Friday, December 07, 2007
The Jeebus
The cat-fight over possession of the religious right continues unabated, this time in the form of Twitt Romney's pandering, factually inaccurate and terminally stupid 'JFK Moment' speech to the converted at Bush I's 'library'.
I think the Times sums it up objectively although other commentors have broached subjects the Times omits.
The republican nabobs are now stuck with a self imposed means test for their prospective election to high office, that, in and of itself, is as far removed from the Founding Father's vision of the evolution of the States as one can get and yet this defacto imbuing of the Founders with revisionist 'Christian' intent goes, mostly, unchallenged in the traditional media.
For me, Professor Cole nails it...
I think the Times sums it up objectively although other commentors have broached subjects the Times omits.
The republican nabobs are now stuck with a self imposed means test for their prospective election to high office, that, in and of itself, is as far removed from the Founding Father's vision of the evolution of the States as one can get and yet this defacto imbuing of the Founders with revisionist 'Christian' intent goes, mostly, unchallenged in the traditional media.
For me, Professor Cole nails it...
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Just Say... Oh! Alright
The Abstinance Only program, coined, contrived and consummated by this barmy administration, was always doomed to failure. It basically dumbed down a generation and attempted to turned back the clock to a time that never really existed, a Mayberry myth of mostly white, christian teenagers saving themselves for that perfect match. A prom king/queen political tool for bringing Protestant Christian values in to the classroom and into mainstream thinking. Policy as propaganda.
That we are seeing a reversal of the historical downward trend of teen pregnancy rates for the first time since 1991 is evidence enough that we are governed by clueless, incompetent idealogues who's first action is always to dismiss what works and replace it with something so intentionally unreasoned, untested and diabolically stupid that, given an incredible amount of luck and the blessings of the 24%, never, in all reality, had a hope in hell of succeeding.
The Times, in it's never ending attempt at balance, quotes Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation - that Temple of Reasoned Thought - who guillessly responds to the new data thusly;
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said that blaming abstinence-only programs was “stupid.”
He then goes on to blame the kids but, god forbid, not the program.
This country really needs to get the god and jesus thing under control, it's really beginning to define us as collectively... silly!
That we are seeing a reversal of the historical downward trend of teen pregnancy rates for the first time since 1991 is evidence enough that we are governed by clueless, incompetent idealogues who's first action is always to dismiss what works and replace it with something so intentionally unreasoned, untested and diabolically stupid that, given an incredible amount of luck and the blessings of the 24%, never, in all reality, had a hope in hell of succeeding.
The Times, in it's never ending attempt at balance, quotes Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation - that Temple of Reasoned Thought - who guillessly responds to the new data thusly;
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said that blaming abstinence-only programs was “stupid.”
He then goes on to blame the kids but, god forbid, not the program.
This country really needs to get the god and jesus thing under control, it's really beginning to define us as collectively... silly!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Spin Drift...
Coming from the "We're not always right but, we're never wrong" school of obfuscation we have Hadley and Bolton quoted in this NYT piece on the political fall-out from the new NIE.
Why does the Times, and any other media 'institution' for that matter, continue to quote Bolton in any of their articles. The man is a serial liar who has been catastrophically wrong about almost everything he has ever predicted. He also maintains the tact of a car crash and the delivery of a psychopath.
That the Times balanced Bolton with Chuck Hagel is evidence, once more, that our supposed 'liberal' media is incapable of providing balance to or even understanding that which it most cravenly seeks as it's audience, the mythical center. Chuck may be a good old fashioned Republican and in the case of this administrations penchant for bombing the fuck out of any real or imagined foes, has put up a fairly decent rear-guard action and has been a check on the most xenophobic, militaristic tendencies of his own party. However, he is still a Republican and represents a state (Nebraska) that is as red as they come. Are his views on foreign policy moderation anywhere near a true anti-war advocate (visionary), like a Russ Feingold? Absolutely not...!
I still love the Times, it is the paper of record, it's editorial page is by far the best in the country but their reporting method has not caught up with the groundswell roiling the conventional wisdom and the populaces demands for honesty, openess and integrity in its branches of government and in its fourth estate.
Why does the Times, and any other media 'institution' for that matter, continue to quote Bolton in any of their articles. The man is a serial liar who has been catastrophically wrong about almost everything he has ever predicted. He also maintains the tact of a car crash and the delivery of a psychopath.
