To many on the right, both moderate and wingnut, the idea of the masses voting for McSame purely for the purposes of keeping DC in a perpetual state of stasis is very appealing. It is, by their reasoning, a necessary check and balance on the more progressive Congress that will surely be ushered in on November 4th. It satisfies their new found concern for the workings of a Government that actually survived Grover Norquists bathtub drowning exercise. It also satisfies their own conceit that they are the adults and without their serious, applied supervision Washington will run amok and who knows what might happen. That gridlock is preferable to an actual mandated progressive policy agenda is no shock, the last thing most conservatives want to see is a successful government especially a Democratic one, so rather than tell the truth about their pretentions they wrap this particularily loathesome, pompous and unAmerican proposition in feathers and call it macaroni.
For six years of the Bush administration the Republicans controlled all aspects of government, not once did I hear them say that this arrangement was dangerous or contrary to how good goverment should function, not a whisper of discontent was uttered from the lips of either the moderates, of which there are few left, or the extreme right wing, which for all intents and purposes, ran the party and the country. Infact, they were working and conniving (See Texas) to create and maintain a permanent republican majority or as we like to call it on the left 'Rove's Wet Dream' (RWD). Their new found zeal for 'checks and balances' is therefore a strawman, a pile of fetid fear, a sister soulja moment of apoplexy at the realization that the 30 year struggle to impose their vile set of descriminatory prejudices, disguised as policy, upon America has failed.
It is this failure, wrapped in the failure of this administration, that they wish, through the election of John McCain and his Alaskan atrocity, to continue. It is without doubt the worst thing that could happen to this country because the status quo, as of right now, represents the absolute nadir of the American experiment. We are fighting three wars, the GWOT, Iraq and Afghanistan, all three, by anyones estimation, do not go well through either miscomprehension, neglect or rank stupidity. The Constitution may as well be a doormat, since when did America, rendition, torture, secretly and indefinitely imprison anyone? What the hell happened to Habeas Corpus? What is Posse Comitatus for that matter? And what happened to privacy... since when was it OK to spy on Americans, both here and abroad, to listen in on the most banal, everyday longings of soldiers calling their wives and husbands and children back home? What the hell does that have to do with catching terrorists? We are planetarily reviled by both friend and foe. Through our own greed and hubris we have come perilously close to destroying the global economy. And the SCOTUS teeters on the brink of becoming a rubber stamp to every right wing fancy out there.
No, this is no time for stasis, this is no time for seamless transition, this is no time for McSame and Mooseburgers... we need boldness, we need policy and we need a White House and Congress committed to thoughtful, progressive purpose.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Uppity...!
"Charlie, again, we've got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody's big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they've had opportunities to meet heads of state."
Sarah Palin ABC 9/11/08
The problem is Sarah, you're not running for President of The United States, the 'big, fat resume' with 'decades and decades in that Washington establishment' is!
Remember your place young lady... you're religious right eye candy, nothing more.
Sarah Palin ABC 9/11/08
The problem is Sarah, you're not running for President of The United States, the 'big, fat resume' with 'decades and decades in that Washington establishment' is!
Remember your place young lady... you're religious right eye candy, nothing more.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Foreign Policy
The good General believes that 'victory' in Iraq is a chimera, no... honestly, read it yourself. He will never declare victory in Iraq!
One word Mr. McCain... Lipstick!
But, just who are we fighting in Iraq and why is the situation so 'fragile'? Juan Cole believes Al Qaeda, or at least the Al Qaeda of 9/11 is finished. Read the whole thing.
To paraphrase Ms. Bankhead in 'Die, Die My Darling'... "Lipstick, Lipstick, go immediately upstairs and wipe that filth from your face!"
Couple the above with Matt Yglesia's post on Kagan The Terrible and you have a pretty good handle on where Republican foreign policy went and continues to go wrong. It's based on the presumtion that all conventional wisdom, all knowledge really, is worth only two grains of salt compared to the might of neocon prejudice.
That neocon foreign policy is merely lipstick on a pig and a stuck pig at that, is irrelevant to them.
One word Mr. McCain... Lipstick!
But, just who are we fighting in Iraq and why is the situation so 'fragile'? Juan Cole believes Al Qaeda, or at least the Al Qaeda of 9/11 is finished. Read the whole thing.
To paraphrase Ms. Bankhead in 'Die, Die My Darling'... "Lipstick, Lipstick, go immediately upstairs and wipe that filth from your face!"
Couple the above with Matt Yglesia's post on Kagan The Terrible and you have a pretty good handle on where Republican foreign policy went and continues to go wrong. It's based on the presumtion that all conventional wisdom, all knowledge really, is worth only two grains of salt compared to the might of neocon prejudice.
