ACTUAL HALTH CARE] are paramount.
Enough said for now
Drizzle Justice is fast at work in the incarceration and kangaroo trial of two former Border Patrol agents. They were doing their job and for some strange reason the Moron's so-called Justice Department decided to make an example of them. How strange is it that all the actors on the prosecution side are Bushlickers? How strange is it that the trial was carried on even before the internal investigations were completed? How bizarre is it that the prosecutor actually gave cash, immunity and a green card to the drug smuggler who the Agents had fired upon when they sasw that he had raised a weapon against them?
Hmmmm? It stinks and these two guys got 11 years in prison! And the shame of it is that the Moron won't even consider a pardon; and that no Democrat has signed on to the petition to release these two men.
But then again, Drizzle Justice does sometimes work, even if very slowly. I was glad to see the Dixie Chicks get rewarded on Grammy night after they've been threatened, banished and banned by the Right Wing jerks who run Country Music Radio.
And finally, I just love hearing the howls coming from the Right about how Scooter Libby is being dragged through the mud over a 'nonsensical charge' of perjury about a crime that they claim didn't even exist. I seem to remember these same pious assholes supporting impeachment and removal of Bill Clinton for his perjury about an affair that was not illegal. Then, these windbags were all full of themselves lecturing the rest of us on just how sacred Truth Under Oath was.
Libby committed the same error, but of course, he's being railroaded by an out-of-control prosecutor.
Let's seeOx, Gored, whatever.
Take care
Bob
2/1/07 - Rest In Peace, my dear Molly
I first only read her columns and a few books in the late '90s. And she gave me laughs, hope and an incisive look at Texas and American politics. And I loved that she really didn't like any of the Bush Family, but she saved her best and most wicked wit for 'Shrub'....ie, Bush the Younger.
And when I got my first political talk show on a small TV station in Prescott, AZ, I couldn't wait to try to get her as a guest.
I fell hook, line and sinker at once when I first talked to her on the phone to schedule an appearance. Her lilting Texas drawl belied her fierce liberalism and her cheery outlook on Texas politics. We actually talked for a long time in that first phone call back in 1997. We realized that not only were we separated by a few years, we had shared an 'Ivy' League education. She had attended Smith College in Northern Massachusetts. We were close enough in age to happily swap tales of Smith and Yale. I found her to be most delightful and courteous.
When she appeared via phone on my show, I was mesmerized by her wit and intelligence and almost lost track of my questions. Actually, it was more of a continuation of our phone conversation earlier than a real 'news/pundit' interview. Over the next year, she came back several times. And when I moved to radio in Phoenix, she was only too happy to oblige me again.
And in Phoenix, she took calls from my listeners, some of whom were nasty, smirky and smarmy in their questions. While I was ready to tee off on a few of these jerks, she cut me off and then proceeded to slit their collective throats so neatly that they didn't know they were bleeding until they figuratively hit the floor.
Oh man, but I loved her.
Over the years since I left radio, we talked a few times, and then with the onset of her cancer, it became more difficult to reach her. Her assistant was always polite about it. I understood. And this past weekend when I read that she was back in the hospital, I just knew her time was fast approaching.
I've got all her books, many of which she sent me directly because she like the way I reviewed them. "Y'all are one of the few that actually read the damned things-and you seem to get it." she told me. once. It was the best compliment I could have received.
I'll sure miss her. Hell, I already do. But I've already told my daughter, Hannah, about Molly even though she's a little too young to appreciate her. But I've got all the books just waiting to introduce another generation to the wit, wisdom, gentility and fierceness of my old friend.
God Bless you, Molly Ivins..and Godspeed.
-----------
I'm going to review JESUS CAMP, the documentary that I watched last night, but after writing and remembering Molly, I'll wait 'til a few days hence.
Bob
First of all, thanks for the incredible response the column below. And thank you all for sharing your thoughts and your own experiences. I guess the image touched a nerve and a heart.
I only want to say that on this glorious Sunday in Santa Fe that I've found a new alternative for the Daily Show. I really can't see the Daily Show because it airs at midnight here. But I've been watching Fox News this weekend and have finally realized, as I was getting a headache from laughing so hard, that they are really a satire on journalism. All that 'seriousness' about Fair and Balanced is just a shill John Gibson, Brit Hume, the two beady-eyed freaks with glasses and the array of bleached-blond bimbos are right out of Central Casting. I mean, they not only look silly, they are silly. Fox has been folling us for ten years now. Jon Stewart should sue the plagarizing bastards!
I'm serious here. I used to get angry watching this cavalcade of losers, but I had a grand epiphany this weekend. Fox is Funny! They're much funnier than the Daily Show, which you know is satire. They're more like Colbert...just not as intelligent. But hey, Fox Comedy aims its demographics at the same gang that loved Hee Haw.
But once in awhile, Fox Comedy is just outright brilliant in its savaging of American journalism.
Whew...and to think I bought into Fox's 'seriousness' for lo these many years. Joke's on me.
And UPDATE>>>there was Joe LIEberman on Fox this morning doing his best impression of a Republican! He was terrific. I never knew he had such a raucous sense of humor. Go Joe..
Bob
1/25/07 -Now I'm Really Pissed Off!
Take a few minutes to really look at this image and read the caption..several times if necessary.
Now think of the times, if you're a parent, your little ones have slept on you. Only they've been uninjured and have felt safe enough to fall asleep in your arms.
Now tell me you're not enraged at a president and vice-president who caused this. Go on!!! Try to justify this kind of carnage on innocents. Try it and you're no better than the miserable sociopathic fucks who engineered this abominable 'war'.
NONE OF THIS HAD TO HAPPEN! And I don't take kindly to those in either Party who say we must 'move on' and not waste time blaming those who lied us into this 'war' because gee, we're THERE, so we must now make the best of it.
BULLSHIT!!!! Iraq did nothing to us. And quite honestly, having Saddam in power was a good balance in the MidEast. Go ahead...tell me Iraq is far better off today than it was prior to Bush's Invasion. I dare you. You cannot look at that photo and tell me that.
And for all the Media Swine who breathlessly encouraged this 'war', her blood, and the blood of 600,000 Iraqis and 3000 Americans is your hands. DEAL WITH IT! And the same goes for any Democrat who voted for this 'war' and still equivicates about the solution or HOLDING BUSH ACCOUNTABLE IS NOT FIT TO BE A PARTY NOMINEE. PERIOD!!!
I understand the Dems want to keep this shit going until 2008 when they can decimate the GOP. But I'm not comfortable with another 2 years for a political strategy by one party.
In light of Cheney's statement that he and Bush will do whatever they want regardless of what Congress says or does, the Congress should immediately emanel a special committee to bring articles of Impeachment against both of these pigs. Cutting off funds is not an option. Impeachment is, if only to rattle their cages and in the least, destroy any legacy these two think they'll have.
Every time my little Taylor falls asleep in my arms, I cherish her..but now I also can't help but think of the image above that's been seared onto my soul.
Bob
I have been gone too long. And I appreciate the many of you who've written inquiring as to my whereabouts and health.
It was a long and tumultuous Holiday Season what with the 2 children and several major snowstorms up here in Santa Fe. And I've been involved in a major photo project that will continue into 2007.
Ah, but my political passion has not cooled. I just don't know where to startso I'll try this:
As you can imagine, I'm overjoyed at the November Election results. I do worry about Lieberman and his 'loyalties', but not much we can do about that. Unless of course he becomes so vile and willing to send young Americans to die for a lost cause in Iraq that the good citizens of Connecticut come to their senses and vote a recall and then Governor Rell replaces the schmuck with Lowell Weicker.
That I can live with.
But it seems that the Moron has chosen confrontation and bluster in denying the will of the voters. This sociopath and his sidekick, Dirty Dick, will go on as they please. They'll send 20K more troops to Iraq; they'll ignore the Iraq Study Group; and they'll still try to paint Dems as cowards and cut & runners.
Once again, I'm subjected to all the bullshit and noise in the Media about the Surge, or Escalation as I called it immediately. I just can't get beyond the fact that none of this should have ever happened. The MidEast was predictable and in its bouts of violence oddly stable before the Moron invaded Iraq.
But now, all bets are off. When I hear talk of the worst case scenarios about what will happen if we were to withdraw our troops rapidly (6-12 months) I hang my head and want to sob. The fucking Moron and his NeoCon Thugs opened Pandora's Box and now they expect us to continue to go along with the rabid waste of lives and treasure just so they can claim some sort of hollow victory.
My rage doesn't know where to go sometimes when I read and hear about this plan and that plan and the horrific consequences of our actions in Iraq.
But I do have a new villain and face upon which to spew my anger. And that is the rotund and rapidly blinking Frederick Kagan, NeoCon Chickenshit extraordinaire! If ever there were a living image to the definition of a lying sack of shit, he's it. He's a grossly overweight couch potato who thinks nothing of offering up more American lives to this Lost Cause.
I watched him in all his flabby and arrogant glory this morning on C-Span and was appalled at his ideas, his cockiness and his willingness to sacrifice other people's children in a last desparate attempt to salvage the Moron's (and America's) honor, credibility blah blah blah.
And what's so enraging to me is that everything he said-about the awful consequences of a troop withdrawal; about America losing face; and how just one more 'surge' of an increase in troop levels (by the way, where are these 20 to 40K warriors coming from?) and more spine will assure us VICTORY this time-all I could think of was I had heard these same vapid and morally bankrupt arguments and rationales during the Vietnam War.
My only opinion of the 'adults', the NeoCons, the Right Wing pundits, and the Wurlitzer of Hate Talk Radio is that they are clinically insane, delusional and deadly.
They have wreaked more damage to my country than any terrorists could have ever imagined or done.
They have bankrupted us; they have left us vulnerable to the people who hold our debt; they have nearly damaged the Constitution beyond recognition and repair;
They are people who should be tried for crimes against the US and marched off the prison. They are traitors and villains who deserve no quarter, no mercy, no forgiveness.
