Where They Stand

The economy is back as the top story of the election and thank God. It's about time. To put it simply, the American economy doesn't work anymore. I am going to spend the rest of the week talking about this and offering all of you what I think are the best solutions. We are going to revisit "Obamanomics" and that wonderful article in the New York Times Magazine from a few weeks ago. Read it again if you haven't yet.

To put it as simply as possible, the reason our economy is in full crisis mode is that the people who have run this country for the last eight years have been incompetent and misguided.And the board room has become filthy with greed. Both George Bush and John McCain have stated in the last few weeks that greed and corruption are what have caused our current crisis. As the President has said, "Wall Street got drunk and now they have the hangover."

What this proves is that corruption can happen anywhere and all of you free market fundamentalists are wrong about it being worse in the government. Sorry, it's something you are going to have to face. Your ideology is terribly flawed. In fact, if you look at when our major crises have occurred in this country (1929, 1987, 2001, 2007-8) they have all come during Republican rule. What does that say to you?

Now, I'll be the first to admit that over bearing government control is a bad thing. But no control at all is also equally disastrous. No regulation, which is what we have had for the better part of 30 years, is also bad. This inaction or sneaky winking from the Washington to Wall Street has put us into a crisis that shows no signs of letting up. Yesterday the market dropped 500 points with the news that Lehman Brothers is bankrupt and Merrill Lynch is being sold to Bank of America. AIG is also in danger.

This is all the result of what happens when you go off the deep end in regards to how our economy should be handled.

By the deep end, I mean people who make the claim that Barack Obama is a socialist. Barack Obama is not a socialist. Please keep your 9 year old girl hysterics out of the adult swim area. He is not going to make America a socialist state. He's not even going to go to an FDR style solution to solve our problems.

Take a look at his plan on taxes, for example:

• Make many Bush Tax Cuts Permanent
• Make "work pay" tax credit
• Index the Alternative Minimum Tax
• Reduce Estate Tax
• Automatic 401K and IRA plans, large saver's credits
• Other Tax Cuts (for college students, seniors, low income filers)
• Permanent R & D and renewable energy credits

Most of this doesn't sound much different from where conservatives want us to be, right? Now, you balance this out with the fact that we have to let the capital gains tax cuts expire in 2010 in order to increase revenue.

Before all of you righties go apeshit, my source for this is...George Bush. The Bush Administration Treasury Department examined the economic effects of extending the capital gains and dividend tax cuts. Even under the Treasury’s most optimistic scenario about the economic effects of these tax cuts, the tax cuts would not generate anywhere close to enough added economic growth to pay for themselves — and would thus lose money. They estimate between 60 and 80 billion of lost revenue in other less optimistic scenarios.

So this would be an example of why we can't afford to spend another four years looking at only one side of the equation. This is what John McCain wants, sadly. If the majority of Americans aren't spending any money because the majority of wealth has been seized by a very tiny percentage of people, we will continue to see more and more of what happened yesterday.

Take a closer look at what Senator Obama is proposing. For more specifics on this plan, visit here. There are many sub sections and pdf files that go into extraordinary detail about how we can fix this mess. Look at the balance. This how America has always worked best.

It is my hope that some of you on the right will wake up and see that Senator Obama has the right amount of balance on this. It's terribly dangerous to be blinded by ideology and outright lies and that's just what's going on right now. Your pocketbook is going to begin to get hit and it is direct result of a flawed way of thinking that may ultimately be our ruin.

Ohio Bullshit Beginning Early

Well, we knew it had to happen. The Republicans would be pulling their usual bullshit in Ohio. Apparently, the McCain campaign re-wrote the absentee ballot request form it sent out to a million people by adding an extra box on it. The box, which is completely unneeded on the form due to the fact that election judges check eligibility anyway, asks you to check it if you are an eligible voter. If you don't check it, under Ohio law, you would not be able to vote.

And, of course, the box is easy to miss. Hmm..I wonder who they sent out the request forms to?

Gee, let me think hard about this one.

Not Many Words

Usually on this day I have plenty to say. This year, I don't. I've been checking out the news and watching the memorials and quite honestly feel pretty sad.

If you know someone who lost a loved one on 9-11 or someone who is serving in Afghanistan or Iraq, give them a call or drop them a note. Let them know how much you love them and that you are there for them on the other 364 days of the year.

