Well, isn’t this interesting? Rover and Bartlett may have to testify, and as a defense witness at that! Hilarious. I’m thinking, there goes that Libby pardon theory out the window. This is shaping up to be VERY interesting.
It looks like the smart people are a bit confused as to what exactly is the Libby defense team going for with this. At least the “I was really, really busy with really, really important things, so I forgot” defense was understandable, if a tad implausible. This new line, based on several statements the Libby defense lawyers made in the opening statement, seems to be that Libby was set up as a fall guy for the White House when things didn’t go as planned. This would actually be a first, since I thought Bushco NEVER had any sort of contingency plans. Everything was ALWAYS going to go as they planned it, down to the Iraqi flowers being thrown at soldiers, reminiscent of the American liberation of Paris in 1944. So, even if Libby was going to take the rap here, that still doesn’t excuse him lying under oath to a federal prosecutor, which is the crime of which he is accused. So, what’s the deal, then? It will be interesting to see what develops.
In any event, I cannot believe that either Bush or Cheney are very happy of these developments. There are likely to be some very uncomfortable revelations made during their testimony. Put Cheney and Ari Fleischer in the mix, well, there are going to be some goodies for the press to get their newly discovered teeth into, like some little puppy with a new chew toy. It doesn’t matter if these happen to be brand new pieces of information that no one has heard before or just a confirmation of suspicions that the WH has been constantly denying for years. This is going to be very embarrassing to Bush and his followers.
I can’t wait to hear how Limbaugh and his ilk spin this one. I already saw where Ann Coulter was off on how presidential Bush looked in his SOTU address, and wasn’t it nice we had such a president, instead of someone like Clinton, who, as everyone knows, GOT A BLOWJOB IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
"Nancy Pelosi blinks 85 times a minute."
You can watch the video at Yahoo "news". I am not going to link to such stupidity.
Jeez. The how much more trivial can we get here and still call it "news"? Can anyone imagine them doing anything as inane like that with Tom Delay? What is it with the news media that they feel they have to really make a huge point out of something like what someone wears or their hairdo or wondering aloud whether or not that person has had a face lift around their eyelids?
Of course, they did get a film of John McCain apparently asleep during Bush's SOTU speech the other night.
Jeez. The how much more trivial can we get here and still call it "news"? Can anyone imagine them doing anything as inane like that with Tom Delay? What is it with the news media that they feel they have to really make a huge point out of something like what someone wears or their hairdo or wondering aloud whether or not that person has had a face lift around their eyelids?
Of course, they did get a film of John McCain apparently asleep during Bush's SOTU speech the other night.
Molly Ivins in the hospital during her cancer treatment.
Boy, that sux. She is one smart, insightful, funny lady. I was wondering why her column had been non-existant since the election. I wish her well. I sure wish someone would find a cure for cancer, of all types. There are too many people that I know personally, know of, or respect greatly that have been stricken.
Thoughts about the Scooter Libby perjury trial.
Boy, the live-blogging, analysis, and commentary of the Libby trial over at FireDogLake has been riveting. There are a lot of very knowledgeable cookies that post and comment over there. I haven’t gotten a lot of work done in the last few days.
I have come to the conclusion that I don’t really care if ol’ Scooter gets significant jail time or not. Yes, I am fully convinced that he is guilty of the charges against him, which is lying under oath to a federal prosecutor. He was deliberately trying to hide what had occurred when Valerie Wilson’s identity as an undercover CIA agent was exposed.
However, even though that is what this trial is truly about, Libby’s lies under oath, there is a much bigger picture emerging here. That is, how this Administration, and in particular, the Office of the Vice President, was fixated and intent on undermining and smearing any critics of the Bush administration’s policies during the run-up to invading Iraq. It seems as if all the testimony in the first three days has been about how Scooter, under the direction of Dead-Eye Dick Cheney, went about trying to smear Joe Wilson in any way that they could. Personally, I don’t think they really intended to leak a covert CIA agent’s name. That probably was not intentional, at least the “covert” part of it. For some reason, these people thought that Wilson would be less believable if the country suspected that Wilson’s wife, Valerie, had “sent him on a junket”. As if people go on “junkets” to Niger. Junkets are when you go golfing in Scotland, not to an out-of-the-way place, even for Africa, like Niger. However, they WERE intent on smearing Joe Wilson in any way they could, and his wife seemed like a good way to do it.
That’s why this trial is really important to the American people. It is not to send a felon to jail. It is to expose the rotten underbelly of this administration and the lengths they would go to, and indeed went, to sell their war on whatever grounds they could find. Dick Cheney exhibited behavior that, in other circumstances, might get him classified as a stalker, complete with a recommendation to go see a good psychiatrist. “Maniacal” might not be too strong a word for Cheney’s behavior in this matter.
Until recently, the mainstream press and television has been unwilling, for whatever reasons, to say anything critical about Bush and his war. There have been some great people doing a lot of good work trying to uncover just how badly the country was mislead into this war. There are lots of great books on the subject. But the subject, even as a conversation, was not making any inroads into the broader consciousness of this country. People did not want to hear it. Bush loyalists cried “foul” and delivered slanderous accusations of treason on anyone who might offer up even the slightest criticism. They still don’t want to hear it. There was also a large block of people who probably supported the war based on what they were being told at the time, and don’t want to admit that they were wrong or might have been mislead. It takes some personal character to admit that you are wrong, and that is something that this country seems to be severely lacking these days.
But this trial might finally get out into the open about how badly this country was served by our elected officials. It is probably also going to expose how badly served we were by our national media. Reporters were either willing partners in the deceit, or just plain too gullible to know they were being had. I loved the revelation yesterday by Cathie Martin, who was a top assistant to Scooter Libby. She suggested that Cheney go on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, because that was a very good way to “get our message out”, and that they had used this method many times in the past. “Used” being the operative word here, as in “using a tool”. The press in the country has been used, and this administration knew how to do it well. They played the press like a Stradivarius. Even though there are several books out on the subject, such as “Lapdogs” and Marcy Wheeler’s “Anatomy of Deceit” (neither of which I have read but want to), no one besides the people who already believed what was in the books read them.