I sure don't want to just forget the way we were lied into Iraq and move on. I'm tired of Republican scum getting away with murder just so we can forget their nefarious deeds. No, I want full accountability. I want real consequences visited upon these vile traitors
But I don't know if I'll live long enough to see the damage repaired, and justice fully meted out, or survive just long enough to see my beloved America shrivel on the trash heap of history.
Bob
And by the way...here's a new Tuttle for your reading and peptic ulcer pleasure:
THE AXIS OF INCOMPETENCE
Stephen Tuttle
I have now done the unthinkable and slogged through the official report of the Iraq Study Group (ISG). I have three words: oh my God.
If this is the work of America's wise old hands we are in more desperate trouble than I could have possibly imagined. After nine months, hundreds of interviews covering thousands of hours they've come to the conclusion the solution to the mess in Iraq is that we micro-manage every aspect of the country. We should create a division of labor and decide who does what where, we should divide up the oil loot for them, we should develop reconstruction priorities for them, we should decide where their security forces should be deployed, we should wipe their noses and tuck them into bed every night. Not content to stop there, the ISG was also nice enough to tell American military leaders where and how our troops should be deployed.
And, we should start negotiating with Syria and Iran as well as getting back into the Israel-Palestine mess so we can force the Israelis to surrender what's left of their little country. (As an aside, it's interesting that in a part of the world controlled by tyrants, dictators, corrupt families and various other megalomaniacal little despots, there are a growing number of people, like Jimmy Carter, who think the problem in the area is a tiny little democracy. Here's a hint for Jimmy et al: Israel is not the problem, has never been the problem and will not be the problem in the future. Forcing them to surrender what little geographical protection they have will not solve anything unless you consider their utter destruction to be a solution.)
The ISG report is absolutely breathtaking in both its arrogance and its ignorance. They talked to our military leaders and were surely given as much truth as those officers could manage without jeopardizing their own careers. They didn't spend much time talking to the grunts being shot at and blown up every day. In fact, when the ISG went to Iraq en masse only Charles Robb left the safety and security of the Green Zone to make a field trip.
They talked to Iraqi elected officials who gave them as much truth as they could without jeopardizing their own lives. Unfortunately, Iraqi politicians, duly elected though they may be, have about as much impact as a eunuch at a porn shoot. They are superfluous to the day to day realities and powerless to change much of anything.
Here's what the ISG didn't do: They didn't talk to Sunni and Shi'a clerics, they very folks who are in control of militia members in the tens of thousands perpetuating the violence and who make the decisions that result in continued violence. The vast majority of violent acts of all types would end in a second if the clerics so declared it.
They didn't talk to the Syrians or Iranians to determine the folly of engaging these folks in serious diplomatic discussions. James Baker, one of the lead authors of the ISG report, speciously compared such discussions to diplomatic ties we once had with the old Soviet Union. But the Soviet Union was an old-fashioned imperialistic aggressor, not maniacally zealous religious fanatics who believed the rest of the world was infidels who should be massacred. The Soviets understood reason and logic and didn't care to make their entire population candidates for martyrdom.
The ISG, perhaps most importantly, forgot or ignored some of the realities of Iraq. Iraq has a constitution that was approved by a vote of their citizens. Impotent though they may be, they elected the members of their parliament. We approved these actions. In fact, we insisted on them. So where, exactly, do we obtain the power to force them into the bizarre micro-management called for in the ISG report? Mr. Baker, an old crony of both Ronald Reagan and George Bush the Elder, at least implied we use the old carrot-and-stick. Do what we say or we'll leave. But the very same report suggests that to leave would be catastrophic and we simply cannot leave. That's not much of a carrot or much of a stick.
We're going to have to accept there is going to be a bloodbath in Iraq sooner or later. We're going to have to accept that when we finally get the courage to get the hell out of there, Muslims throughout the region will be dancing in the streets and burning American flags. Sunnis in Iraq will be in for very, very bad times. We're going to have to accept violence may spill over into other countries in the region. Oil production may be interrupted and our gasoline prices may skyrocket, again. We have screwed this up so badly we're going to have to accept there will be negative consequences to get out of it.
Unless you believe Arizona Senator John McCain. McCain has staked out the most cynical position of anyone, so far - send more and more troops until we have enough to "defeat the insurgents". He's mentioned doubling the current troop strength. The Senator seems to believe this is a bullet -proof position. He knows it's not going to happen so when Iraq becomes an even worse mess he can say, "I'm not the one who wanted to cut and run."
Unfortunately, McCain will have some questions to answer as his presidential campaign unfolds. Like, which insurgents are we fighting? Sunnis are killing Shi'a and both have militias and death squads which target Americans. Foreign insurgents are killing everyone. Home-grown Iraqi thugs have entered the fray, too. So who are we fighting, Senator? How do we identify them? Whose side are we on in the sectarian war? Are you prepared to go after the clerics actually causing the problems? How much money are you prepared to spend and how many lives are you prepared to lose?
The Bush Administration has created a mess so monstrous there is no good way out of it. The Iraq Study Group has made recommendations that will only make it worse. And John McCain seems hell-bent on driving straight into Armageddon.
So we have three different approaches, none of which have
the remotest chance of producing positive results. To fight the
Axis of Evil we've created our own Axis of Incompetence.
12/4/06 thru 12/10/06 - Thoughts
With all the attention being paid to Barack Obama, one thing that's never mentioned is the fact that he's BLACK! And I don't think America will vote for a Black man. Look at what happened to a very conservative Democrat named Harold Ford. He got whacked because of a negative racist ad. Also, no southern state is ever going to vote for a Black man for anything other than city council.
Sorry..it's the truth, but no one dares to bring this up on any discussion I've seen or read.
The Right Wing is having a difficult time accepting their loss on 11/7. They have evolved into a band of screeching harpies on subjects that are largely irrelevant to most Americans. It's downright funny, but I never underestimate the power of repetitive lies.
But getting their shorts in a collective ringer over Congressman-Elect Ellison, a Muslim, deciding to take his oath of office on a Koran? To hear that jerk off Dennis Praeger and his partner in crime, Hannity, go on and on and on about this sacrilege, is just damned comical. When I see Hannity of Praeger, I can't help but see two clowns with bulbous noses and a poor paint job.
But we ignore them at our peril. Keep up the ridicule and angry responses. Keep them on the defensive.
And then there's Jim Webb smacking down the Moron. And then there's that Major League Anal Ret, George Will, issuing a woeful response to Webb's bad manners and calls him a 'pompous poseur.'
That's rich coming from a dude who's bow-tie is so tight he craps capollini.
And why is it that the according to all the Media/GOP flacks that the Dems must walk a careful line when instigating investigations/oversight about all the Administration's dirty dealings in Iraq and America? Hmmmmm? Why are the Dems getting lectures like this? Hey, they WON!!!! And Americans want some accountability, not the usual wimpiness we've sadly come to from the DC Dems. And, bipartisanship is bullshit.
The New Media Outcry!!!!! Gweneth Paltrow says she prefers living in London because the English are more civilized, etc., than certain American's she's had to deal with.
That drip on MSNBC, Chris Jansing, just can't seem to get enough of this latest America Bashing. She's beside herself with indignation. She's a goddamned fool, too. And I can't wait for the Hate Talk Radio harpies to begin chiming in today.
My God, they'll do anything to keep Americans' attention off the real issues that confront us.
Worst President Ever? - Yup. So says a group of historians in the Washington Post. And you can imagine the outcry against this proposition. You can imagine the howling from the Right Wing. It is a joy for me to see 'educated' or at least articulate adults try to support Bush. Tucker Carlson and Larry Sabato have called the ranking of Bush as 'hyperbolic.'
Oh, so it's hyperbolic to harshly judge a president who has:
-Increased the National Debt to a point where foreignersfriendly and adversarial alikeown most of our debt? And this puts America's economic/political future in REAL JEOPARDY
-Lied us into a war in Iraq that has come close to now costing the American treasury A TRILLION DOLLARS? Again, all borrowed from China, Japan, England and France;
-Nearly dismantled the Constitution while referring to it as a 'goddamned piece of paper;'
-Waged war on American citizens who happen to disagree with his bullshit positions;
-Engineered a tax cut that only benefited the top _ of 1% of Americans while further bankrupting the American Treasury;
-Appointed sub-intellectual political Right Wing hacks to multiple positions of power within his Administration;
-Writes cute little 'signing statements' about legislation he signs but won't enforce;
-Callously allowed a great American city to be devastated;
-Through unwise and unfair tax cuts and blatant corporate cronyism has made the top one half of one percent of Americans wealthy beyond even their dreams of avarice;
-Ignored all the warning signs leading up to 9/11 and then ruthlessly and immorally capitalized on that tragedy for raw partisan political gain;
-Made excessive use of Recess Appointments for judges and party hacks;
-Nominated the most far right fringe slime as judges;
Need I go on? History will not be kind to the Moron. I hope his name and Administration are associated with the most vile adjectives from now and forever.
Bill Bennett - Why oh why does any Media outlet/Cable/Network/Print give this obese, sweaty, hypocritical Clown any platform from which to rain his 'moral' drivel on us? His reaction the Iraq Study Group's report was an insult to every American who has a brain. Bill BennettGO AWAY!!!!
John Boener (aka Boner) - Soon to be MINORITY LEADER, Boner wrote a 5-page screed in which he whined like a little kid about how much he's going to hate being in the MINORITY. Oh boo hoo, Johnny Boy. Get a life. Resign. GOW AWAY!!!
Ann Coulter? David Horowitz? - Anyone seen or heard from these Harpies since the Election? No? GREAT. GO AWAY!!!!!
I could go on, but I'm feverishly working on the images I shot of rare antique jewelry for book project.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the downfall and disgrace of the Moron
these days. It all is crashing down on him and his stinking arrogance
and cockiness. I wish him no good at all. As the Robert Loggia
character said at the end of the movie "Jagged Edge"
about the murderous character played by Jeff Bridges..
"Fuck him...He's trash."