Six More Times

Remember that whole brouhaha we all had a while back about who supports the troops more-McCain or Obama? Check out this story from the AP. Apparently, the troops, particularly those serving overseas, support Obama more and have backed it up by giving more money to his campaign then the McCain campaign...six times more! McCain actually came in third, behind Obama and Ron Paul which, I have to say, is quite embarrassing.

I guess the troops figured out that McCain's GI bill was a load of shit and decided Obama actually had their interests in mind.

A Music Review

One of my many passions in life is music. Actually it's a passion/obsession. As Fairuza Balk says in Almost Famous, "Any time you get sad or lonely, just go to the record store and all your friends are there in the racks.

Anyhoo, I am going to be a regular contributor to IckMusic, my friend Pete's much frequented music blog. Everyone who digs music should check it out. My post is about Todd Rundgren's new album, Arena. Click here to read the review and check in with Pete on a regular basis for all the latest and greatest tunes.

They Like Her...why again?

Someone sent me this link which we have been talking about in comments over the last few days and I thought I would bring it out front. It is a letter from someone who knows Sarah Palin pretty well. Among the highlights.

• During her six years as mayor of Wasilla, she increased general government expenditures by more than 33 percent.
• During those same six years, the amount of taxes collected by the city increased by 38 percent.
• She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax, which taxed even food.
• The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.
• The huge increases in tax revenue during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list, though — borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt but left it with indebtedness of more than $22 million.

So, basically we have George Bush once again. Great.

In her tenure as mayor she tried to have several books banned from the public library. When the librarian refused, Governor Palin tried to have her fired. Thankfully, the rest of the town did not support Palin in this endeavor and she was unsuccessful. I haven't been able to find a list of the books she supposedly wanted banned, due to religious reasons. There is a list out there but it may not be entirely accurate. I have to say I thought of Jonah Goldberg and chuckled when I read this part of the story.

Help me out here, folks. I thought conservatives were about less spending, lower taxes, and reduced government in people's lives. How does the information above jibe with any of those tenets?

Reading further in the article, the answer becomes clear.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them.

Ah, now I know why they like her:)

Friday Potpourri

Couple things today.

Take a look at the counter to the left. Obama's bounce from last week is starting to show. Let's see what the polls bring next week. Will there be a Republican bounce?

If you click on the map, you will notice that Obama is ahead in North Dakota. Bush won this state by 27 points in 2004. Granted, his lead is still in the margin of error but the interesting thing to note is that Obama has offices in North and South Dakota as well as Montana. John McCain does not. Obama plans on spending money and campaigning there. Why? Because If he takes two of those three, Iowa and Colorado, Ohio doesn't matter. And he is still leading in Ohio. I think McCain is being terribly short sighted here. He's not looking at the new voters Obama has gotten out in those states.

McCain's lead in Arizona, his home state, isn't all that big either...44 to 36 percent with 20 percent undecided. That's a lot of undecideds that could make it close in McCain's home state and you better believe that Governor Napoliatano is going to be ovaries to the wall for Obama.

I rarely agree with Charles Krauthammer but he is is absolutely right on Sarah Palin.

Obama was sagging because of missteps that reflected the fundamental weakness of his candidacy. Which suggested McCain's strategy: Make this a referendum on Obama, surely the least experienced, least qualified, least prepared presidential nominee in living memory. Palin fatally undermines this entire line of attack.

McCain picked Palin to give the base erections-literally and figuratively-and, in doing so, gave up his argument against Obama's "inexperience" which was an enormous mistake. It was the one thing he could really hammer Obama on which would make some people listen. Now they look at Palin and think, "Well, maybe McCain was disingenuous about Obama and the experience thing. He picked someone who knows nothing about foreign policy.

And speaking of opinion columns. This one has been making me laugh all morning. It is a "text" from a conservative college student to his parents. My favorite line?

Iraq, oil prices, the economy, blah, blah, blah. Here's the thing that I like. Watching Huckabee, Guiliani, and Sara Palin rip into the Obama last night was like watching caged dogs. With our guys (and girl) being the mean dogs and Obama being, like, a Schnoodle with a soft throat.

Pretty much sums up the whole convention.