That neocon foreign policy is merely lipstick on a pig and a stuck pig at that, is irrelevant to them.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Dang...!
Got lost in the sauce for a while... Summertime, workaday, vacation etc.
John McCain is loathsome.
John McCain is loathsome.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Hitch...
Hitchens, a paramour of the rightwing protozoan ooze, goes to find out for his own good self just what all this fuss about waterboarding really is...
Clue... He lasts 17 seconds before admitting he single handedly attacked the USS Cole, supplied the explosives for the African Embassy Bombings and bought the plane tickets for all 19 (Mostly Saudi... lest we forget) WTC and Pentagon suicide hijackers.
This was of course, a procedure perfected by Maoist Chinese to extract falls confessions from Western and US troops captured in North Korea and, no doubt, Vietnam.
The MSM, meanwhile, continues to be completely and utterly outraged at Wes Clark for not impugning McSame's honor...
Clue... He lasts 17 seconds before admitting he single handedly attacked the USS Cole, supplied the explosives for the African Embassy Bombings and bought the plane tickets for all 19 (Mostly Saudi... lest we forget) WTC and Pentagon suicide hijackers.
This was of course, a procedure perfected by Maoist Chinese to extract falls confessions from Western and US troops captured in North Korea and, no doubt, Vietnam.
The MSM, meanwhile, continues to be completely and utterly outraged at Wes Clark for not impugning McSame's honor...
Oh... God!
Sometimes you just have to stare in glorious, unadulterated wonder at the silliness...
"Auto-correct can be a very helpful feature of any word-processing program. But when conservatives use it, they run the risk of embarrassing themselves.
The American Family Association’s OneNewsNow website, for example, takes its AP articles and replaces the word “gay” with the word “homosexual.” I’m not entirely sure why, but it seems to make the AFA happy. The group is, after all, pretty far out there.
The problem, of course, is that “gay” does not always mean what the AFA wants it to mean. My friend Kyle reported this morning that sprinter Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials over the weekend. The AFA ran the story, but only after the auto-correct had “fixed” the article.
That means — you guessed it — the track star was renamed “Tyson Homosexual.” The headline on the piece read, “Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials.” Readers learned:
Tyson Homosexual easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials and seemed to save something for the final later Sunday."
Go read the rest at C&L and remember, these people want to rule our world!
"Auto-correct can be a very helpful feature of any word-processing program. But when conservatives use it, they run the risk of embarrassing themselves.
The American Family Association’s OneNewsNow website, for example, takes its AP articles and replaces the word “gay” with the word “homosexual.” I’m not entirely sure why, but it seems to make the AFA happy. The group is, after all, pretty far out there.
The problem, of course, is that “gay” does not always mean what the AFA wants it to mean. My friend Kyle reported this morning that sprinter Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials over the weekend. The AFA ran the story, but only after the auto-correct had “fixed” the article.
That means — you guessed it — the track star was renamed “Tyson Homosexual.” The headline on the piece read, “Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials.” Readers learned:
Tyson Homosexual easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials and seemed to save something for the final later Sunday."
Go read the rest at C&L and remember, these people want to rule our world!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Crisis... What Crisis?
So what can be done, if we can't immediately start drilling off our shores or despoiling our pristene wildernesses?
Well, (No Pun Intended) we could force the US motor industry to apply their European enforced standards on their US built products, for instance;
I went to the Top Gear site on the BBC and looked at the MPG specifications for a Ford Focus, this is published data and qualified by the AA (Britains Automobile Association), I then went to the Ford Motor Company's official US site and compared the Ford Focus in the UK with it's US counterpart. I used the 4 door sedan as my model.
British Ford Focus - City MPG - 33, Highway MPG - 51, Combined MPG - 42.
US Ford Focus - City MPG - 24, Highway MPG - 35, Combined MPG - 29.5
Compared to drilling in ANWR or off-shore in Florida, how long would it take to employ already existing technology in all our US auto plants?
Well, (No Pun Intended) we could force the US motor industry to apply their European enforced standards on their US built products, for instance;
I went to the Top Gear site on the BBC and looked at the MPG specifications for a Ford Focus, this is published data and qualified by the AA (Britains Automobile Association), I then went to the Ford Motor Company's official US site and compared the Ford Focus in the UK with it's US counterpart. I used the 4 door sedan as my model.
British Ford Focus - City MPG - 33, Highway MPG - 51, Combined MPG - 42.