That's my epitaph for George W. Bush and his entire Administration.
Have a nice day...Bob
AND FINALLY...THIS REVIEW:
"STATIC" by Amy and David Goodman
Amidst other tomes written by really large 'luminaries' lies this gem by Amy and David Goodman, hosts of Public Radio's 'Democracy Now!'.
'Static' reviews several old tales of US torture, Abu Gharaib, character assassnations of Administration enemies, and the Media's participation in these horrors.
And yes, the tales are old, but when retold in context by the Goodmans, my blood was boiling once again. Dems and Americans must never forget the civil and legal atrocities the Bush Administration and their shills in the MSM and Cable Media have wrought upon us.
And I think that's the fundamental message of this enticing book.
The Goodmans catalog the multitude of abuses by this Administration. Again, they're too numerous to encapsulize here. But trust me.THIS IS ONE FINE GEM OF A BOOK..
NOW WE'LL SEE
Stephen Tuttle
(Author's Note: Sorry to have been absent for so long. My campaign work followed by a trip to Michigan to testify as an expert witness in a political defamation trial sucked up my time and energy. It's good to be back.)
Well, that was certainly amusing.
An Election Night without the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth from Democrats. A night absent the usual homicidal rage some progressives feel every couple of years.
But the Democrat celebrating has been excessive and quite possibly ill-conceived. The talk of "mandates" have been close to delusional, the punditry on the verge of ludicrous.
The Democrats had a good election day; no one can reasonably argue that. But, alas, their victory had little to do with them. Quick now, what's the Democrat plan for getting out of the mess in Iraq? In dealing with North Korea and Iran? For fixing Social Security and Medicare? For clamping down on the surreal costs of healthcare? For improving public education? For getting a grip on earmarks and curbing the out-of-control power of lobbyists? For anything?
Having no specific plans yourself while berating your opponent's lack of success is an excellent campaign strategy but not much of a blueprint for successful governance. The Democrats need not worry about breaking promises since they made none. They need not worry about fulfilling an agenda because they had none.
The overriding feeling of most voters, poorly quantified so far, was a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. It was beginning to look as though the Republicans in charge couldn't get or do anything right. We had Cunningham and Ney and Abramoff and DeLay and Iraq and Afghanistan and North Korea and Iran and Katrina and war-profiteering and disaster profiteering and legislation-by-lobbyist. Voters grew weary of the endless string of failures and begrudgingly voted for the only available alternative.
And even then, just barely. George Allen, he of the worst campaign performances in recent memory and automatic nomination into the Campaign Gaffe Hall of Fame was barely defeated by Jim Webb. Same thing with Jon Tester sneaking by Conrad Burns in Montana. In both cases, moderate-to-conservative Democrats snuck by incompetent incumbent Republicans. Here in Arizona, a cartoon character or a Congressman named J.D. Hayworth was barely defeated by a popular former mayor and legislator in a race in which the votes are still being counted.
This was no resounding vote of confidence for Democrats and Democrats on the far left are noticeably less joyful than the party as a whole - many of the new Dems elected on November 7 are well to the right current leadership. They will not be voting in lockstep with anyone.
Democrats will have a very short honeymoon. It might not even last until the new members are sworn-in in January. If their committees chairs are all decided by seniority we'll be right back to same kind of government the American voters overwhelmingly rejected in 1994. If Henry Waxman decides the next session of Congress should be some kind of Vengeance Tour '07, with endless investigations, as he now seems intent on doing, it will hurt his party and the country. If they make impeached former judge and bribe-taker Alcee Hastings a committee chair (he has seniority) they will have thrown away their current advantage on the corruption issue. If they "cut and run" in Iraq by de-funding the war they may be doing the right thing but they'll pay a horrific price politically, forever branded as soft on terrorism.
It's once again time, as so often seems the case, for a page out of the successful Bill Clinton Playbook. Just move the ball forward. If it be by steps grand or small, move the ball forward. Push, nudge, elbow, shove, cooperate, compromise, whatever it takes. If the idea here is that we need a Democrat president in 2008, then Democrats must become the party that gets something done. Almost anything will be just fine. Voters are hungry for signs of progress and accomplishment. Harsh partisanship in any form is not going to work in the current environment.
While I'm not especially sanguine about Democrat success, there were a couple of outstanding results that will benefit everyone.
First, W will now have to nominate more mainstream judges to the federal bench. Aside from waging war, judicial nominations are the most important and enduring activity of any president. Those confirmed, and their decisions, nearly always outlive and outlast the presidents who nominate them. Absent the numbers in the Senate, Bush can no longer safely nominate a Sam Alito or any of the extreme appeals court judges who were routinely ordained by the previous Senate. He'll be forced back to the middle and we'll all be better for it.
Second, the power of the most extreme portion of the religious right took a terrible beating. They couldn't get their beloved abortion ban passed in South Dakota, and their two candidate darlings, Senator Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania and Kenneth Blackwell who was running for governor in Ohio, both got badly drubbed. Yes, they had some successes but more failures and their days setting the legislative agenda in Washington and elsewhere are at least temporarily over. They no longer have the numbers in D.C. and they lost valuable allies in statehouses and state legislatures all over the place.
American voters have always understood and appreciated moral values and their importance in our daily lives. And religious leaders have always played an important role in politics and government. But the majority here has never been comfortable allowing religion to dictate our politics or our policies. The sudden rise of Bible-based legislative actions in the last decade was not a trend but an anomaly. We're now heading back to normalcy.
It was an interesting, hopeful election. Now we'll see.
Oh, yeah, one last thing - neither John McCain nor Hillary
Clinton will ever be President of the United States. Not ever.
Mark it down
11/16/06 - Are We Sure We Won?
To listen to the GOP talking butts and their still-Toadies in the Media, you'd have to start wondering just who won the Elections last week. I have seen mostly only GOP goobers talking about Dems everywhere I turn. And then there's Tweety Matthews grilling John Murtha as if he were a convicted felon...more of the same. I see GOP radio schmucks yukking it up for the 11/06 GOP victory! They just can't wait for the Dems to implode so they can walk back into power in 2008. I hear and see that the Dems are arranged in their usual circular firing squad from the likes of Andrea Mitchell and Nora O'Donnell on MSNBC.
Huh? Pinch me. I thought the Dems won. Isn't Pelosi the new Speaker of the House? Didn't Steny Hoyer just win over Murtha for Majority Leader?
And how come every stinking pundit keeps saying that it takes 60 votes in the Senate for anything to get passed? How does that skunk from KY, the new GOP MINORITY LEADER, have the balls to say that the GOP is still actually in power in the Senate? And why do the Media shills swallow that crap without so much as a whimper?
Sixty votes to pass anything? Hmmmmm...someone must have changed the Constitution while I was sleeping. Oh.....Tuttle tells me that Mitch was referring to what it takes to override a filibuster. Oh, I see. After threatening the 'Nuclear Option' for so many years, now the GOP scum in the Senate are now bragging about their use of it to block legislation?
Wow....no blatant hypocrisy here. I can't wait to see their reaction if the Dems show some 'nads during this lame duck session and filibuster the slate of Right Wing extremist judges that couldn't passed in the last session. Gee, come to think of it, I sure hope the Dems filibuster these neo-farts and let the GOP gnash their teeth and whine to the stars.
We'll see. Bipartisanship? That translates to bullshit in my book. For the GOP, bipartisanship amounts to groveling from the Dems.
Take care all.....Bob
So? Why are the Media still featuring Republicans alone analyzing the Dems' victory or when they have a Dem on the air, balancing him/her with a GOP'r?
My wife says I'm just not satisfied. But, why does it seem that the Media and the GOP are in the process of defining the Dems still again? Ah, it's a rhetorical question. I think maybe, just maybe, for once the Dems are playing it pretty smart. We'll see.
But, oh how my former hero Jimmy Carville has fallen. What's up with the Great Bald One calling for Dean's resignation and replacing him with Harold Ford, Jr. at the DNC? I think maybe Mary's been getting a little toooooo good in bed. James..get your mojo back will ya?
It's been a grand week. And after meeting Al and Howard a few weeks ago in LA, I'm going back for T'Giving with the fam this time. I wonder who I'll meet this time around? Hmmmm?
Take care all...great work and grand perseverance. Now, let's not drop the ball or retreat into ourselves. Keep the pressure on the Dems to do what's right this time around and not be cowed. Let them never forget that THEY HAVE THE POWER!
Bob
11/7/06 - Day of Infamy or Celebration?
I've waited this long to write about The Elections. I'm tired, really tired, of all the polls and number crunching.,
So, I have no predictions todayonly hoped-for outcomes. So here goes.
In a perfect America the following will happen:
1. There'll be no voter fraud from the GOP;
2. Dems win both the Senate and the House;
3. Dems win the Senate by 7 seats so as to make Holy Joe irrelevant and invisible;
4. American Voters once again show they are not sheep and not swayed by smear and fear negative ads;
5. Chaffee, Santorum, DeWhine, Allen, Burns, Corker and Talent lose;
6. The 3 GOP House schmucks from CT lose; [Shays, Johnson and Simons];
7. Maybe, just maybe, Connecticut voters..Independents and the 37% Democrats who are saying they'll vote for the despicable Holy Joe, will realize just what they're voting for and have a list minute change of brain. HJ has already said this mornig that he's feeling more like a true Independent and will vote that way. That means he'll vote GOP. FOLKS, HE A STINKING REPUBLICAN IN WAITING!!!!
BUT MY BIGGEST HOPE IS TO WATCH SEAN HANNITY HAVE A COMPLETE AND UTTER MELTDOWN TONIGHT ON FOX AS THE ABOVE RESULTS OCCUR. AND THEN TO LISTEN TO THE DRUG-ADDLED FAT BOY WEEP, WAIL AND GRIND HIS TEETH ON WEDNESDAY MORNING.
Let it be so.
Actually, all of the above, some of the above or none of the above will happen. But I'm off for a nice day hiking with my eldest daughter up at Bandelier National Monument so I don't have to obsess much more about this crapuntil tonight, that is.