That the Times balanced Bolton with Chuck Hagel is evidence, once more, that our supposed 'liberal' media is incapable of providing balance to or even understanding that which it most cravenly seeks as it's audience, the mythical center. Chuck may be a good old fashioned Republican and in the case of this administrations penchant for bombing the fuck out of any real or imagined foes, has put up a fairly decent rear-guard action and has been a check on the most xenophobic, militaristic tendencies of his own party. However, he is still a Republican and represents a state (Nebraska) that is as red as they come. Are his views on foreign policy moderation anywhere near a true anti-war advocate (visionary), like a Russ Feingold? Absolutely not...!
I still love the Times, it is the paper of record, it's editorial page is by far the best in the country but their reporting method has not caught up with the groundswell roiling the conventional wisdom and the populaces demands for honesty, openess and integrity in its branches of government and in its fourth estate.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Oops Apocalypse
I think it likely that the intelligence community learned it's lesson from the Iraq debacle and got it's best people on to this one.
This has got to make the Republican front runners who have, for the most part, joined the Cheney 'dark-side' of just making shit up and then going out and bombing people , look pretty stupid.
But that is by no means a bad thing for Republican voters, they are an ilk that slavishly relies on misinformation, fearmongering and war at whatever cost. So Rudy and Mitt and McCains dogged, almost morbid, fascination with Americas military might will ultimately cost them nothing at the polls, no matter what the evidence suggests.
We were hearing, from this administration or it's proxy's, just a few months ago that Iran was perhaps only a few years away from the bomb and escalating the process, turns out, they suspended the project in 2003 when the UN was saying they were perhaps 10 years from getting the bomb.
So, who made up the 8 year difference and what was that based upon? Apparently our intelligence community was not involved in the expedited predictions. Which leads to one conclusion, not only did the 'stupidest person on the fucking planet' work in the White House but he was replaced by the 'second stupidest person on the fucking planet...'
Now, who is that masked man?
This has got to make the Republican front runners who have, for the most part, joined the Cheney 'dark-side' of just making shit up and then going out and bombing people , look pretty stupid.
But that is by no means a bad thing for Republican voters, they are an ilk that slavishly relies on misinformation, fearmongering and war at whatever cost. So Rudy and Mitt and McCains dogged, almost morbid, fascination with Americas military might will ultimately cost them nothing at the polls, no matter what the evidence suggests.
We were hearing, from this administration or it's proxy's, just a few months ago that Iran was perhaps only a few years away from the bomb and escalating the process, turns out, they suspended the project in 2003 when the UN was saying they were perhaps 10 years from getting the bomb.
So, who made up the 8 year difference and what was that based upon? Apparently our intelligence community was not involved in the expedited predictions. Which leads to one conclusion, not only did the 'stupidest person on the fucking planet' work in the White House but he was replaced by the 'second stupidest person on the fucking planet...'
Now, who is that masked man?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Mah Gawd!
As mentioned by Atrios and Bill in Portland Maine this is truly histestacle. Is it morbid fascination, unhealthy curiosity or pereverse hypocricy? I'll let you be the judge dear reader...
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Tancredo, Tanschmedo!
He really is a paranoid, warmongering, blithering idiot. But you know, some people like that about him, it makes them feel safe that Mr. Tancredo is on the job, on the battlements, watching, waiting for the brown horde to finally show up at the gates of fortress america and demand our first born.
BillW sums it up best:
Pardon me for even entertaining the specious link he makes between illegal immigration and terrorism, but let’s walk down that crooked path just a little, ok? Not to say the threat of terrorism isn’t real or that we shouldn’t do anything about it, because of course we should, but we should have a rational, sensible policy based on the real threat, not an over-hyped perception of one. The fact is that even “if terrorists were able to pull off one attack per year on the scale of the 9/11 atrocity, … your risk of dying in a plausible terrorist attack is much lower than your risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, in a fire, by falling, or by being murdered.” Terrorists would have to pull off six 9/11s every year to equal the roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year coming from the more than 40 million uninsured (pdf) in this country, and if there is a terrorist with the will and the capability to pull that off, there will never be a border fence that will stop them, and nothing could be more dangerous to this country than a paranoid politician whose brain is so ate up with Lou Dobb’s Disease that he’s willing to sell every other issue down the river in search of a cure.