US Ford Focus - City MPG - 24, Highway MPG - 35, Combined MPG - 29.5
Compared to drilling in ANWR or off-shore in Florida, how long would it take to employ already existing technology in all our US auto plants?
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Gushin' Roulette
Now, about that drilling off the coast of Florida, California etc. Just how long does it take to get one of these off-shore oil rigs operational? Any ideas? I mean it's not like just digging a big hole or something and perhaps you might need a few more of the effing ships to make it even possible.
Much like the 'Gas Tax' Holiday espoused by McCain, once you look into these gimmicks proposed by oil men and their crony Republican enablers you find out that it's a complete crock of crap and benefits absolutely no one but the corporate hacks who've been pushing for it and that the mechanisms to make it actually happen don't even exist.
"Mr. Bush called on Congress Wednesday to end a longstanding federal ban on offshore drilling and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, arguing that the steps were needed to lower gasoline prices and bolster national security. But even as oil trades at more than $135 a barrel — up from $68 a year ago — the world’s existing drill-ships are booked solid for the next five years. Some oil companies have been forced to postpone exploration while waiting for a drilling rig, executives and analysts said."
We are ruled by morons and another McMoron wishes to perpetuate that fact...
Much like the 'Gas Tax' Holiday espoused by McCain, once you look into these gimmicks proposed by oil men and their crony Republican enablers you find out that it's a complete crock of crap and benefits absolutely no one but the corporate hacks who've been pushing for it and that the mechanisms to make it actually happen don't even exist.
"Mr. Bush called on Congress Wednesday to end a longstanding federal ban on offshore drilling and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, arguing that the steps were needed to lower gasoline prices and bolster national security. But even as oil trades at more than $135 a barrel — up from $68 a year ago — the world’s existing drill-ships are booked solid for the next five years. Some oil companies have been forced to postpone exploration while waiting for a drilling rig, executives and analysts said."
We are ruled by morons and another McMoron wishes to perpetuate that fact...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Doh!
File this under... appeasers and the appeasing appeasers who appease them!
So, a couple of weeks back, Bubbleboy goes to Israel and stands up in front of the Knessett and tells old war stories about weak, lilly-livered appeasers and how their namby pamby approach got us into all that trouble back in '39 and just how strong and macho his new and improved - don't talk to anyone approach - and his - round 'em up, put 'em in a field and bomb the bastards - plan is working out jus' fine thank you very much, and practically begs his Israeli friends to stick with him and listen to the band as his ship keeps sinking. All good TV by the way, the MSM lapped it up, the right wing drooled, the Israeli's...?
They went straight to it and appeased first, Hamas and now Hezbollah.
Fucking brilliant Mr. Bush, even the Israelis think you're an idiot. They'll clap politely, even slap you on the back but then do the complete reverse of what your catagorically failed mid-east policies demand.
Time to restrategeriarize neocons, if you lose Likud who is left?
So, a couple of weeks back, Bubbleboy goes to Israel and stands up in front of the Knessett and tells old war stories about weak, lilly-livered appeasers and how their namby pamby approach got us into all that trouble back in '39 and just how strong and macho his new and improved - don't talk to anyone approach - and his - round 'em up, put 'em in a field and bomb the bastards - plan is working out jus' fine thank you very much, and practically begs his Israeli friends to stick with him and listen to the band as his ship keeps sinking. All good TV by the way, the MSM lapped it up, the right wing drooled, the Israeli's...?
They went straight to it and appeased first, Hamas and now Hezbollah.
Fucking brilliant Mr. Bush, even the Israelis think you're an idiot. They'll clap politely, even slap you on the back but then do the complete reverse of what your catagorically failed mid-east policies demand.
Time to restrategeriarize neocons, if you lose Likud who is left?
Friday, June 13, 2008
Didn't See This One Coming...
Tim Russert dead at 58. One of Buffalo's beloved sons dies of an apparent heart attack whilst at work in the NBC Washington Bureau.
Condolences to his friends and family...
Condolences to his friends and family...
The Great Conceit
As is their want, many Republicans point to the fact that 'everyone thought Saddam had WMD' to justify the pointless bloodletting that has and continues to occur in Iraq and to cover up for an administration teetering on the edge of despotism.
I was not listening to the administration spin, lies, deceits back in the day and many of the quotes or examples gathered here by Eric Alterman are very familiar to me. Especially the Knight Ridder articles and both speaches by Kennedy and Byrd.
It was becoming very apparent by 2003 that something was up with the intelligence coming out of both the US and the UK and that large swathes of the information gathered by IAEA and UNSCOM were being either ignored or reinterpreted to match the narrative these governments desired.