AND GO OUT AND VOTE!!!!!! THIS MAY BE THE LAST CHANCE WE HAVE TO UPEND THE MARCH TOWARDS A TOTALITARIAN THEOCRACY BEGAN BY THE GOP SLIMEBALLS.
Have a nice day.Bob
The Moron actually demanding John Kerry apologize to the Troops?
John McCain actually demanding John Kerry apologize to the Troops?
Tony Snow, Dick (The Son of a Bitch) Cheney actually demanding John Kerry apologize to the Troops?
See Jane, see the GOP Party of Thugs and Assholes implode. See the GOP Wurlitzer of lies, smears and disinformation kick into high gear.
The sight of the Moron demanding John Kerry apologize is one of the greatest images I've seen in this campaign. Here's the AWOL Chickenshit-in-Chief deliberately lying about Kerry's joke about HIM, in order to appear like he's supporting the Troops. This from a schmuck who's allowed and demanded that his Congress shred the VA funding; underfund the Troops; stick our brave Troops with deteriorating and lousy equipmentarmor, ammo, weapons that don't work at the Military's Standard of 90% efficiency
And here's John McCain, a friend of Kerry's who stood SILENT while his pal was shredded by the Swift Boaters, now demanding that Kerry apologize. Let's be honest here. John McCain, according the Bush's GOP, is a sick man who can't be trusted because of the torture he faced in Vietnam. I agree with that. What's more, untreated mental illness only progresses over time. It never abates on its own.
So, McCain, the Straight Liar, is only making his mental illness and unfitness to be President more obvious to anyone with a brain. And to top it off, McCain is just another GOP Thug/Asshole.
And here's the Media, ignoring 103 American deaths in Iraq this past month and all of the other wretched bullshit wrought by this Administration and its Toadies in Congress, and once again running with the GOP Official Line.
Have they not learned anything from 2000? Has the Media no shame or brains? They're played like suckers by Rove and they fall for it everytime.
I'm glad Kerry is fighting back. Even Chris Matthews sided with him tonight. But this shrill distraction is just what Rove plays for.
If the American voters fall for this shitwell, they've actually elected these criminals over the last 12 years, haven't they?
11/01/06
People are going to believe just what they want to believe. Thus the folks who believe Kerry insulted the Troops will think that no matter the truth.
And the rest of us with half a brain will either fight back, support Kerry, or yawn.
I admit to having a few moments of fright when this whole
thing burst open and I heard the heavy breathing of the Wurlitzer,
aka Hate Talk Radio. But you know what? John fought back hard-real
hard. And after gleaning the Cable Media, and the 12 papers I
scan each day, I realized that just maybe the GOP has gone too
far. I think that this issue with John is being ignored-it has
no legs.
Even Imus had John as a guest today and supported him and his
anger at the GOP.
Wowso, a tempest in a teapot. The only ones who'll try to keep this alive will be the Usual Gang of Idiots, and I think they're beginning to see the end of their reign of terror.
People aren't listening much anymore. And John got it right this time.
Here's to the beginning of the end of all the tripe and violence we've had to put up with over the last 12 years.
Bob
Oh..nice pix of me and Al, eh? It was good to meet him and actually spend some time talking with him. I was asking him why it is that in recent American history, we seem to elect the worst among us rather than the brightest?
He just shook his head. Great guy, and humble as well.
10/15/06 - Two Weeks? Yikes
Hey, nothing new today except a new link to a terrific site: Red Tractor-USA. Until I get my shorts in a wad again and want to write (soon) Patrick's site is a very viable alternative.
Bob
9/30/06 - Fascism Here We Come! & An Upleasant Confrontation in the Forest
I'm not sure where to start or even how to start this column. To those of you who read this rant regularly, you'll note the American Epitaph above. That was written over 2 years ago and not much has changed. In fact, things have only got worse. And I tend to view this upcoming election as the most significant election in the last 100 years. And I'm still wary and nervous about the outcome.
With the passage of the Detainee Treatment Bill - S. 3930 - and the Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - this GOP Congress has all but turned my America into a Fascist State.
I've seen this coming ever since the Moron and his Thugs were selected by the Court in 2000. I'm not all that pleased that in this case I have 20/20 vision while the DC Dem wore bi-focals. (apology to William Goldman/Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid). But if I could have seen it coming, why not others with more power and influence? Maybe we'll never know.
But once again, the DC Dems not only remained silent - cowed by the ads they saw coming from KKKarl - 12 of them actually voted to give Bush dictatorial powers way beyond the scope of the Constitution. I mean, we are in deep shit here.
Here's the DC Dem Hall of Shame:
YEAs ---65
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Only three of the above cowards are in a re-election bid; Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Bill Nelson of Florida and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Menendez' campaign is a tight one, so I'm sure he had visions of Rovian attack ads if he had voted against the torturer's enabling act. Still, he's a chickenshit.
Stabenow has been challenged, but she's building a nice lead. Why vote for this bill? Chickenshit.
And then there's Bill Nelson who's running against the harpy Katherine Harris. He must be scared. He's only ahead of her in the polls by 300 points. What's up with his vote? Chickenshit.
And then there's the other 9. Other than Lieberman, I don't get it. Joe should be dropping like a stone for this vote alone, but just before the vote, he held a 10-point lead over Lamont. We all know it's the GOP money that's helping him. But as a native Nutmegger, I cannot for the life of me understand why those solid, stubborn, intelligent and independent thinkers in Connecticut are so wedded to this sanctimonious asshole.
Frank Lautenberg? Tim Johnson? Sheesh
You know, silly me, I actually expected the DC Dems in the Senate to raise a filibuster on this Act. But they didn't. And 12 supported this abomination.
I can't wait to see what they plan on doing to oppose the House bill on religious freedom/expression. I mean that bill effectively destroys any remaining wall of separation between Church and State. It rules that attorneys bringing cases against the government for mixing Church/State can no longer reclaim their fees if they win. That means that individuals who are hurt or damaged by melding Christianity and State, can't get their cases heard on a contingency fee anymore. The plaintiffs will have to pay the attorneys' fees.
This, if passed by the Senate, will put us on a course well beyond fascism and directly into a Theocracy, just like Iran's.
Nice, eh?
I realize that things seem to be trending for the Dems right now, what with Woodward's book, the abrupt resignation from the House by Mark Foley of Florida for sexually explicit e-mails to a 16-year-old House page, the NIE report, Goerrge Felix Allen's ugly bigotry, etc.
But I sense that the Dems are sitting back and betting that they'll win by default. Hence, they don't have to be proactive. Big mistakebutbut I detect Dems with Gonads in many races.
We'll see
Now just today in the forest I had a very disquieting experience with someone who may either be mentally ill or a meddling liberal. You know that I am mostly a libertarian in certain areas. I don't think the gov has the right to intrude on my life too much. And I decry the demons on the Right and their Fundamentalist pals who would dictate our every moral move. I actually despise them and their interference.
Alas, the same thing might be said about liberals who meddle
in my private life or habits or how I raise my children, etc.
To the point without getting deeply into my philosophy. I always carry a sidearm when I hike in the forest. My right, my choice I don't have to give a reason. Today I was hiking with the Fam and a woman directly approached me and demanded to know why I was wearing a gun. I get asked this once in awhile, so I calmly began to respond to her. She never let me finish and took it from zero to sixty in a nanosceond.
She began telling me it was rude of me to carry. Then it was an insult to her peace and serenity that I was carrying. Then I was breaking the law and she was going to report me.
I stood there thinking that this was one crazy person. She didn't know me and she was now screaming and ranting at me..AND I WAS THE ONE WITH THE GUN!
I've learned over the years that the single most important thing for me when I'm carrying is to remain in a 'cone of peace.' So after I tried to respond to her calmly and got nowhere, I politely told her to mind her own business and move on and stop disrupting me and my children. I would not allow it to escalate any further because I didn't care to get into an argument with her. She finally huffed off, yelling various threats at me over her shoulder which I ignored.
My wife and children were stunned. So was I. But it showed me the far side - extremist - liberal response to gun ownership and gun rights. I don't threaten anyone. There have been enough sitings of cougars recently in Santa Fe proper and up in the forest to cause me some concern especially when I'm hiking with my children.
But what is it about certain people, left or right, that makes them think they can uncivilly and rudely invade my space and begin to yell at me about what they want me to do!? I don't get it. She would have had a much more pleasant day in the forest if she had kept her opinions to herself. Righties would do well to shut up too.
I didn't like this event, but because in the end I didn't care what her agenda was, we all had a pretty nice hike.
And in the end, I'm glad for her that she verbally assaulted me and not someone else who might have taken great offense to her meddling and rage.
My word to meddlers, Right or Left...Please just shut up.
Bob
9/25/06 - REVIEW OF JOHN DEAN'S "CONSERVATIVES WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE"
John Dean has been a hero to me ever since his testimony at the Watergate Hearings in 1971 were validated completely by Nixon's own tapes. He suffered and has suffered from untold attacks by the Right Wing and thugs like Gordon Liddy, Chuck 'The Christian' Colson, and various RW authors and politicians.
And through it all he has stood tall and honorable. I even drove him when I was a chauffeur in Los Angeles in the early 1980's and got a chance to tell him how much I admired him.
Thus, I looked forward to his latest tome, "Conservatives Without a Conscience" and was not disappointed.
Although Dean writes in a ponderous and lawyerly fashion, I decided to just go with his sometimes heavy prose. Yet, after the first 80 pages, I was hooked as Dean picked up his righteous momentum.
The book traces studies of a social malady called 'authoritarianism.' Let me quote Dean at some length to explain what he learned from Robert Altermeyer's 3-decade study of this phenomenon.