Maybe this trial will get the discussion about just exactly what did happen between September 11, 2001 and the day we invaded Iraq out into the open. Maybe the media will start doing their jobs, which is to be a watchdog, and stop being played for a fool. Maybe people will stop listening to people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, who are just big windbags who make up whatever they need to make up that particular day in order to keep their entire reason for existence from collapsing.
Maybe this country will finally wake up and realize what has been done in our collective name by this incompetent, psychotic, power hungry freakshow that we currently have residing in the White House. Thank the Powers That Be that Congress no longer is such a patsy, going along with anything Bushco wants to do and obstructing any effort to get at the truth.
Maybe this trial will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back regarding this entire mess.
(Please go over to FireDogLake and check out the outstanding coverage of the Libby trial. It feels like watching history unfold in real time, right before your eyes.)
UPDATE: Here is a great story in the WaPo by Dana Milbank about how the White House routinely manipulates the press. I bet there are some red faces around D.C. this morning.
I have come to the conclusion that I don’t really care if ol’ Scooter gets significant jail time or not. Yes, I am fully convinced that he is guilty of the charges against him, which is lying under oath to a federal prosecutor. He was deliberately trying to hide what had occurred when Valerie Wilson’s identity as an undercover CIA agent was exposed.
However, even though that is what this trial is truly about, Libby’s lies under oath, there is a much bigger picture emerging here. That is, how this Administration, and in particular, the Office of the Vice President, was fixated and intent on undermining and smearing any critics of the Bush administration’s policies during the run-up to invading Iraq. It seems as if all the testimony in the first three days has been about how Scooter, under the direction of Dead-Eye Dick Cheney, went about trying to smear Joe Wilson in any way that they could. Personally, I don’t think they really intended to leak a covert CIA agent’s name. That probably was not intentional, at least the “covert” part of it. For some reason, these people thought that Wilson would be less believable if the country suspected that Wilson’s wife, Valerie, had “sent him on a junket”. As if people go on “junkets” to Niger. Junkets are when you go golfing in Scotland, not to an out-of-the-way place, even for Africa, like Niger. However, they WERE intent on smearing Joe Wilson in any way they could, and his wife seemed like a good way to do it.
That’s why this trial is really important to the American people. It is not to send a felon to jail. It is to expose the rotten underbelly of this administration and the lengths they would go to, and indeed went, to sell their war on whatever grounds they could find. Dick Cheney exhibited behavior that, in other circumstances, might get him classified as a stalker, complete with a recommendation to go see a good psychiatrist. “Maniacal” might not be too strong a word for Cheney’s behavior in this matter.
Until recently, the mainstream press and television has been unwilling, for whatever reasons, to say anything critical about Bush and his war. There have been some great people doing a lot of good work trying to uncover just how badly the country was mislead into this war. There are lots of great books on the subject. But the subject, even as a conversation, was not making any inroads into the broader consciousness of this country. People did not want to hear it. Bush loyalists cried “foul” and delivered slanderous accusations of treason on anyone who might offer up even the slightest criticism. They still don’t want to hear it. There was also a large block of people who probably supported the war based on what they were being told at the time, and don’t want to admit that they were wrong or might have been mislead. It takes some personal character to admit that you are wrong, and that is something that this country seems to be severely lacking these days.
But this trial might finally get out into the open about how badly this country was served by our elected officials. It is probably also going to expose how badly served we were by our national media. Reporters were either willing partners in the deceit, or just plain too gullible to know they were being had. I loved the revelation yesterday by Cathie Martin, who was a top assistant to Scooter Libby. She suggested that Cheney go on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, because that was a very good way to “get our message out”, and that they had used this method many times in the past. “Used” being the operative word here, as in “using a tool”. The press in the country has been used, and this administration knew how to do it well. They played the press like a Stradivarius. Even though there are several books out on the subject, such as “Lapdogs” and Marcy Wheeler’s “Anatomy of Deceit” (neither of which I have read but want to), no one besides the people who already believed what was in the books read them.
Maybe this trial will get the discussion about just exactly what did happen between September 11, 2001 and the day we invaded Iraq out into the open. Maybe the media will start doing their jobs, which is to be a watchdog, and stop being played for a fool. Maybe people will stop listening to people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, who are just big windbags who make up whatever they need to make up that particular day in order to keep their entire reason for existence from collapsing.
Maybe this country will finally wake up and realize what has been done in our collective name by this incompetent, psychotic, power hungry freakshow that we currently have residing in the White House. Thank the Powers That Be that Congress no longer is such a patsy, going along with anything Bushco wants to do and obstructing any effort to get at the truth.
Maybe this trial will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back regarding this entire mess.
(Please go over to FireDogLake and check out the outstanding coverage of the Libby trial. It feels like watching history unfold in real time, right before your eyes.)
UPDATE: Here is a great story in the WaPo by Dana Milbank about how the White House routinely manipulates the press. I bet there are some red faces around D.C. this morning.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Best wishes and hopes for a speedy recover to Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake
I would be remiss in not mentioning that my best wishes are for Jane's full and speedy recovery from breast cancer surgery. Go see the discussion at FDL (link is at the right) for more information and an amazing list of comments in Christy's "Waiting Room" posts. Jane has given a lot of energy to the liberal blogs and should be congratulated for everything that she has accomplished. Given all the posts at other blogs about her, she has made quite an impact. I look forward to seeing her back at FireDogLake, giving Joe Lieberman hell, very soon.
Amen to this!!
I fully agree with Cenk Uygur’s post in Huffpo this morning.
You see, Dick Cheney has never believed in the American system. He believes democracies are too soft. He has lobbied for a strong executive to take nearly complete power. Some call it the "unitary executive authority." Some call it an authoritarian form of government. You say tomato, I say to-ma-to. Take your pick.
Either way, the cult of authority has never trusted the American form of government.
Judges and juries can't be trusted. We must have secret detentions and secret trials.
We can't follow rules of evidence. We must allow hearsay and evidence obtained through coercion.
American interrogation procedures don't work. We must use torture.