No Issue To Be Found

I have watched the Republican National Convention this week in utter astonishment. All of the speeches, the interviews with delegates and pundits, and the overall general theme of the convention point to one thing:

The media is liberal.

This is all they have?

I have tuned in several times throughout the course of the week and EVERY single time I do, I see someone on the podium whooping the crowd into a frenzy over the elite media. Everyone from Fred Thompson to Rudy Giuliani (sadly) made comments about the media. Even the much anticipated speech by VP nominee, Sarah Palin, contained the following line.

...if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

Setting aside the fact that she actually does lack experience and has some serious problems with judgment, why is that, once again, the party that preaches against a victim society plays the part of the victim so well? It's not Sarah Palin's fault...it's the media.

In addition, it strikes me as highly moronic that the Republicans, for which the media has launched an unbelievable assault in my home town of the Twin Cities, are biting the hands that feed them. As I flipped around the various news channels, all of them seemed perplexed that the Republicans would focus on them when there are so many issues that Americans want to hear about from them.

The right laments the lack of "meat" in Obama's plans and yet offers nothing of their own except more digs at the media and the ever present fear mongering (we are all dead unless we vote Republican).

And, hey, if you don't believe me...why don't we ask McCain campaign chairman, Rick Davies, what he thinks about the election.

This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.

Really?

And The Left is Naive?

I popped over to Kevin Baker's blog to see what was new and I found this little commentary, intermixed between the hyper paranoia of what a Barack Obama presidency would mean, on Barack Obama's speech last week. The first line, in blue, is from Obama's speech. The next bit, in red, is the commentary.

For over two decades, (McCain’s) subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy, give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.

No, it isn't given to them and they aren't "lucky." The vast majority of "the ones with the most" earned it through ingenuity, risk-taking, hard work and sacrifice - and they are the business owners, large and small, that employ the bulk of Americans - asshole

No. Absolutely wrong and a complete fucking myth. A myth that has been put forth by the top 1 percent through its cronies in the media (especially the right wing media). I still can't figure out this nauseating hero worship of wealthy, conservative business owners, the MAJORITY of which got their money through pathological criminal behavior. I have been told by several posters here and elsewhere that I am just jealous and should get over it. It's simply not true. Money is not all that important to me.If anything, given the adulation that is showered upon people like this by many conservatives, it is they that are the jealous ones.

Ingenuity, risk taking and sacrifice? While I am sure there are some people in the top one percent who fit this description, it certainly is not common.

Seriously, what fucking country do these people live in?

Sarah Smile

I am still trying to get my head around McCain's pick for VP. What was he thinking? I suppose she might get more of the base to turn out because she is a staunch conservative but those same people have been squirting about Obama's supposed inexperience.

Imagine if McCain, aged 72 and cancer survivor, dies. My initial reaction is....great, now we have Michelle Bachmann running the country.

A former beauty queen? Really?

For an absolutely hilarious take on what went on behind the scenes in the McCain camp when they were trying to pick a VP, click on the electoral map on the left. Andy really outdid himself with this one.

Half Time Is Over, Folks

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

-Democratic Nominee For President, Barack Obama, 8-28-08, Denver, Co

Are We Ready?

Originally, I had planned on discussing Obamanomics this week. I thought it would be beneficial to really get into the meat of his ideas for the economic direction of our country which I think is the most important issue facing us at present. This all changed, however, when it was discovered that three men were planning to kill Senator Obama when he gives his acceptance speech tonight and Invesco Field.

My mind just hasn't been on the economy...it's been on whether or not we, as a nation, are ready to move forward. I look at our country and see a very large group of people who are, essentially, children. They don't want to go forward...they want to stay backward. Inexplicably, they think that nothing is wrong with our country. Some of this group doesn't like Senator Obama because he is black. Some don't like him because of his name or they still believe the falsehood that he is a Muslim. Many in the group don't like him because they think both of these things but can't face the disgusting bigotry inside of themselves so it comes out in different ways....like mentioning the fact that Obama's middle name is Hussein and then feigning innocence when called on it. "What? That IS his name," they say.

I have to admit I'm pretty nervous about tonight. I don't know if I will even watch. Up until now, the masters of this large group of people I am talking about have been content in character assassination of Senator Obama. I wonder if they are content any longer. Because the hard truth is that Barack Obama is a major threat to their way of life...a way of life that depends on the ignorance and fear of their lapdogs. Some or most of that ignorance and fear would be gone in an era of Obama which means....they would be gone as well.