"No question hovered at the front of my mind more, reading through Altemeyer's studies of authoritarian behavior, that, why are right-wingers often malicious, mean-spirited, and disrespectful of even the basic codes of civility? While the radical left has had its episodes of boorishness, the right has taken these tactics to an unprecedented level. Social science has discovered these forms of behavior can be rather easily explained as a form of aggression. [emphasis mine]
Altemeyer discovered that the aggression of right-wingers seems to be not merely instrumental-that is, expressed for some political purpose-but engaged in for the pure pleasure of it.. Torture is an extreme example, yet apparently authoritarians can find even that enjoyable, as the Abu Ghraib photos tragically illustrate.But on a more pedestrian level, he found it difficult for most right-wingers to talk about any subject about which they felt strongly without attacking others. [emphasis mine again]. RIGHT-WING AUTHORITARIANS, AS WE HAVE SEEN, ARE MOTIVATED BY THEIR FEAR OF A DANGEROUS WORLD, WHEREAS SOCIAL DOMINATORS HAVE AN EVER-PRESENT DESIRE TO DOMINATE. THE FACTOR THAT MAKES RIGHT-WINGERS FASTER THAN MOST PEOPLE TO ATTACK OTHERS, AND THAT SEEMS TO KEEP THEM LIVING IN AN 'ATTACK MODE,' IS THEIR REMARKABLE SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. THEY ARE SO SURE THEY ARE NOT ONLY RIGHT, BUT HOLY AND PURE, THAT THEY ARE BURSTING WITH INDIGNATION AND A DESIRE TO SMITE DOWN THEIR ENEMIES, ALTEMEYER EXPLAINED." [emphasis mine again.] [passage quoted is from ppg 66-67]
In two paragraphs, Dean cyrstalizes the disease that is right wing authoritarianism. He continues to cite prominent GOP Double Authoritariansthose who not only blindly follow authortity (Bible, mega Churches, etc) but who have the immense need to Dominate otherstheir own followers. Newt Gingrich and tom DeLay come in for a special microscopic analysis.
It is in the second half of the book where Dean fully and brilliantly puts the 'theory' to work in completely disassembling the likes of Gingrich and DeLay, Frist, Spiro Agnew, Dick Cheney, Bush and other GOP thugs. In the context of Altermeyer's study, here's how Dean aptly describes the after-effects of 9/11.
Bush and Cheney saw 9/11 as an excuse to indulge their naturalk authoritarian and conservative instincts. In so doing, they have brought out the worst in conservatism.: THEY HAVE JUSTIFIED AND RATIONALIZED THEIR INCREASING US OF AUTHORITARIAN TACTICS IN THE NAME OF FIGHTING TERRORISM. WITHOOUT TERRORISM, GEORGE W. BUSH WOULD HAVE LIKELY BEEN A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT; WITH TERRORISM AS A RAISON D'ETRE, BUSH AND CHENEY'S AUTHORITARIANISM HAS NOT BEEN QUESTIONED SERIOUSLY ENOUGH. [emphasis mine; pg 169]
It's a frightening litany of behavior and distortion of language to demonize their opponents while advancing their near-fascist agenda of undoing the American Republic.
And while Dean concludes that these people are dangerous, he believes that they are still a long way from achieving their ends. He places his faith in the intelligence and strength of the American character when he argues this way and I applaud him for that.
But in the end, this very informative book is also extremely frightening to anyone who cares about the direction American government it taking these days. I'm terrified for America's future, near and far. And Dean's book goes a long way to alerting us to that dire possibility.
He is and always has been a man of courage and integrity, looming far above his attackers. This is a book that deserves a careful and thorough readingand much more publicity to make Americans aware of the precarious position of our freedoms and our Repubic.
Bob
9/22/06 - Limp-Dick Limbaugh, Jerk-Off Johnny McCain & Howlin' Hugo Chavez
Last first.. Howlin' Hugo Chavez...Just what is the outrage of Chavez' remarks about Bush at the UN this past week? You'd think he ordered an invasion or cut off Venezuela's oil supply to the US to hear those paragons of virtue at Fox, the RNC, MSNBC and CNN.
And early in the morning, there was one bubble-headed bleach blond (apologies to the Eagles) doofy broad on Fox who was either giving birth without meds or having one huge public orgasm. Gretchen something or other. Man, this harpie was on fire. HOW DARE CHAVEZ CRITICIZE OUR PRESIDENT ON US SOIL? SHOULD WE BOYCOTT CITGO? [owned by Venezuela]; SHOULD WE INVADE VENEZUELA? HMMMMMM?
And on and on and on she went, badgering her guests who were only too happy to agree with her and take the rhetoric against Chavez to even higher/lower levels. And of course it all had to come back to how much Chavez' name-calling was going to help Bush and the GOP in the elections.
Oh puhleeeezeFirst of all I always cringe when I hear these clowns attack someone for making use of free speech. HOW DARE CHAVEZ CRITICIZE OUR PRESIDENT ON US SOIL? And our politicians and Media scum act like pouting 3-year-olds. I'm not sure which disgraces America more, Chavez calling Bush the Devil or the Media/GOP/Dem response.
I mean after all, wasn't Bush behind the attempted coup against a duly elected leader - Chavez - a few years ago? Wasn't the US the very first country out of the gate to diplomatically recognize the new Venezuelan government? Do you think that maybe Chavez was and remains just a bit pissed off about that? **[Sorry, but the Administration's denials ring hollow like everything they lie about.]**
I'm not going to even offer a disclaimer about Chavez. He is what he ismostly an angry democratically leader of a South American country who takes issue with the gringos up North trying to dictate to him. So, he clowned at the UN and called Bush the devil. Uh, has it occurred to anyone in the Media just how vile the words the US government has officially used against him? Hmmmmmmm?
So screw the morons and thugs who are playing up Chavez as a new enemy of America. It's Bush's fault it's come to this. And yes, I do blame just about everything on him, his evil, his thugs, and his idiocy.
Jerk-Off Johnny....Mr Straight Talk is at best a coward and at worst a lying slimeball. I'll take both. After grandstanding against the Moron's desire to gut Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, and getting a lot of great press, he fell to his knees to accommodate the Torturer-in-Chief. The so-called 'compromise' is a joke and a sad one at that. Bush gets everything he wants, and Johnny gets hosed. As a matter of fact, America now gets to be known for its torture as opposed to its high moral ground.
McCain is an ass and a flabby one. He's a disgrace. I think he really did suffer serious emotional damage in Hanoi. He's one sick, lying unpredictable bastard. And just once I'd like to see someone somewhere call him on his two-faced bullshit and see how he reacts. It wouldn't be pretty, I can tell you that.
Limp-Dick-Limbaugh...I rarely listen to him and never remark on him. But to hear him continue to rant at the communists, rapists, extremists, liberals and terrorists all in one breath made me want to puke. It's just an example of how he poisons the discourseadding 'liberals' on a list such as the one mentioned above is an example of his evil. And he's so good at it that peoplesome with brains..actually believe this sewage. I despise him. He's a coward and a bully and should be in jail, not on the radio.
New note on November...I'm beginning to think that even with the Media Wurlizter pulling so hard for Bush and the GOP, while ignoring polls that show the opposite, the Dems just may get the House and even the Senate. I think the Media is badly reading the mood of the American public. And while they refulse to give Dems anywhere near equal time, what I've been reading on sites dealing with local races across the country, the GOP is very afraid and very hysterical. And so far, the smears and bullshit we expect from KKKarl Rove are not working.
I look for Harold Ford, Jr to win in Tennessee. I expect Jim Webb will beat George Felix Allen by a surprising (to the pundits) margin. I even expect Chip Carter to come close to unseating John Ensign in Nevada. Burn of Montana is toast. DeWine will lose to Brown in Ohio. Santorum will fall in Pennsylvania. Lieberman is toast. Daniel Akaka will survive against a so-called 'moderate' Liebermann-supporting Democrat. And Jim Talent will lose in Missouri.
In the House, the Dems are fighting back against everything the GOP scum can throw at them. I'm proud of the Fighting Dems as well.
But.we'll see. I still have a healthy distrust of American voters these days as well as Diebold. I expect a major October surprise from Rove. But with Osama most likely dead by disease, Rove will have to ratchet up the surprise now. More than likely, I see a bombing campaign against Iran. And that will fail to be a winner for the GOP.
I knowwhat the hell am I smoking? I can assure you nothing. Hey, way back in May I saw the dreadful weakness of the Red Sox and knew that they not only would not win the American League East, but that they would probably not make it to the playoffs. They had good pitching with a lousy bullpen; they had a much weaker slugging line-up; and their defense was the best ever and best in the Majors. But 1 out of 3 doesn't make for a championship.
I feel the same way about the GOP. They have a myriad of weaknesses just below the surface and I think on a local level, the Dems are exploiting those weaknesses. I still think the DC Dems are morons however. And the less they're heard from the better.
Take care....Bob
9/18/06 - Just Give Him His Bottle and Tuck Him In..
I've waited a few days to write about the Moron's press conference because I was too stunned to react.
What I witnessed was a petulant, spoiled, truculent (redundant, I know), semi-retarded, dangerous, enraged TODDLER who was stamping his feet and holding his breath (I wish) until he gets his way.
His performance on Friday was also frightening. That his petulance and brain-dead hissy fit could be read by anyone as 'Leadership', 'Strength' etc., is beyond me..waaaaaaaay beyond me. How could anyone with more than the calories in a cucumber IQ not see just how dangerous this moron has become. I mean, many of us have known since the gate just how dangerous Bush is, but how could a Press Corps of professional journalists NOT see just how deranged and utterly hideous this man is?
And when I hear supporters of Bush braying that he was 'in command' and that he 'humbled the Left Wing Media', I realize that I'm more correct than ever in discarding anyone who believes this guy is anything but a certifiable nut case.
I shuddered during this press conference. But rather than getting so enraged that I take my Browning Hi-Power and shoot out the TV, I just turned the Moron off. And thankfully, I've read some commentary, especially from David Gergen, that agrees with my assessment of what I saw. Naturally, Fox and the dolts on CNN and MSNBC praised the Moron's performance. And they went orgasmic when his poll numbers increased a point.