American Congress can't be trusted to pass wise laws. We must use signing statements to say the president is above the law.
The American justice system doesn't work. We must declare US citizens, residents and anyone else we deem necessary "enemy combatants" and take them outside of the system, so that we can detain them indefinitely without trial or evidence or justice.
Justice is too important to be left to the American justice system.
The people who believe these things - Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, David Addington, John Bolton, etc. - are profoundly un-American. I don't include George W. Bush here because he is an irrelevant member of his own administration in this regard. His mind is so pitifully under-equipped for this ideological debate that it would be unfair to charge him with having knowledge of something he can hardly comprehend.
I think it's fair to say these ideologues hate the idea of America. They are not for an open society with fair rules that trusts its citizens to be fair and to police themselves. They have never believed in the American experiment.
When I say they hate America, I don't mean that they hate the people who live here or that they lack false patriotic vigor. I am sure they would say that they love the state of Nebraska and the good people of Alaska. They salute the American flag and some of them would even do battle for this country (though almost none of them have - given plenty of opportunities).
I mean that they philosophically never bought into the concept behind the country. America isn't a bunch of rocks that happen to be on a certain longitude and latitude. America isn't a bunch of people who happen to live in certain states between 1776 and 2007. America is a noble and grand idea. And it is that idea the Dick Cheneys of the world work hard to tear down every day. It is that idea that they do not trust, do not believe in and that they commit ideological treason against.
So, it appears now that the great American system is beginning to strike back. We have arisen from our slumber and find rascals in our midst. They have awoken a sleeping giant. The giant does not move quickly and it's sometimes slow to react, but once it moves it take giant leaps for mankind.
And when we move this country back into the light, we will show again that we are not so small that we can be taken down by petty men with old, antiquated ideas. The American system will win. And we will once again become a nation of laws, and not men.
We will show the world that we are bigger and better than the small men that lead us now. Their reign is temporary. The American system is for good. This is not a country that can be taken over by the authoritarians. We will not go the way of the tin-pot dictators. We will prevail. We will drag Dick Cheney out of the shadows and bring him into the light. The idea of America is too strong to be taken down by men of little faith.
I can only hope that this is true. It does seem to me that we are finally, at long last, pulling away from that slippery slope. This country was a long way toward becoming a fascist theocratic state. Perhaps, finally, the people and the press are beginning to finally wake up and see what is being done to them. Us.
That is what has amazed me about our society over the last 6 years. Bush and his cronies spout all this nonsense about spreading democracy and how the terrorists “hated freedom”, at the same time they are trying, as hard and as fast as they can, to dismantle the very concept of freedom and democracy here at home. And most of the people were fine with that!
I just don’t understand how most of our country could have been that blind. Were we so affected by the events of that horrible day in September that we lost the ability to think rationally and to see the plain facts right there in front of our noses? I wanted to scream and throw something at the television every time I heard Bush or one of his minions talk about democracy and freedom. If you look at their actions and not their words, they apparently have absolutely no faith in democracy and are trying as hard as they can to replace it with some authoritarian form of government. I can easily envision statements that come from John Yoo or Alberto Gonzales (two of our supposed “constitutional lawyers” that advise Bush) coming from the old Soviet Union. THAT seems to be what these people want. They want absolute power and not be answerable to anyone. That’s what they want. And a lot of our country was too traumatized to even pay attention to what was going on around them.
Hopefully, that is turning around. But boy, it was, and continues to be, a very close call. As others have noted, these next two years that Bush and his crowd of cowardly thugs are still in office but now have to deal with Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress are going to be very dangerous. I am sure that these people have some limits, somewhere, on the lengths they will go to control the rest of us. I just don’t know what they are, and I don’t want to find out.
You see, Dick Cheney has never believed in the American system. He believes democracies are too soft. He has lobbied for a strong executive to take nearly complete power. Some call it the "unitary executive authority." Some call it an authoritarian form of government. You say tomato, I say to-ma-to. Take your pick.
Either way, the cult of authority has never trusted the American form of government.
Judges and juries can't be trusted. We must have secret detentions and secret trials.
We can't follow rules of evidence. We must allow hearsay and evidence obtained through coercion.
American interrogation procedures don't work. We must use torture.
American Congress can't be trusted to pass wise laws. We must use signing statements to say the president is above the law.
The American justice system doesn't work. We must declare US citizens, residents and anyone else we deem necessary "enemy combatants" and take them outside of the system, so that we can detain them indefinitely without trial or evidence or justice.
Justice is too important to be left to the American justice system.
The people who believe these things - Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, David Addington, John Bolton, etc. - are profoundly un-American. I don't include George W. Bush here because he is an irrelevant member of his own administration in this regard. His mind is so pitifully under-equipped for this ideological debate that it would be unfair to charge him with having knowledge of something he can hardly comprehend.
I think it's fair to say these ideologues hate the idea of America. They are not for an open society with fair rules that trusts its citizens to be fair and to police themselves. They have never believed in the American experiment.
When I say they hate America, I don't mean that they hate the people who live here or that they lack false patriotic vigor. I am sure they would say that they love the state of Nebraska and the good people of Alaska. They salute the American flag and some of them would even do battle for this country (though almost none of them have - given plenty of opportunities).
I mean that they philosophically never bought into the concept behind the country. America isn't a bunch of rocks that happen to be on a certain longitude and latitude. America isn't a bunch of people who happen to live in certain states between 1776 and 2007. America is a noble and grand idea. And it is that idea the Dick Cheneys of the world work hard to tear down every day. It is that idea that they do not trust, do not believe in and that they commit ideological treason against.
So, it appears now that the great American system is beginning to strike back. We have arisen from our slumber and find rascals in our midst. They have awoken a sleeping giant. The giant does not move quickly and it's sometimes slow to react, but once it moves it take giant leaps for mankind.
And when we move this country back into the light, we will show again that we are not so small that we can be taken down by petty men with old, antiquated ideas. The American system will win. And we will once again become a nation of laws, and not men.