That France, Germany and Russia refuted the allegations made by the US and UK was underreported here in the US but I remember watching Putin, on the BBC, flat out accuse a 'very tense' Tony Blair of being a scurrilous liar, of course in much more diplomatic terms than I state here.
The whole world did not think that Saddam had WMD and if you take away that premis then there was no reason d'etre for the unprovoked attack, after all if Cheney and Bush had been honest for once in their lives and actually stated their reason for going into Iraq, to control at least a portion of the oil rich region, the Congress and the American people would have impeached them both right there and then.
I was not listening to the administration spin, lies, deceits back in the day and many of the quotes or examples gathered here by Eric Alterman are very familiar to me. Especially the Knight Ridder articles and both speaches by Kennedy and Byrd.
It was becoming very apparent by 2003 that something was up with the intelligence coming out of both the US and the UK and that large swathes of the information gathered by IAEA and UNSCOM were being either ignored or reinterpreted to match the narrative these governments desired.
That France, Germany and Russia refuted the allegations made by the US and UK was underreported here in the US but I remember watching Putin, on the BBC, flat out accuse a 'very tense' Tony Blair of being a scurrilous liar, of course in much more diplomatic terms than I state here.
The whole world did not think that Saddam had WMD and if you take away that premis then there was no reason d'etre for the unprovoked attack, after all if Cheney and Bush had been honest for once in their lives and actually stated their reason for going into Iraq, to control at least a portion of the oil rich region, the Congress and the American people would have impeached them both right there and then.
Hooray... Habeas
Sanity, or at least a modicum of it, returned to this country yesterday as the SCOTUS overturned Article 7 the heinous MCA of 2006. Habeas is restored and once again we are a somewhat civilized nation governed by the Rule of Law as the Framers designed.
McCain and Graham were the chief architects of the Military Commissions Act abomination and along with Bush, should be in the Hague and no where near Pennsylvania Avenue.
Glenn Greenwald, who has been a tireless advocate for the repudiation of this 'Act' sums it up succinctly:
"The Court's ruling was grounded in its recognition that the guarantee of habeas corpus was so central to the Founding that it was one of the few individual rights included in the Constitution even before the Bill of Rights was enacted. As the Court put it: "the Framers viewed freedom from unlawful restraint as a fundamental precept of liberty, and they understood the writ of habeas corpus as a vital instrument to secure that freedom." The Court noted that freedom from arbitrary or baseless imprisonment was one of the core rights established by the 13th Century Magna Carta, and it is the writ of habeas corpus which is the means for enforcing that right. Once habeas corpus is abolished -- as the Military Commissions Act sought to do -- then we return to the pre-Magna Carta days where the Government is free to imprison people with no recourse."
This was a good day for America...
McCain and Graham were the chief architects of the Military Commissions Act abomination and along with Bush, should be in the Hague and no where near Pennsylvania Avenue.
Glenn Greenwald, who has been a tireless advocate for the repudiation of this 'Act' sums it up succinctly:
"The Court's ruling was grounded in its recognition that the guarantee of habeas corpus was so central to the Founding that it was one of the few individual rights included in the Constitution even before the Bill of Rights was enacted. As the Court put it: "the Framers viewed freedom from unlawful restraint as a fundamental precept of liberty, and they understood the writ of habeas corpus as a vital instrument to secure that freedom." The Court noted that freedom from arbitrary or baseless imprisonment was one of the core rights established by the 13th Century Magna Carta, and it is the writ of habeas corpus which is the means for enforcing that right. Once habeas corpus is abolished -- as the Military Commissions Act sought to do -- then we return to the pre-Magna Carta days where the Government is free to imprison people with no recourse."
This was a good day for America...
Monday, June 09, 2008
The Big Chill
Bush arrives in Ol' Yurp today and the reception, even from the likes of Merkel, Sarkozy, Burlusconi and Brown, is unlikely to be overwhelming.
Far from the victory tour he no-doubt could have imagined back in the day, Bush will be greeted by skepticism, bewilderment, frustration and, in some cases, utter contempt.
As the Guardian UK outlines:
"While the leaders will be generous and polite towards a US president who has plumbed unprecedented depths of unpopularity in Europe as well as in America, there is no doubt that the overall mood will be one of good riddance."
Even though the article mentions the rising anticipation of an Obama presidency (and how much Europe longs for such) the skeptisism arcs the political divide, an Obama administration may be seen as a breath of fresh air but Americas lurch toward imperialist ambitions may be irreversible:
"An optical illusion may be influencing our opinions: the comforting idea that the real problem is George Bush and not America," a German commentator on America, Josef Joffe, wrote last week. "Why is this a mental delusion? First, because anti-Americanism is older than the younger Bush. Second because Obama (probably) comes, but the superpower stays. America, this steam hammer of a nation, is fundamentally a destroyer."