When will someone just give Bush a sippy cup and tuck his sorry ass into a crib and turn out the lights?
AgainI have to wonder how this is all going to play out in the November elections.
TV Prosecutors.
Is it my imagination or are the Cable News shows being overrun with angry, twisted, horse-faced sputtering women who are just chomping at the bit to convict EVERYONE! Nancy Grace, of course, is the queen of this mein. And she's a colossal asshole. I saw another wannabe on MSNBC just a few minutes ago. I couldn't hang around to get her name, but I've seen her shrill and judgmental crap before.
Are not these women getting laid? Are they so fearful of appearing compassionate that someone will yell at them? Sheeeshit's just one more blow in the continuing collapse of our Society. God, how I mourn the loss of intelligence.
Take care.Bob
***My review of John Dean's book,'Conservatives Without a Conscience', will soon follow. In the meantime, let me say that though the book starts off slowly with Dean's lawyerly prose, by page 80 it's hitting 4th gear and flying!!!!
Of course, now I'm really scared about the future course of America and realize just how significant the upcoming elections are. Eleanor Clift use to tell me on my radio show, that each Party always believes that the next election IS the key to very survival.
I used to believe her until this year.
And Dean's book is serving to reinforce my fear. Make no mistakehis book is vitally important for people to readpeople who truly care about America and our future. I'm not being an alarmistI just telling the truth.***
9/11/06 - Five Years Since..So What?
Other than the relatives of the 3,000 innocents who lost their lives 5 years ago, no one else in America has a right to anger or excessive grief anymore. The Mainstream Media least of all has any right to flog this horrific memory for ratings or political gain for the GOP. The scumbag under whose watch this occurred has even less of a right to jaunt around the various 9/11 sites pretending like he gives a shit. And ABC has only brought shame and degradation on itself for its Clinton-Bashing, Bush-Promoting 4 hour GOP campaign video.
At five years, the cacophony of blather and phony compassion makes me ill and dirty. It's like I've been watching a National Circle Jerk.
Look, we were attacked ONCE and ONCE only. It was an horrific day that did indeed affect us all as Americans. But the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth on such a grand scale are utter bullshit.and a terrible waste of our national psyche.
Today is simply a GOP political rally, supported by all the Usual Suspects and Gangs of Media Idiots.
And I can pretty much guess that there may not be a major attack on us again. You know why? Because Bin Laden has already won. He got Bush to cut and run US troops out of Saudi military bases. Remember that that was one of his big demands, and the Moron, like the coward he is, whisked US troops out of the Kingdom under the cover of night and, of course, very little publicity.
Bin Laden's won because of the cowardice and fear of the American people who've let this Administration run roughshod over the Constitution and Rule of Law in the name of 'Safety.' We must appear to Bin Laden et al as a nation of cowering and shuddering sheep.
And, worst of all, impotent jerks. Whenever I listen to some chicken hawk on C-Span demanding that we get tough or that we've got tough on those Islamo-Fascists (huh?) or sputtering some other 'tough-guy' attitude, I laugh. I mean, we're squandering lives, treasure, credibility and leadership among the world because of our disastrous and unnecessary was in Iraq.
Iraq is a complete failure. Truth. We were led there by lies and deliberate deceit.
Afghanistan is almost back under Taliban control. They're certainly having a bumper year for Opium poppies it seems. Not that the money from that enterprise funds Bin Laden and his followers.
Bin Laden doesn't need to ever attack the US again, except to get our attention. He's won unless the American voters turn out these vile and despicable slime that have damn near ruined our country.
I've been asked if I fear another terrorist attack. My response is that I don't care. There is little they can do that's other than symbolic. Sure, some crazies may want to nuke us, but hey, I've heard our side wishing to turn the Mid-East into solid silicon, so what's the difference?
I've then been asked why my response is callous.
Well I mean, I have as much chance of getting killed or affected by another terrorist attack as I would by being struck by lightening in the Antarctic. I don'tI can't worry about being 'safe' and have it direct my living.
Now, I'm not hiding my head in the sand. Yes Bin Laden or others would like to keep attacking us because they see it works. And there are real dangers out thereRussia's loose nukes; China's willingness to turn its head away from terrorists. {After all, they aren't going after China, are they?]
We could be attacked in cyberspace that could cripple the economy. Hell, we could have our nuclear power plants attacked. And we sure know that a bomb of any makings could be smuggled into any of our ports.
And these are real threats because the Moron and his GOP Thugs refuse to face those dangers because they're more interested in keeping us scared and voting for them.
Like in London, good, patient, thorough and effective police work can prevent any of the above threats I mentioned. The mighty US military can't do it. All the draconian shredding of the Constitution can't do it. All the macho posturing by the cowardly bastards who've led us into this morass can't do it.
Money, commitment and solid police work can.
Did I mention actual leadership? No need. We sure don't have any at this moment. America's been lucky to have real leaders appear in times of great crises. Our luck seems to have run out this time around.
So, take your minute of silence to remember those who died on 9/11. But get over it and do something to change America's direction. Yes, 9/11 changed a lot. But it didn't change everything. We may yet rediscover our souls and our strengths.
Take care.Bob
9/8/06 - So Much BS..so little times
First off, I have to wonder just how much more crap Connecticut voters - the Independents, Dems and Republicans with a brain/conscience - are going to take from Lieberman before they tank him in the polls.
I mean accepting millions from the RNC for his primary run? Or how about his vote against the Menendez Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill? You know the one that restricted the use of Cluster Bombs on civilians? Yup, just can't get in the way of our beloved leader and Commander-in-Chief of blowing the living shit out of cilivians in 3rd World countries. You betcha
God, Lieberman makes me want to vomit. He's hardly a man of principle or integrity. Each disclosure shows this. And the way that the GOP is rushing to have him switch parties is endemic of the selfish arrogance of this creep. He has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Here's how HJ responds to a factual hard-hitting ad from Lamont:
The senator fired back, calling Lamont's stance on the war "dangerous," and complained, "at some point my opponent has to start dealing with fact and not just be a perpetual whiner."
Whiner? HJ calling someone else a whiner? That's rich. Please, CT voters, send this clown/whore to the bottom of the nearest reservoir.
Next.. are you enjoying the implosion of the Right Wing Radio Turds when it comes to defending ABC's biased and dishonest 'docu-drama' about 9/11 wherein Clinton is roundly blamed for the September tragedy?
The rank hypocrisy of Hannity and Limbaugh, to name the only two I can hear up here in Santa Fe, is both amusing and enraging. Do they really think so little of Americans that they would shriek so loudly in favor of this ABC travesty while expecting Americans to forget their childish but successful crusade against a CBS film about the Reagans?
Next and I love this one. These very same Right Wing Radio Turds and their compatriots on Fox and MSNBC are rejoicing in what they call bad news for the Democrats. Yes, my friends, the Dems are toast because GAS PRICES ARE FALLING!!!
That's right! Cheaper gas is just around the corner, making Americans forget about how they've been gouged by the Oil Companies and their henchmen in the Bush Administration.
Wow..golly gee.
Gas is dropping from $3.35 a gallon all the way down to $3.01 per gallon!!!
Holy Gushers, Batman!!! Easy times and cheap gas are here again! Get me that second SUV or buy me that new Ford 150 Monster Pick Up truck! It's drivin' time again!!!!
Just what kind of fools do these jerk take us for? Big ones I guess because I don't see or hear anyone making the point I just did above. Oh well.oh for the days of $2.90 per gallon gas! What will I tell my grandchildren about these Golden Days?
Next again.Just what is a Paris Hilton? Just how did this useless piece of flesh ever get 'famous' and deserve all that face time in the Mainstream Media? How does it get to drive a Mercedes McLaren SLR and do it drunk? How does it command a million dollars just for being at the opening of some dumbass dance club?
This whole Paris Hilton charade is sadly endemic of today's MSM and culture. What do parents tell their little girls about this shrunken head? I for one spell it out straight to my Hannah. Darling, there's no explaining taste. And there's nothing nice or decent about a shadow named Paris.
And finally.here we go with the Fear Campaign of 2006. Once again, I can't believe that a majority of American voters will buy this pig in a poke for a third time. But then, ya never know!
Take care.Bob
I just wanted to get this on the record one more time. I hate and despise the Moron, Cheney, KKKarl Rove, Rummie and all the other fascist pigs in this Administration.
Also, I'm reading John Dean's book and will review it soon. But, other than the sometimes burdensome lawyerly writing, Dean hits several nails right on the head. It's a terrific and frightening book. More to come.
8/31/06 - Liars, Cheaters & Thieves
I actually made it through about 5 minutes of the Moron's latest screed in front of the American Legion in Utah. In that short time, he blatantly lied about how his Administration has actually raised veteran's benefits 69% over what Clinton did! I wonder, will anyone in the MSM maybe mention how in truth, this Administration has cut veteran's benefits by over 40% of what Clinton did? Will someone have the balls to maybe mention the fact that this lying scumbag has authorized a 50% cut in VA programs to help those Iraq vets who've suffered major head and brain injuries?
Hmmmmmmm?
And then the last thing I heard the asshole-in-chief proclaim before I lunged for the remote was how his Administration had proudly initiated and supported a law to prevent demonstrations at military funerals. And those ignorant bastards in the audience gave him a standing ovation! They were lead to believe that it was those goddamned Lefties who were demonstrating at funerals.
Once again the Truth is that the one and only group who's been disrupting military funerals has been the Reverend Fwed Felps of the Westover Baptist Church from Kansas. He's the one who posts a web site called God Hates Fags. It is Fwed and his demented followers who have been disrupting military funerals, NOT ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS! Fwed and his gang scream and shout and carry the most vile posters at military funerals.
But to hear the Moron talk about it, he's protected military families from the protests of those Lefties!
I didn't stick around to hear how many lies and vitriol this asshole was going to spew about appeasers, cut-and-runners and Democrats. Maybe he'll play good cop to Rummies bad cop.