Slap!
BillW sums it up best:
Pardon me for even entertaining the specious link he makes between illegal immigration and terrorism, but let’s walk down that crooked path just a little, ok? Not to say the threat of terrorism isn’t real or that we shouldn’t do anything about it, because of course we should, but we should have a rational, sensible policy based on the real threat, not an over-hyped perception of one. The fact is that even “if terrorists were able to pull off one attack per year on the scale of the 9/11 atrocity, … your risk of dying in a plausible terrorist attack is much lower than your risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, in a fire, by falling, or by being murdered.” Terrorists would have to pull off six 9/11s every year to equal the roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year coming from the more than 40 million uninsured (pdf) in this country, and if there is a terrorist with the will and the capability to pull that off, there will never be a border fence that will stop them, and nothing could be more dangerous to this country than a paranoid politician whose brain is so ate up with Lou Dobb’s Disease that he’s willing to sell every other issue down the river in search of a cure.
Slap!
Huckmentum
Fundamentalist Right Wing Blowhard (Huckabee) is catching Cultist Right Wing Vascillator (Romney) in the new Iowa polls. Now, as Josh Marshall points out, this is a potential disaster for the Romney campaign what with the amount of money, time and effort he and his boys have put into Iowa and New Hampshire. If Romney struggles out of the gate in Iowa his momentum going into NH is basically shot and he will have to spend another boat load of his own money to right the teetering ship.
How does this play out for the other candidates? Rudy has all but given up on Iowa and New Hampshire, McCain may salvage something if only his pride with a third place finish and Hollywood Fred, well, quite frankly, is beyond help.
I don't see this as good news for Rudy though, he really doesn't need a real live fundamentalist nutjob gaining momentum going in to the states where Rudy really needs to win and win big, it will only highlight his rather dubious - I'm being kind - credentials when it comes to that score.
How does this play out for the other candidates? Rudy has all but given up on Iowa and New Hampshire, McCain may salvage something if only his pride with a third place finish and Hollywood Fred, well, quite frankly, is beyond help.
I don't see this as good news for Rudy though, he really doesn't need a real live fundamentalist nutjob gaining momentum going in to the states where Rudy really needs to win and win big, it will only highlight his rather dubious - I'm being kind - credentials when it comes to that score.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
The Kerik-Rudy imbroglio continues to ripen like French cheese and as with all the really best cheese, it stinks. Stinks like the toilet seat in a Minnesota airport bathroom. If Rudy thinks the MSM will avert its starry-eyed gaze this time, he is wrong. It has all the elements they love, sex, sleaze and power but especially sex.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Indicted
Kerik to be indicted by a grand jury today. Wonder if he will cop a plea and spill the beans? Probably, it's the only cache he has left.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Stranger Bedfellows
There must be some really weird cosmic allignment happening for these two buffoons to get into the political bed together.
Maybe it was the whole torture and sodomy of brown immigrants angle that appealed to Pat's gentle sensibilities. Rudy was just doing the work of the lord after all.
Now, what else happened to NYC on Rudy's watch?
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blamed 911 on the Gays.
Maybe it was the whole torture and sodomy of brown immigrants angle that appealed to Pat's gentle sensibilities. Rudy was just doing the work of the lord after all.
Now, what else happened to NYC on Rudy's watch?
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blamed 911 on the Gays.
Perspective
GM lost more in one quarter, $39Billion, than it would cost to provide health care to 10 million children for 5 years, $35Billion.
GM will continue to produce gas guzzling behemoths that no one wants while children die from under insurance.
Capitalism can be messy...
GM will continue to produce gas guzzling behemoths that no one wants while children die from under insurance.
Capitalism can be messy...
Old Saw
Fiscal Conservatism died during the Reagan administration, so why do they still cling to the idea that they control the purse strings better than democrats? There are only a few remnants left of what it used to mean to be a Republican, they have to hang their beaten fedoras on something, anything to maintain the 24% they hold so dear.
I wouldn't like to be Boehner or McConnell right now, the 'boy king' is not well known for being a good loser.
photo - majorvols via flickr
I wouldn't like to be Boehner or McConnell right now, the 'boy king' is not well known for being a good loser.
photo - majorvols via flickr
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Gorgeous George
Ladies and Gentlemen we are proud to present the most unpopular president of all time, the one and only, your unfavorite and mine George 'W is for winner' Bush.