Blimey...!!!!
Far from the victory tour he no-doubt could have imagined back in the day, Bush will be greeted by skepticism, bewilderment, frustration and, in some cases, utter contempt.
As the Guardian UK outlines:
"While the leaders will be generous and polite towards a US president who has plumbed unprecedented depths of unpopularity in Europe as well as in America, there is no doubt that the overall mood will be one of good riddance."
Even though the article mentions the rising anticipation of an Obama presidency (and how much Europe longs for such) the skeptisism arcs the political divide, an Obama administration may be seen as a breath of fresh air but Americas lurch toward imperialist ambitions may be irreversible:
"An optical illusion may be influencing our opinions: the comforting idea that the real problem is George Bush and not America," a German commentator on America, Josef Joffe, wrote last week. "Why is this a mental delusion? First, because anti-Americanism is older than the younger Bush. Second because Obama (probably) comes, but the superpower stays. America, this steam hammer of a nation, is fundamentally a destroyer."
Blimey...!!!!
Friday, June 06, 2008
Your Country For Sale
John McSame is now willing to sell your privacy... after being against illegal spying on American citizens he's now for it.
That his campaign is littered with past, present and future telco lobbyists, it is no surprise to me that he's flipped on FISA. The man is a craven hypocrite and Charlie Savage knows it.
The ACLU and EFF are not suing the telco's for damages, they are suing for discovery, very different from what we are being told by their enablers in the McCain camp and the White House.
That his campaign is littered with past, present and future telco lobbyists, it is no surprise to me that he's flipped on FISA. The man is a craven hypocrite and Charlie Savage knows it.
The ACLU and EFF are not suing the telco's for damages, they are suing for discovery, very different from what we are being told by their enablers in the McCain camp and the White House.
The Stupidest F***ing Administration On The Planet
If this were a little league baseball game between Iran and our august administration, the mercy rule would certainly have been applied somewhere back in 2002.
That the 'usual suspects' from Iran/Contra were involved is no surprise, likewise Feith's shop set up at the behest of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.
Along with the other revelations stemming from the Phase II report, the whole Iraq debacle's genesis is emerging into plain sight.
We were played but it only cost us over 4,000 Americans dead, 25,000 severely wounded, an estimated $2Trillion and apparently our entire economic well being, a small price to pay for our national security and the pride of a fool.
That the 'usual suspects' from Iran/Contra were involved is no surprise, likewise Feith's shop set up at the behest of Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.
Along with the other revelations stemming from the Phase II report, the whole Iraq debacle's genesis is emerging into plain sight.
We were played but it only cost us over 4,000 Americans dead, 25,000 severely wounded, an estimated $2Trillion and apparently our entire economic well being, a small price to pay for our national security and the pride of a fool.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Hmmmm...!
Following on from the Rezko post... just a random thought.
The rightwing noise machine is usually all over this kinda stuff, I mean Drudge could definitely get this story moving if he wanted to, put his full force behind the whole 'guilt by association' thing, rev-up the base and the MSM into a frenzy of speculative innuendo until full blown smear status was achieved.
But really, it's been very quiet on the Rezko front, besides the usual koolaid kids who froth at the mouth at the least provocation, which suggests, either there was nothing ever there with regards to Obama, and believe me someone went dumpster diving, or the real filth was always on the Repug side and as we know, no one does 'cover up' quite like the Repugs.
So, was the squeeze in to suppress this story as long as possible? Did the Repugs realize early that the Rezko path lead to the GOP and its dark Lord Rove? Was the whole Obama thing just a head fake to keep prying eyes away from the real prize?
Me thinks so!
The rightwing noise machine is usually all over this kinda stuff, I mean Drudge could definitely get this story moving if he wanted to, put his full force behind the whole 'guilt by association' thing, rev-up the base and the MSM into a frenzy of speculative innuendo until full blown smear status was achieved.
But really, it's been very quiet on the Rezko front, besides the usual koolaid kids who froth at the mouth at the least provocation, which suggests, either there was nothing ever there with regards to Obama, and believe me someone went dumpster diving, or the real filth was always on the Repug side and as we know, no one does 'cover up' quite like the Repugs.
So, was the squeeze in to suppress this story as long as possible? Did the Repugs realize early that the Rezko path lead to the GOP and its dark Lord Rove? Was the whole Obama thing just a head fake to keep prying eyes away from the real prize?
Me thinks so!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