We will show the world that we are bigger and better than the small men that lead us now. Their reign is temporary. The American system is for good. This is not a country that can be taken over by the authoritarians. We will not go the way of the tin-pot dictators. We will prevail. We will drag Dick Cheney out of the shadows and bring him into the light. The idea of America is too strong to be taken down by men of little faith.
I can only hope that this is true. It does seem to me that we are finally, at long last, pulling away from that slippery slope. This country was a long way toward becoming a fascist theocratic state. Perhaps, finally, the people and the press are beginning to finally wake up and see what is being done to them. Us.
That is what has amazed me about our society over the last 6 years. Bush and his cronies spout all this nonsense about spreading democracy and how the terrorists “hated freedom”, at the same time they are trying, as hard and as fast as they can, to dismantle the very concept of freedom and democracy here at home. And most of the people were fine with that!
I just don’t understand how most of our country could have been that blind. Were we so affected by the events of that horrible day in September that we lost the ability to think rationally and to see the plain facts right there in front of our noses? I wanted to scream and throw something at the television every time I heard Bush or one of his minions talk about democracy and freedom. If you look at their actions and not their words, they apparently have absolutely no faith in democracy and are trying as hard as they can to replace it with some authoritarian form of government. I can easily envision statements that come from John Yoo or Alberto Gonzales (two of our supposed “constitutional lawyers” that advise Bush) coming from the old Soviet Union. THAT seems to be what these people want. They want absolute power and not be answerable to anyone. That’s what they want. And a lot of our country was too traumatized to even pay attention to what was going on around them.
Hopefully, that is turning around. But boy, it was, and continues to be, a very close call. As others have noted, these next two years that Bush and his crowd of cowardly thugs are still in office but now have to deal with Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress are going to be very dangerous. I am sure that these people have some limits, somewhere, on the lengths they will go to control the rest of us. I just don’t know what they are, and I don’t want to find out.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Global climate change: Hit or Myth?
I firmly believe that the phenomena of global warming and global climate change are real. They are happening in front of our eyes, albeit at a rate that is easy to miss if you aren’t paying close attention. And that leads to the easy denials from the conservative right and fundamentalists who are finding multiple reasons to dismiss out-of-hand the avalanche of evidence to the contrary.
I can’t really understand how blithe these people are in their reasons. There is not a week that goes by that I don’t see a Letter to the Editor of my local papers that blasts away at Democrats, essentially calling us all believers as “Chicken Littles”. Given the magnitude of the problem and the potentially catastrophic consequences, I would think that these people might just want to consider, just for a moment, that everyone else not wearing blinders just MIGHT be right. For instance, if someone that I didn’t really like very well and didn’t see his point of view on some issues came running in to my living room to tell me that my garage was on fire and was about to set my house on fire as well, I truly believe that I would rush out there to find out what exactly was going on. Certainly, I would not dismiss the guy as a nutcase, just because we have different ideas about taxes and abortion.
However, that is exactly what is going on here with the extreme right. There is undisputable evidence that global warning and climatic changes are indeed occurring. What is perhaps open to discussion is exactly how much human activity is contributing. Yes, this may be part of a normal cycle of the earth. However, what is not part of the question is that we are helping it along with the tons and tons of greenhouse gases our world society is pumping into Earth’s atmosphere every single day. As Molly Ivins likes to say, the First Rule of Holes is that, when you find yourself in one, stop digging!
Yet, the extreme right finds all sorts of reason to dismiss this. My belief about this is as follows. The extreme right has been so conditioned by years of right wing talk radio, conservative columnists, the vast and widening blue/red mentality in our country, etc., that they are pre-conditioned to not believe ANYTHING that anyone says outside their own little ideology. If Michael Moore were to come out and say, “The sky is blue”, there would be an immediate backlash discounting this as “ravings of a lunatic”. There would be a vast effort to immediately discredit him. O.K., this is hyperbole, but I still think it is a major reason. The thinking of these types of people are so set in stone that they are not going to believe ANYTHING that doesn’t fit in with their little world view.
This goes along with another phenomena that has surfaced in our society lately; that facts and opinions are essentially the same thing, and if you hold an opinion strongly enough, that is enough to deny any sort of fact that doesn’t fit in with your opinion.
I think Al Gore pegged it exactly. It is an “inconvenient truth”. Catastrophic climate change would upset a lot of things that people believe. So, it is much easier to dismiss it because they don’t want it to be true. Personally, I would prefer that I don’t have to change the oil in my car, ever. However, I know that if I don’t, my engine is going to conk out sooner or later. And then, it will be much harder to fix. So, I tend to believe what people tell me, that I should change the oil in my car. (I just realized that this is a very unfortunate analogy. However, I’m on a roll here, so I’ll stick with it.)
The extreme right-wingers, however, would prefer not to change the oil in their car, so they don’t. It is easier and cheaper to pretend they never have to. But guess what? That engine is getting dirtier all the time, and pretty soon, they are going to need some major engine work.
I saw one Letter to the Editor that said something to the effect, “Global warming isn’t happening. Besides, God won’t let it. Do you think He will just let us all burn up?” What a masterpiece of avoidance and rationalization. God will save us all from our folly.
Of course, these are probably the same people who believe in the Rapture, where Jesus will essentially come down to destroy the Earth. The End of Days. But yet, until that happens, don’t worry, God will save us.
People are willing to deny a lot that is sitting right there in plain sight. I think this tendency will be the ultimate downfall of our race. If not now, sometime in the future.
I can’t really understand how blithe these people are in their reasons. There is not a week that goes by that I don’t see a Letter to the Editor of my local papers that blasts away at Democrats, essentially calling us all believers as “Chicken Littles”. Given the magnitude of the problem and the potentially catastrophic consequences, I would think that these people might just want to consider, just for a moment, that everyone else not wearing blinders just MIGHT be right. For instance, if someone that I didn’t really like very well and didn’t see his point of view on some issues came running in to my living room to tell me that my garage was on fire and was about to set my house on fire as well, I truly believe that I would rush out there to find out what exactly was going on. Certainly, I would not dismiss the guy as a nutcase, just because we have different ideas about taxes and abortion.