I find and continue to find the GOP and this Administration the most vile, corrupt, incompetent and dangerous Gang of Fascists to ever threaten my beloved America.
GOP Talking Points.
All Dems, Lefties, anti-war types are at best ignorant appeasers and at worst our active collaborators with THEM, the terrorists! Lets see how that plays this time around. Certainly the GOP has raised the level of intensity and insanity here because it's all they've got. Americans now realize just what they've voted into office for the last 6 years.
But will this bullshit work again? I'd like to think not, but I just don't trust anyonethe GOP, Diebold, the MSM or even in the end, American voters.
And Hurrah to Keith Olberman! His valiantly virulent response to Rummie's insane comments:
The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack.
Donald S. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.
Mr. Rumsfeld's remarkable comments to the Veterans of Foreign Wars yesterday demand the deep analysis - and the sober contemplation - of every American.
For they do not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence - indeed, the loyalty - of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land;
Worse, still, they credit those same transient occupants - ou remployees - with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration's track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.
Dissent and disagreement with government is the life's blood of human freedom; And not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as "his" troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq.
It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile it is right - and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.
In a small irony, however, Mr. Rumsfeld's speechwriter was adroit in invoking the memory of the appeasement of the Nazis.
For, in their time, there was another government faced with true peril - with a growing evil - powerful and remorseless. That government, like Mr. Rumsfeld's, had a monopoly on all the facts. It, too, had the secret information. It alone had the true picture of the threat. It too dismissed and insulted its critics in terms like Mr. Rumsfeld's - questioning their intellect and their morality.
That government was England's, in the 1930's.
It knew Hitler posed no true threat to Europe, let alone England.
It knew Germany was not re-arming, in violation of all treaties and accords.
It knew that the hard evidence it received, which contradicted policies, conclusions - and omniscience - needed to be dismissed.
The English government of Neville Chamberlain already knew the truth. Most relevant of all - it "knew" that its staunchest critics needed to be marginalized and isolated. In fact, it portrayed the foremost of them as a blood-thirsty war-monger who was, if not truly senile - at best morally or intellectually confused.
That critic's name was Winston Churchill.
Sadly, we have no Winston Churchills evident among us this evening. We have only Donald Rumsfelds, demonizing disagreement, the way Neville Chamberlain demonized Winston Churchill. History - and 163 million pounds of Luftwaffe bombs over England - taught us that all Mr. Chamberlain had was his certainty - and his own confusion. A confusion that suggested that the office can not only make the man, but that the office can also make the facts.
Thus did Mr. Rumsfeld make an apt historical analogy. Excepting the fact that he has the battery plugged in backwards.
His government, absolute - and exclusive - in its knowledge, is not the modern version of the one which stood up to the Nazis. It is the modern version of the government of Neville Chamberlain.
But back to today's Omniscients. That about which Mr. Rumsfeld is confused is simply this:
This is a Democracy. Still. Sometimes just barely. And as such, all voices count - not just his. Had he or his President perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience - about Osama Bin Laden's plans five years ago - about Saddam Hussein's weapons four years ago - about Hurricane Katrina's impact one* year ago - we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their omniscience as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego.
But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris. Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to the entire "Fog of Fear" which continues to envelope this nation - he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies, have - inadvertently or intentionally - profited and benefited, both personally, and politically.
And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer's New Clothes.
In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised?
As a child, of whose heroism did he read?
On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight?
With what country has he confused the United States of America?
--
The confusion we - as its citizens - must now address, is stark and forbidding. But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note - with hope in your heart - that those earlier
Americans always found their way to the light and we can, too.
The confusion is about whether this Secretary of Defense, and this Administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: The destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City, so valiantly fought.
--
And about Mr. Rumsfeld's other main assertion, that this country faces a "new type of fascism."
As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that - though probably not in the way he thought he meant it.
This country faces a new type of fascism - indeed.
--
Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow.
But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed, "confused" or "immoral."
Thus forgive me for reading Murrow in full:
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," he said, in 1954.
"We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.
"We will not walk in fear - one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men;
"Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were - for the moment - unpopular."
Whew...well said, sir. I can't wait for the wack-jobs on
Hate Talk Radio to respond today. Maybe more Americans will see
just how demented, insane and dangerous this Gang of Liars, Crooks
and Cheats really are.and voters will dispose of these bastards
this November.
I can only hope and pray
Take care.Bob
Dick beats the drums of war once again, and no one in the Media cares. It seems they're much more interested in Jon Benet's supposed 'killer' and of course, the firing of Tom Cruise.
Forget that the New York Times and Washington Post featured front page articles last Friday about the incrased and very public pressure from the White House [Cheney et al] on the CIA to get with the program and reallyI mean reallypromote just how dangerous Iran is to the US!!!
Do I see a replay of the run-up to Iraq? Yes. And so far, no one in the Media has taken any offense at this nor have they played it up other than those two articles. But John Michael Karr and Tom Cruise?
WOW!!!!!!!
And my perennial questionWhere are the DC Dems on this one? Quiet as usual, while they let Sleazerman rant on and on about the joys of war and the great victory in Iraq. Oh, and they've promised Holy Joe that should he win the election in November, they'll let the traitorous bastard retain his seniority. That means putting him as Chair of the Senate Finance committee..you know, the one that has oversight over corporations and white collar crooks. You know, the one he chaired in 2001 and refused to investigate Enron.
Well, there ya go. That's why DC Dems are such losers.
I watched a Lt General Bart on CSPAN yesterday morning. He was articulate and well-informed about how to approach Iran and others in the MidEast. Of course, since he wasn't advocating war and violent attacks, but rather was making the case for early negotiations. And, of course, he was pilloried by a number of asshole Right Wing callers accusing him of being like Chamberlain - an appeaser.
I love how the RW uses Chamberlain as a launching point to make their case for immediate war against Iran. They obviously miss the entire point of Chamberlain's failure and that it bears no resemblance to the calls for meetings and negotiations. No one who is calling for negotiations is starting out with a piece of land to give to Iran as an enticement to stop their aggression.
First of all Iran isn't coveting anyone else's landwell, maybe Israel, but even there it's not clear of what their objective might be. No one is offering Sudetenland or Austria or any other countries involved in Hitler/Chamberlain anschluss.
The art of negotiation is obviously lost on the Moron and his Thugs. I seem to remember that Otto von Bismark negotiated about 60+ years of peace in Europe in the late 19th Century. One can deal with an adversary. One needs to be tough and compromising at the same time. I just think that this Administration has no understanding of the art of negotiation and a deeper unwillingness to learn. They always want to take the easy way outWAR. And that scares the crap out of me.
Why? Because I'm getting the sense that the October Surprise
will not be a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq as has been hinted.
I believe that if the numbers are against the GOP in October and
Diebold can't guarantee another stolen election for these thugs,
the Moron and the Dickster will just start bombing Iran. They'll
expect the usual inane cheerleading from the Media and, of course,
the DC Dems. They'll expect that Americans will rally 'round the
Prez and hence will not risk putting those traitorous Dems in
control of either House of Congress.
We'll be subjected to the deadening thumps of martial music and
martial graphics and breathless reporting that brooks no questions
and no dissent. Hence, Americans will never hear a dissenting
voice. And we're right back in the Iraq Syndrome all over again,
only this time against an enemy that will fight back and not hold
anything back.
My question is this. Will the American People see through all the fog of bullshit and lies this time, or will they crumble like hard cheddar cheese and meekly swallow the leader's new war and the subsequent destruction of our economy (except for the wealthy)?
I really don't want to know the answer to that question. I don't trust anyone these days.
8/17/06 - Sleaszerman Again
Now hat Imus has once again smeared Ned Lamont in the most ugly manner; now that the Republican Senate Committee has 'endorsed' Liebermann; now that Holy Joe has directed more vitriol and venom at his own Party than he ever did against Cheney in 2000, it's time for the good citizens of Connecticut to show him the door with a swift electoral kick in the ass.
And the Senate Dems ought to strip him of his seniority AND present committee assignments immediately! But they won't because they love Holy Joe and don't want him bucking over to the GOP. Uh right, keep HJ pissing in your tent than on it.
That's bullshit. HJ must go and must be drummed out of the Democratic Party. I can tell you this that he'll switch to the GOP in a heartbeat if he wins in November and if the GOP retains its majority in the Senate.
I don't know when I've reviled a piece of dog crap politician like HJ so thoroughly. He's a disgrace and his sanctimony only makes him more vile.
And now, for more fun things.just what is it about Jon Benet Ramsey and her latest killer that has so monopolized the Cable News Media since Tuesday? I mean, MSNBC hasn't covered anything else. They've been 24/7 on this new suspect and they've pretty much convicted him. Who decides what's news these days? Sheeeesh.
8/15/06 - KKKarl at it again
Yup, I'm terrified. I'm terrified that once more the GOP attempts to scare the crap out of Americans so they can retain power is going to work. As a reasonable thinking citizen, I can't believe that Rove's stock strategy will work for a third time. But then again, PT Barnum was correct in saying there's a sucker born every minute. And someone else said one would never go broke overestimating the intelligence of the American public.
Ahthe sweet smell of fear.
It always warms my heart to hear the GOP nutjobs like Hannity, Limbaugh, Whorowitz, O'Reilley, et al show their concerns for the future of the Democrat Party.
Especially the wailing from Hannity about Holy Joe's fate at the hands of the far-left extremistsSean cannot praise Holy Joe loud enough or long enough. And now we learn that KKKarl Rove called Lieberman and offered direct assistance to his independent run against Lamont.
Uh, that alone should disqualify HJ from any consideration by Democrats in Connecticut. But I don't know what will enrage or activate most common-sense Nutmeggers to finally dump this sanctimonious asshole once and for all.
Last night on Fox's H&C Sean had David Whorowitz, Novak the Traitor, and the Usual Gang of Idiots all waxing eloquently about the future of the Dems. And oh how they wailed and mourned! And oh how they bashed all Dems as being more dangerous to America than Al Queda! The shit was flying in a brown deluge. And there was Alan Colmes, intimidated and lost as usual, unable to stand up to the bullies.