Meanwhile, Bush reached an unwelcome record. By 64%-31%, Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. For the first time in the history of the Gallup Poll, 50% say they "strongly disapprove" of the president. Richard Nixon had reached the previous high, 48%, just before an impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974.
USA Today/Gallup, November 6, 2007
(h/t DKos)
Meanwhile, Bush reached an unwelcome record. By 64%-31%, Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. For the first time in the history of the Gallup Poll, 50% say they "strongly disapprove" of the president. Richard Nixon had reached the previous high, 48%, just before an impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974.
USA Today/Gallup, November 6, 2007
(h/t DKos)
Oh Crap!
What our media, government and military fail to tell us...
At least 852 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year -- the highest annual toll since the war began in March 2003, according to AP figures.
NY Times, November 6, 2007.
Of course, the 'Surge' has been a huge success, in terms of breaking records for the most US soldiers killed in one year since this effing debacle started.
It is only early November!
At least 852 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year -- the highest annual toll since the war began in March 2003, according to AP figures.
NY Times, November 6, 2007.
Of course, the 'Surge' has been a huge success, in terms of breaking records for the most US soldiers killed in one year since this effing debacle started.
It is only early November!
He Really Is Demented
So, as long as America can be defined as successful and, as far as I can gleen from Rudy, that includes bombing the middle east back to the stone age, continued torturing of suspected terrorists or anyone unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and exploiting 911 as a personal triumph regardless of the fact that he lies through his teeth about the part he played in the aftermath (this is the extent of his platform) it's OK if our elected or appointed officials inhabit a world of nepotism, organized crime, embezzelment, tax evasion and other nefarious and criminal activities.
It kind of blows you away really... this is a man of questionable, if not inflated, talents running for president, and willing, with apparently no cost to his campaign politically, to defend a crook like Kerik.
What does this say about Rudy's character? What does it say about the kind of presidency the country would be in store for if Rudy were elected.
We already have a president who's knowledge and respect for the rule of law, however much he masks it behind insincere and mostly mendacious platitudes, is tantamount to unconstitutional as far as a sitting president vested with protecting the rights of Americans and Americas historic birthright could be defined.
And now, we have Rudy, dissembling to protect a man so tainted with the stench of scandal it's practically farcical and for what? To protect the only legacy Rudy has, his own fantasy of what a popular and successful 'mayor' he was.
It kind of blows you away really... this is a man of questionable, if not inflated, talents running for president, and willing, with apparently no cost to his campaign politically, to defend a crook like Kerik.
What does this say about Rudy's character? What does it say about the kind of presidency the country would be in store for if Rudy were elected.
We already have a president who's knowledge and respect for the rule of law, however much he masks it behind insincere and mostly mendacious platitudes, is tantamount to unconstitutional as far as a sitting president vested with protecting the rights of Americans and Americas historic birthright could be defined.
And now, we have Rudy, dissembling to protect a man so tainted with the stench of scandal it's practically farcical and for what? To protect the only legacy Rudy has, his own fantasy of what a popular and successful 'mayor' he was.
MSNBC Lurches Left
I don't think Rosie was quite what the blogosphere was expecting, personally I thought they should give Schuster a crack at it. However, the mere acknowledgement that a very large audience exists out there that does not want administration stenographers supplying their daily news fare, is quite staggering.
Will the other cable news providers follow suit - not Faux News of course - with their own left leaning anchors and commentators, it would be refreshing to think that the herd mentality of both the cable and network news channels is fracturing but, all the providers are demonstrably and perhaps permanantly entrenched in the DC culture and conventional wisdom of right wing ascendancy.
Even the republican debacle of '06 was quickly papered over by most news outlets even spun in some places as a defeat for Democrats... teh confusin'
Will the other cable news providers follow suit - not Faux News of course - with their own left leaning anchors and commentators, it would be refreshing to think that the herd mentality of both the cable and network news channels is fracturing but, all the providers are demonstrably and perhaps permanantly entrenched in the DC culture and conventional wisdom of right wing ascendancy.
Even the republican debacle of '06 was quickly papered over by most news outlets even spun in some places as a defeat for Democrats... teh confusin'
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