However, that is exactly what is going on here with the extreme right. There is undisputable evidence that global warning and climatic changes are indeed occurring. What is perhaps open to discussion is exactly how much human activity is contributing. Yes, this may be part of a normal cycle of the earth. However, what is not part of the question is that we are helping it along with the tons and tons of greenhouse gases our world society is pumping into Earth’s atmosphere every single day. As Molly Ivins likes to say, the First Rule of Holes is that, when you find yourself in one, stop digging!
Yet, the extreme right finds all sorts of reason to dismiss this. My belief about this is as follows. The extreme right has been so conditioned by years of right wing talk radio, conservative columnists, the vast and widening blue/red mentality in our country, etc., that they are pre-conditioned to not believe ANYTHING that anyone says outside their own little ideology. If Michael Moore were to come out and say, “The sky is blue”, there would be an immediate backlash discounting this as “ravings of a lunatic”. There would be a vast effort to immediately discredit him. O.K., this is hyperbole, but I still think it is a major reason. The thinking of these types of people are so set in stone that they are not going to believe ANYTHING that doesn’t fit in with their little world view.
This goes along with another phenomena that has surfaced in our society lately; that facts and opinions are essentially the same thing, and if you hold an opinion strongly enough, that is enough to deny any sort of fact that doesn’t fit in with your opinion.
I think Al Gore pegged it exactly. It is an “inconvenient truth”. Catastrophic climate change would upset a lot of things that people believe. So, it is much easier to dismiss it because they don’t want it to be true. Personally, I would prefer that I don’t have to change the oil in my car, ever. However, I know that if I don’t, my engine is going to conk out sooner or later. And then, it will be much harder to fix. So, I tend to believe what people tell me, that I should change the oil in my car. (I just realized that this is a very unfortunate analogy. However, I’m on a roll here, so I’ll stick with it.)
The extreme right-wingers, however, would prefer not to change the oil in their car, so they don’t. It is easier and cheaper to pretend they never have to. But guess what? That engine is getting dirtier all the time, and pretty soon, they are going to need some major engine work.
I saw one Letter to the Editor that said something to the effect, “Global warming isn’t happening. Besides, God won’t let it. Do you think He will just let us all burn up?” What a masterpiece of avoidance and rationalization. God will save us all from our folly.
Of course, these are probably the same people who believe in the Rapture, where Jesus will essentially come down to destroy the Earth. The End of Days. But yet, until that happens, don’t worry, God will save us.
People are willing to deny a lot that is sitting right there in plain sight. I think this tendency will be the ultimate downfall of our race. If not now, sometime in the future.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The President’s Bold New Plan! Lots more of the same damn thing!
I haven’t been posting too much lately. Frankly, I am just overwhelmed by everything that is going on to really digest a single part of it and write some sort of coherent and impassioned post about it. Lots of other people are doing a great job of analysis, all you have to do is go look for it on the web.
The President’s speech, though… I heard nothing new. Arianna has a very nice post that makes it very clear what she thinks about it.
Here are my Two Fundamental Reactions: 1) Sure, of course; these make total sense. But aren't these the very things we've already being doing? What exactly is new about this strategy? How is this attempt to help Iraqis protect the population different than all the other attempts to help Iraqis protect the population? Haven't we been trying to isolate extremists and create a "space for political progress" all along? (After we captured Saddam and stopped looking for WMD, that is.) Is the difference that this time we really mean it?
2) Wow, those must be 20,000 pretty awesome troops the president is sending in, if they are going to successfully do all that when the 145,000 troops we have now (or the 160,000 we had a year ago) weren't been able to.
Very succulently said. Why are we going to succeed now if we haven’t been able to do anything in the last 3 years? Are 20,000 troops really all that is required to “put us over the top”? If so, why didn’t we do that at the beginning? Insane.
The other frightening thing that I head from the speech was more very big-time saber rattling at Syria and Iran. Yes, lets go part a couple of aircraft carriers and their battle groups right off the Iran. That’s not going to be very controversial and in no way will it look at all confrontational. And no, I am sure we aren’t going around looking for an excuse to bomb some other country. I mean, we just took out a lot of people in Somalia, and most likely one or two of them were probably terrorists or something. If we got 20 or 30 innocent civilians and bystanders at the same time, well, that’s worth it.
If we really do take action against Iran and/or Syria, I just cannot imagine where we might go from there. Will we finally see mass demonstrations here at home? Will the loyal opposition party finally force a constitutional confrontation with a president who thinks that he is an emperor and answerable to no one? Will we finally see the small, regional conflicts in the Middle East finally break out into something much larger, fully drawing in Israel? Will the U.S. economy collapse because we are so dependent upon cheap energy that isn’t cheap or even available anymore? What happens if we suffer an undeniable and huge military defeat where our troops are lost on a large scale?
I imagine this period of time will be of vast interest to historians looking backwards in time 100 years from now. However, living through it is very unnerving. I am not sure things are as unsettled right now as they were, say, in Europe in 1932. But who knows where the present course may take us?
The President’s speech, though… I heard nothing new. Arianna has a very nice post that makes it very clear what she thinks about it.
Here are my Two Fundamental Reactions: 1) Sure, of course; these make total sense. But aren't these the very things we've already being doing? What exactly is new about this strategy? How is this attempt to help Iraqis protect the population different than all the other attempts to help Iraqis protect the population? Haven't we been trying to isolate extremists and create a "space for political progress" all along? (After we captured Saddam and stopped looking for WMD, that is.) Is the difference that this time we really mean it?
2) Wow, those must be 20,000 pretty awesome troops the president is sending in, if they are going to successfully do all that when the 145,000 troops we have now (or the 160,000 we had a year ago) weren't been able to.
Very succulently said. Why are we going to succeed now if we haven’t been able to do anything in the last 3 years? Are 20,000 troops really all that is required to “put us over the top”? If so, why didn’t we do that at the beginning? Insane.