It may be easy to dismiss the Fox BS as what it isGOP propaganda and smear and hate attacks.
But I fear that the DC Dems and their consultant class will, as usual, cower and spend their time worrying about what KKKarl is going to do to them, rather than finally realizing that it's time for the DC Dems to grow a pair and start taking the fight directly to the GOP. Again, without forcefully responding to the smears and lies from not only Fox, but also the bloviating pundits in DC, the Dems are sending a signal that they are on the defensivethat they are all the bad things Fox et al say about them.
DC Dems cowering is an old story. DC Dems fighting back with fury and facts would be a welcome change. Hell, if the Dems can't or won't defend themselves, then how can they expect the American voters to believe that they will defend America?
I HAVE TO ASK, WHY DOES AL FRANKEN CONTINUE TO MAKE LIGHT OR LAUGH AT THESE SCURRILOUS CHARGES? WHY DOES HE DEPEND ON MERE RIDICULE TO DEMEAN THE FASCIST PIGS WHO ARE TRASHING NOT ONLY THE DEMS, BUT AMERICAN DEMOCRACY? I DON'T FIND AL EFFECTIVE OR FUNNY.
And I wrote a note to Bob Beckel after his dismal performance on Fox last night where he allowed himself to be bullied and butchered by yet another anorexic blond GOP bimbo, Kellyanne Conway, and the drunken bar rat, Hannity.
Just what is it about Dems in DC that they have such tiny gonads?
And Ned Lamont, BE WARNEDLieberman will covertly accept aid from the KKKarl and Bush as well as running smear ads constantly. Ned better get over his moment of victory and start fighting back NOW! Also, the Bloggers had better start setting the record straight on the exact reasons that Ned won..and it wasn't just the War.
So here's the conventional wisdom about Ned Lamont and his successful campaign to dislodge Holy Joe as Dem nominee for the Senate Race
Ned's anti-war;
He ran a smear campaign against HJ;
He's single-handedly responsible for the death of the Democratic
Party;
He's a rehashed George McGovern;
He's a novice;
His supporters are only from the Far Left (horrors);
He's pulled the Dems dangerously to the Far Left;
Blah blah blah blah
What morons like David Broder, Dan Balz and Adam Nagourney conveniently failed to report was that HJ not only supported Bush and his war, he often sided with the GOP on issues like Terry Shiavo, the Gang of 14 [to get the Dems to promise not to filibuster Bush's court nominees], failure to block Alito, voting for the Bankruptcy Act, criticizing fellow Dems for questioning the conduct of the War, playing to Hannity rather than his Connecticut constituency, and leading off the GOP attack on Dems for trying to get a vote on bringing the Troops Home, just to name a few.
No, these idiots all have a script they're reading, and they will not allow facts or history to get in the way!
ADDENDUM:
Oh how convenient that just today, the Brits broke up an alleged Al-Queda plot to blow jets out of the sky.
Wowand the Media and Hate Talk Radio just fall right in line. How many times is the Bush/Cheney Fascists going to get away with crying 'Wolf' every time their political fortunes are in the tank?
We'll see. I'm enraged at the fear these evil scum continue to attempt to lay on us all the time. Have the Dems grown up? Are the American people getting wise to this utter bullshit tactic?
I don't know.
Have a nice day.Bob
Oh, Isreal & Hezbollah & Lebanon? A neocon and right wing wacko Christian Fundie's idea of the ultimate spiritual wet dream.
Will anyone stand up to the Neocons who are now calling for all-out US/Isreal war against Syria and Iran? Is there anyone with sanity AND courage?
And why don't Dems go face to face with Matthews and Hannity and O'Reilley and confront them about their smears and attacks against the Dems? Hmmmmmmmm?
A charge unanswsered eventually takes on credibility. When will Dems get this? I doubt it
Have more of a nice day.Bob
And the my beloved Red Sox are collapsing! Is there no port
in the storm me?
7/19/06 - Yet Another Atrocity
With his first veto of his administration and with the truckload of lies and bullshit by which he justified itt, he Moron dashed the hopes of millions of Americans and continued his assault on science and intellect.
As probably the most anti-intellectual man America's had as a president, the Moron basked in the bountiful applause of his hand-picked audience of assorted Yahoos, Bozos, Clinically Insane and Adoring Assholes. It sure did make for a great campaign spot for any GOP'r who might want it in his/her campaign for re-election. But it did precious for ailing Americans who had hoped for compassion from this jerk and got kneed in the nuts instead.
KKKarl did himself proud.
Except for one tiny little reason ...once again Americans of any intellect or smarts had to watch the Moron lying through his teeth about the efficacy of Adult Stem Cell researchas opposed the Embryonic; murder; and the phoniest piety for respecting life that I've not seen since Hannibal wept for the massacred Carthaginians.
In a word Bush dished out a luncheon buffet of lies and smears and utter bullshit. And it seemed right after that the Cable Media Jerks fell right in line.
[Aside..so there's no mistake. I hate and despise the Moron as a person and as president. I'm proud to bash him every chance I get. And quite frankly, anyone in my circle who dares to defend him is no longer a friend or welcome in my presence. He is a malicious cancer on my country.]
MSNBC immediately featured the new health writer from USA Today, who happened to be a director at NIH under the Moron. (I found that out on my own. MSNBC failed to disclose that tidbit.) At first she seemed balanced, but it didn't take her long to betray her ignorance AND her fawning over the Moron and The Veto. My god, by the end of the interview, she was dissing embronic stem cell research and saying that Bush would be remembered as the Stem Cell President!!!! And to make my nausea worse, she was grinning like a school girl who just got laid by the captain of the football team.
What a disgrace. But I'm not surprised at anything I see on Cable News anymore. Well, yeah, I am. I still hope for some truth. Olbermann's fine, but one show doesn't cut it.
At CNN, they brought out the Toad who always talks about the political plays of the day/week/month and is considered an expert on polls. Okay, I forgot his name, but I can see him. Citing polls that overwhelmingly disagree with The Veto, he still managed to shill for the Moron's steadfastness, etc. And as I was nearly losing my lunch by now, along comes horse-faced Dana Bash with her usually breathy reporting on the Moron. Gone was my delicious tuna-on-corn rye with mayo! Purged.
And then just for fun, I switched to Fox. Not surprisingly there was Fwed Barnes, praising the Prez and then saying it was okay what he did politically. Hell, Kerrey tried to make it an issue in 2004, and got no traction at all, sayeth Fwed. So once again, the Moron and the GOP win!
I just don't have any idea where the breaking point is going to be. I mean just how long will Americans take this atrocity who poses as a President? Not the wiretappng; not the obstruction of the investigation of the wiretapping; not the Bank Scandal; certainly not the lies and shitstorm in Iraq and now the entire MidEast because of his horrific incompetence; not the fact that the very same treasonous neo-cons who got us into Iraq are now calling for full-scale invasions of Syria and Iran; certainly not the abysmal reaction to Katrina and the failed rebuilding of New Orleans; not the fact that the US cannot even figure out how to evacuate Americans in danger in Beirut; not the fact that this asshole makes a fool out of himself AND my country whenever he goes abroad; (G-8 conference shenanigans); not the fact that he and the thugs around him detest American Democracy and the Constitution; KKKarl Rove going to the well once again to lie and smear all who stand against the Moron and the GOP this Fall; the willingness of the GOP Congress to waste valuable time debating and voting on meaningless drivel; the newly-packed Courts that seem to be more brazen than ever in my lifetime in giving the shaft to the individual in fanvor of the Government or Corporations..I could go on but am having a minor attack of outrage fatigue for the moment.
But where is the outrage from my fellow citizens? Not the 23% who'll blithely follow the GOP off a cliff. No, where are the people with consciences and average intelligence and common sense?
What will it take for us to get really, really, really PISSED OFF?
I don't know and that's what is frightening.
At least the Red Sox are back with a 1.5 game lead over the Yankees.
Take care....Bob
"At this time we have no indication of any imminent threat to the New York transportation system, or anywhere else in the U.S.," Richard Kolko, Washington-based FBI special agent, said in a statement to Associated Press Radio.
Ah yes, it must be coming up on another election that the GOP has to win but is losing in all polls on all issues. First the hapless Miami 11, a bunch of illiterate goofballs who didn't the brainpower to organize an outing to the Men's Room..and now,
THE TERRORIST PLOT TO BLOW UP NYC TUNNELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The plot is being played up as usual by the MainStreamMedia (MSM) as the next 9/11. But the Feds, under the leadership of King Moron saved Americans from the bloodbath! Be grateful. Vote Republican. And stay very very afraid.
Once again, amidst all the hoopla, especially from the usual gang of Idiots on CNN, MSNBC (particularly Nora O'Donnell) and of course Fox, it appears as if the Feds caught these guys red-handed on the PATH train with a ton of plastique!!!!!
Well, no, the truth is a little more unheroic and too much of a coincidence in light of all the bad news that's been coming out around the Moron and his very own Thugs. (Diplomatic failure on N. Korea, the worsening of Iraq after the glorious death of Zarqawi; the plunging Stock Market; the limp-dick approach to Iran, etc etc)
It's called Election 2006 DISTRACT AND ATTACK!
Distract everyone's attention from the abysmal failures and crimes of the Bush Administration and then attack anyone who dares speak the truth to their facism.
It looks like KKKarl Rove is going for the Triple Crown and using the same old bullshit strategy to try to affect an election for the third time. Will it work? I don't know. It depends once again on the Dems and how they respond to this. But I think it'll work because the Dems will dither and equivicate.
.and in Connecticut, my home state, they'll probably give Joe Lieberman the victory in the Primary.
On the other hand, if Ned Lamont can continue the pressure on Joe morphing into Bush and how JL's a disgusting traitorous Dem, maybe he can win. I figure no matter who was running, if that incumbent said he would run as an Independent if he lost the Primarywell, I'd vote against him no matt