The other frightening thing that I head from the speech was more very big-time saber rattling at Syria and Iran. Yes, lets go part a couple of aircraft carriers and their battle groups right off the Iran. That’s not going to be very controversial and in no way will it look at all confrontational. And no, I am sure we aren’t going around looking for an excuse to bomb some other country. I mean, we just took out a lot of people in Somalia, and most likely one or two of them were probably terrorists or something. If we got 20 or 30 innocent civilians and bystanders at the same time, well, that’s worth it.
If we really do take action against Iran and/or Syria, I just cannot imagine where we might go from there. Will we finally see mass demonstrations here at home? Will the loyal opposition party finally force a constitutional confrontation with a president who thinks that he is an emperor and answerable to no one? Will we finally see the small, regional conflicts in the Middle East finally break out into something much larger, fully drawing in Israel? Will the U.S. economy collapse because we are so dependent upon cheap energy that isn’t cheap or even available anymore? What happens if we suffer an undeniable and huge military defeat where our troops are lost on a large scale?
I imagine this period of time will be of vast interest to historians looking backwards in time 100 years from now. However, living through it is very unnerving. I am not sure things are as unsettled right now as they were, say, in Europe in 1932. But who knows where the present course may take us?
Thursday, January 04, 2007
“Open letter”** to President Bush.
**Please refer to this story in order to fully appreciate the delicious irony of the title. Or not. It really isn’t all that ironic or funny, now that I think about it.
Mr. President: Or may I refer to you by a vaguely humorous sounding yet insulting and demeaning nickname, as you do with so many of your subordinates and peers?
Mr. Suppository Hemorrhoid Treatment: I am writing to you on this occasion to express to you my humble and utmost congratulations on your recent signing statement that asserts that you have the right to open any first class mail and read it, from any American citizen to any other American citizen, without a warrant, just because you say that you feel the need to spy on anyone you like.
I say to you, sir, Bravo and Brava! Or whatever hell Latin sounding phrase sounds grandiose but not too pompous, you know the thing I mean. This one master stroke is guaranteed to send chills of fear down any wannabe terrorist hidden away in our heartland! Of course, it’s too bad that you decided to not actually TELL anyone about this, since as Dr. Strangelove so succulently stated, “Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*!” And, of course, not telling anyone sort of makes you look like a voyeur or something. I know that my personal copy of Hustler better not be late because someone in the State Dept. had nothing to do. Or maybe, you see this as a way to help finance your little half-trillion dollar skirmish (i.e., The Battle Of Our Century Of Good Against Evil) over in Iraq, you are sort of foraging for un-endorsed checks that the Dept. of the Treasury could cash on the sly. Aunt Rose will never miss that subscription to TV Guide anyway.
But all that is irrelevant! Your unilateral decision to open other people’s mail cements, for all time, your rightful position as The Decider! You, alone, can decide to set aside the law that you JUST signed that says just the opposite of your decision! It is worthy of a Calvin and Hobbes Opposite Day.
Come to think of it, I believe that your entire approach to foreign policy and GWOT is a direct manifestation of Calvinball. But again I digress.
My point is..... What is my point? I forgot my point. Oh, yes. I love it that you have shown such decisiveness and authoritarianism in the face of so little compelling evidence that this will actually accomplish anything! Why, you could be wasting millions of dollars protecting our ports where literally thousands of containers come from God-knows-where every single day. Your boldness shall not be contained by such niggling concepts as “results” or “pressing need”. No, your visionary approach to mail delivery and presidential authority is truly the only thing between our beloved country and ruin. Or ruination. I am not sure which that should be.
You, sir, are truly “The Decider”.
Hail, Freedonia!
zeppo
Mr. President: Or may I refer to you by a vaguely humorous sounding yet insulting and demeaning nickname, as you do with so many of your subordinates and peers?
Mr. Suppository Hemorrhoid Treatment: I am writing to you on this occasion to express to you my humble and utmost congratulations on your recent signing statement that asserts that you have the right to open any first class mail and read it, from any American citizen to any other American citizen, without a warrant, just because you say that you feel the need to spy on anyone you like.
I say to you, sir, Bravo and Brava! Or whatever hell Latin sounding phrase sounds grandiose but not too pompous, you know the thing I mean. This one master stroke is guaranteed to send chills of fear down any wannabe terrorist hidden away in our heartland! Of course, it’s too bad that you decided to not actually TELL anyone about this, since as Dr. Strangelove so succulently stated, “Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you *keep* it a *secret*!” And, of course, not telling anyone sort of makes you look like a voyeur or something. I know that my personal copy of Hustler better not be late because someone in the State Dept. had nothing to do. Or maybe, you see this as a way to help finance your little half-trillion dollar skirmish (i.e., The Battle Of Our Century Of Good Against Evil) over in Iraq, you are sort of foraging for un-endorsed checks that the Dept. of the Treasury could cash on the sly. Aunt Rose will never miss that subscription to TV Guide anyway.
But all that is irrelevant! Your unilateral decision to open other people’s mail cements, for all time, your rightful position as The Decider! You, alone, can decide to set aside the law that you JUST signed that says just the opposite of your decision! It is worthy of a Calvin and Hobbes Opposite Day.
Come to think of it, I believe that your entire approach to foreign policy and GWOT is a direct manifestation of Calvinball. But again I digress.
My point is..... What is my point? I forgot my point. Oh, yes. I love it that you have shown such decisiveness and authoritarianism in the face of so little compelling evidence that this will actually accomplish anything! Why, you could be wasting millions of dollars protecting our ports where literally thousands of containers come from God-knows-where every single day. Your boldness shall not be contained by such niggling concepts as “results” or “pressing need”. No, your visionary approach to mail delivery and presidential authority is truly the only thing between our beloved country and ruin. Or ruination. I am not sure which that should be.
You, sir, are truly “The Decider”.
Hail, Freedonia!
zeppo
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
What’s “news” these days?
Oh, it’s a never-ending cornucopia of weird and disconnected people out there. Unfortunately, a lot of them seem to be in charge of running this country. How unfortunate.
This is a good one.
A conservative radio host decides to announce that he believes that congressmen and congresswomen, if they do not fall in with his current set of beliefs on immigration, should be assassinated. The following is posted on his web site.
"ANY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WHO INTRODUCES, CO-SPONSORS OR VOTES IN FAVOR OF ANY SUCH AMNESTY WILL BE DECLARED A DOMESTIC ENEMY AND WILL BE CONSIDERED A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR ASSASSINATION,"
And this:
"We may have to ASSASSINATE some of the people you elect on Nov. 7! This could be your LAST ELECTION CHANCE, to save this Republic…
"Sorry to have to be so blunt, but the country is in mortal danger from our present government and our liberty is already near dead because of this government. If you are too stupid to turn things around with your vote, there are people out here like me who are willing to turn things around with guns, force and violence. We hope our method does not become necessary," he wrote.
But he defined his position as commentary instead of advocacy when one supporter wrote to Turner's website, "Hey Hal instead of saying 'may' SAY you WILL KILL THEM!!!"
"No no no no no. Words mean things," Turner wrote at the time. The difference between 'may' and 'will' is the difference between an opinion and a threat," he concluded. "One is lawful, the other is not!"
Uh, yeah. That’s a mighty fine distinction to make there, the legal difference between “may” and “will”. And the conservatives hated Clinton when he played games with words.
It is a mystery to me why no one, besides liberal bloggers, calls these lunatics out. Openly advocating assassinating a congressman? Boy, if someone from Left Blogistan did something like this, maybe calling for someone to knock of Rush Limbaugh or maybe Rupert Murdoch, man, would things ever go crazy then. Where is the FBI on something like this, or even the FCC? Why are these nutjobs still allowed to broadcast over the public airwaves? Stations and networks can get fined a huge amount of money because someone shows a nipple or says the F Word, but it’s somehow acceptable to openly advocated killing elected officials?
This country is insane.
Saddam has been executed in a very tawdry manner.
All sorts of people are saying that this looks more like some sort of Wild, Wild West mob justice than anything that came down from a court of law. Where’s Judge Roy Bean when you need him?
Very messy, bizarre business. I especially like the selection of Saddam’s execution on a Muslim festival day, as well as the thing being recorded on several cell phones. Boy, those things sure can come in handy.
But we all feel much better about ourselves and much safer as a nation now, right?
I like this one.
The now-in-the-minority Republicans have issued a call for a “Minority Bill of Rights”, that was apparently fashioned from a similar document that was written by none other than the Demon Du Jour, Nancy Pelosi, and was immediately tossed in the trash bin by Dennis Hastart. Yes, we should all be very nice to each other, respect each other, and not trample on the minority party. It’s just like the last six years didn’t even exist. This line in this memo kills me.
"Unfortunately, as you are well aware, the Democrats' forty-year reign over the House was plagued by consistent, systematic efforts to usurp the rights and privileges of the Republican minority," write Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Tom Price (R-GA).
I cannot understand how these people don’t understand how THEY come off looking so completely idiotic and hypocritical when they say stuff like that.
Arianna has a good smack-down of Bush’s latest approach to the war.
Well, actually, this is just more of the same; blame someone else. In this case, it is General Casey, who was one of the ones who thought he was doing Bush’s bidding. And remember when Bush kept saying, over and over, that all he was doing was listening to his generals on the ground and just giving them what they needed? Which, incidentally, was exactly what Bush was telling them that he thought they needed. Well, Casey’s now officially history.
Hate to break the news to you, General, but just in case you haven’t been paying attention, BUSH WILL THROW ANYONE AND EVERYONE UNDER THE BUS WHEN IT SUITS HIM. There is no loyalty that will come from him when he gets into trouble. The loyalty is all supposed to flow uphill. But really, these guys are without shame. I know I have come to that same realization many times over the last six years. However, I keep getting surprised by how low they can go. Each time I think they have hit bottom, they come up with a new zinger that has me shaking my head.
Thank you, John Edwards, for coining a new term to describe the upcoming “surge”; The McCain Doctrine. Call a spade a spade and get it out there on the table.
Oh, and I can’t end this without a mention of yet another gun “incident” at a school, this time in my own backyard.
One student kills another with a gun at a public school. Ho, hum. Old news, nothing to see here, move along, move along. Oh, there’s all the human interest stuff about how parents were out of their minds with worried, and then very relieved when their own kids were O.K. Yeah, that’s fine. What about the kids who DON’T come home after these “incidents”? This will all be forgotten by next week. Maybe Brittney Spears will forget to wear panties again or something.
This is a good one.
A conservative radio host decides to announce that he believes that congressmen and congresswomen, if they do not fall in with his current set of beliefs on immigration, should be assassinated. The following is posted on his web site.
"ANY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WHO INTRODUCES, CO-SPONSORS OR VOTES IN FAVOR OF ANY SUCH AMNESTY WILL BE DECLARED A DOMESTIC ENEMY AND WILL BE CONSIDERED A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR ASSASSINATION,"
And this:
"We may have to ASSASSINATE some of the people you elect on Nov. 7! This could be your LAST ELECTION CHANCE, to save this Republic…
"Sorry to have to be so blunt, but the country is in mortal danger from our present government and our liberty is already near dead because of this government. If you are too stupid to turn things around with your vote, there are people out here like me who are willing to turn things around with guns, force and violence. We hope our method does not become necessary," he wrote.
But he defined his position as commentary instead of advocacy when one supporter wrote to Turner's website, "Hey Hal instead of saying 'may' SAY you WILL KILL THEM!!!"
"No no no no no. Words mean things," Turner wrote at the time. The difference between 'may' and 'will' is the difference between an opinion and a threat," he concluded. "One is lawful, the other is not!"
Uh, yeah. That’s a mighty fine distinction to make there, the legal difference between “may” and “will”. And the conservatives hated Clinton when he played games with words.
It is a mystery to me why no one, besides liberal bloggers, calls these lunatics out. Openly advocating assassinating a congressman? Boy, if someone from Left Blogistan did something like this, maybe calling for someone to knock of Rush Limbaugh or maybe Rupert Murdoch, man, would things ever go crazy then. Where is the FBI on something like this, or even the FCC? Why are these nutjobs still allowed to broadcast over the public airwaves? Stations and networks can get fined a huge amount of money because someone shows a nipple or says the F Word, but it’s somehow acceptable to openly advocated killing elected officials?
This country is insane.
Saddam has been executed in a very tawdry manner.
All sorts of people are saying that this looks more like some sort of Wild, Wild West mob justice than anything that came down from a court of law. Where’s Judge Roy Bean when you need him?
Very messy, bizarre business. I especially like the selection of Saddam’s execution on a Muslim festival day, as well as the thing being recorded on several cell phones. Boy, those things sure can come in handy.
But we all feel much better about ourselves and much safer as a nation now, right?
I like this one.
The now-in-the-minority Republicans have issued a call for a “Minority Bill of Rights”, that was apparently fashioned from a similar document that was written by none other than the Demon Du Jour, Nancy Pelosi, and was immediately tossed in the trash bin by Dennis Hastart. Yes, we should all be very nice to each other, respect each other, and not trample on the minority party. It’s just like the last six years didn’t even exist. This line in this memo kills me.
"Unfortunately, as you are well aware, the Democrats' forty-year reign over the House was plagued by consistent, systematic efforts to usurp the rights and privileges of the Republican minority," write Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Tom Price (R-GA).
I cannot understand how these people don’t understand how THEY come off looking so completely idiotic and hypocritical when they say stuff like that.
Arianna has a good smack-down of Bush’s latest approach to the war.
Well, actually, this is just more of the same; blame someone else. In this case, it is General Casey, who was one of the ones who thought he was doing Bush’s bidding. And remember when Bush kept saying, over and over, that all he was doing was listening to his generals on the ground and just giving them what they needed? Which, incidentally, was exactly what Bush was telling them that he thought they needed. Well, Casey’s now officially history.
Hate to break the news to you, General, but just in case you haven’t been paying attention, BUSH WILL THROW ANYONE AND EVERYONE UNDER THE BUS WHEN IT SUITS HIM. There is no loyalty that will come from him when he gets into trouble. The loyalty is all supposed to flow uphill. But really, these guys are without shame. I know I have come to that same realization many times over the last six years. However, I keep getting surprised by how low they can go. Each time I think they have hit bottom, they come up with a new zinger that has me shaking my head.
Thank you, John Edwards, for coining a new term to describe the upcoming “surge”; The McCain Doctrine. Call a spade a spade and get it out there on the table.
Oh, and I can’t end this without a mention of yet another gun “incident” at a school, this time in my own backyard.
One student kills another with a gun at a public school. Ho, hum. Old news, nothing to see here, move along, move along. Oh, there’s all the human interest stuff about how parents were out of their minds with worried, and then very relieved when their own kids were O.K. Yeah, that’s fine. What about the kids who DON’T come home after these “incidents”? This will all be forgotten by next week. Maybe Brittney Spears will forget to wear panties again or something.
Monday, January 01, 2007
My Lists for 2007
It seems that everyone on every blog has a list of some sort. New Year’s resolutions for the author, for George Bush, for the world. Wishes for the new year. Things from 2006 we can do without.
For no particular reason, I am going to make some lists about my favorite films. Not that I think anyone at all cares what I think. I just feel like doing it.
Laugh out loud comedies:
- A Shot In The Dark
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Young Frankenstein
- Animal House
- What’s Up, Doc?
Classic Comedies:
- The General
- Arsenic and Old Lace
- Duck Soup
- The Philadelphia Story
- A Night at the Opera
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- Some Like It Hot
Weird yet good comedies:
- Repo Man
- Six String Samurai
- Harold and Maude
- Bruster McCloud
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Bedazzled
Understated, quality comedies:
- Local Hero
- My Favorite Year
- Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
- The Man With Bogart’s Face
Big budget, lotsa stars comedies:
- The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
- It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
- The Great Race
- Caddyshack
- Casino Royale
Scary:
- Alien
- The Exorcist
- Psycho
- The Haunting
Classic Sci-Fi:
- The Thing From Another World
- Forbidden Planet
- King Kong
- The Day the Earth Stood Still
- The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
- Them!
Classic Drama/Suspense:
- Casablanca
- North by Northwest
- The Night of the Hunter
- On The Waterfront
- The African Queen
Great Film Noir:
- The Third Man
- The Maltese Falcon
- The Big Sleep
- Sunset Boulevard
- The Blue Dahlia
Best Animated Feature For Adults As Well As Kids:
- Spirited Away
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- Fantasia
- Yellow Submarine
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Flat Out Unusual:
- Memento
- Identity
- The Mothman Prophecies
- Nomads
- Blue Velvet
For no particular reason, I am going to make some lists about my favorite films. Not that I think anyone at all cares what I think. I just feel like doing it.
Laugh out loud comedies:
- A Shot In The Dark
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Young Frankenstein
- Animal House
- What’s Up, Doc?
Classic Comedies:
- The General
- Arsenic and Old Lace
- Duck Soup
- The Philadelphia Story
- A Night at the Opera
- The Importance of Being Earnest
- Some Like It Hot
Weird yet good comedies:
- Repo Man
- Six String Samurai
- Harold and Maude
- Bruster McCloud
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Bedazzled
Understated, quality comedies:
- Local Hero
- My Favorite Year
- Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
- The Man With Bogart’s Face
Big budget, lotsa stars comedies:
- The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
- It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
- The Great Race
- Caddyshack
- Casino Royale
Scary:
- Alien
- The Exorcist
- Psycho
- The Haunting
Classic Sci-Fi:
- The Thing From Another World
- Forbidden Planet
- King Kong
- The Day the Earth Stood Still
- The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
- Them!
Classic Drama/Suspense:
- Casablanca
- North by Northwest
- The Night of the Hunter
- On The Waterfront
- The African Queen
Great Film Noir:
- The Third Man
- The Maltese Falcon
- The Big Sleep
- Sunset Boulevard
- The Blue Dahlia
Best Animated Feature For Adults As Well As Kids:
- Spirited Away
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- Fantasia
- Yellow Submarine
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Flat Out Unusual:
- Memento
- Identity
- The Mothman Prophecies
- Nomads
- Blue Velvet
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