In many ways, I am disgusted by what our country has become in the last eight years. Many people who post here rip me for blaming Bush for everything. In the final analysis, they might be right. I look at what is being said about Senator Obama and the clear hatred of him...hatred that is clearly violent...and have realized that a very large voting bloc of this country are complete pieces of shit.

They have no fucking business deciding the direction of this country and will continue to hold us back as from becoming what we should be as long as well allow them to do so.

Only A Matter of Time

Remember all that talk like....oh....since forever on this blog about how most conservatives aren't shit kicking rednecks?

And about how yours truly is filled with bias and hate?

Oh, and how liberals are the ones that are fascist?

Take a look at these three fucks.
From left to right they are: Nathan Johnson (aka Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel), Shawn Adolph (!), and Tharin Gartrell. These three men, along with Johnson's girlfriend, were arrested today in a plot to assassinate Barack Obama on Thursday night in Denver when he gives his acceptance speech. They were found with scopes, high powered rifles, bullet proof vests, and Nazi literature. Adolph (no surprise here) jumped out of his hotel window to try to elude police. Apparently, there was some meth involved as well.

Take a look at these three faces. My first thought went to some of the anger and violent bile I read on various right wing blogs. Here are three of their regular commenters, I'm sure....unless each of them has their own blog discussing how Obama is going to destroy this country with socialism. Or was it fascism? I can never remember what idiocy is the moronic theory du jour.

Now, I know that some of you will say that these guys are just nuts and the left has their nuts too. Well, a conservative friend of mine at the gym..one who I used to have a lot of respect for....a respected doctor in Edina....came up to me today and asked me if I had heard about this plot. When I answered in the affirmative, he looked at me and said, very seriously,

"It's too bad they got caught. They could have saved our country."

That Moment

If John McCain goes on to lose the election this year, it will be because of the economy. The moment everyone will remember will be the one where he didn't know how many properties he owned.

A new site, complete with Google Earth map, shows the properties and very neatly details why this is not a "petty" issue as some on the right would have you believe. A quote from the site.

Before a president can effectively govern this diverse nation, they must first be able to understand the needs and struggles of its citizens. McCain’s astonishing wealth makes it impossible for him to relate to the millions of Americans who have been hurt by the economy.

I don't think McCain really understands what is going on with the economy. By his own admission, it isn't all that important to him. That's a real problem because we need to have a leader who does understand and will make some very tough choices. Starting tomorrow, I am going to be breaking down an article from yesterday's New York Times magazine on "Obamanomics." Click here if you want a preview.

Biden

I'm not quite sure how I feel about the Biden pick. On the one hand, I like his experience on the foreign stage, his attitude (see: fuck you), and his overall belief that government can work. His ego, though, gives me pause and I wonder how much of that is going to interfere with his judgment. I think the Obama campaign has weighed the five gaffes Biden will make between now and election day and determined that more votes will be acquired by his experience.

In addition, from a purely political standpoint, what states is he going to help Obama win? Kaine would've been the better choice from that standpoint because he would've locked up Virginia. And is Biden really an "outsider" to Washington? How does that fit in with Obama's change motif?

I guess it was experience that won the day. Overall, Biden's not a bad pick....he's just not incredibly stellar, which is something I have grown to expect from my guy.

A Bad Week for John McCain

This clip was posted on YouTube...a few days before McCain couldn't answer a reporter's question regarding how many houses he and his wife Cindy owned. It essentially makes fools out of those people who think that Barack Obama is elitist.

How out of touch is John McCain? The number one issue on people's minds is the economy and he continues to go after Obama on foreign policy experience. Couple this with the accord that is about to be signed between Iraq and the United States regarding a troop withdrawal date and....why should anyone vote for McCain again?

Gee, I'm Shocked.

The Brookings Institution released a report last week that stated that most of the economic gains that poor people made in the 1990s have been reversed over the course of the last eight years. Anyone like to take a guess why?

It's pretty obvious to me that Krugman was right when he wrote his piece on the Great Wealth Transfer. The 1990s saw more people with more of the nation's wealth. The economy was in great shape and there was a definitive shift in the direction our country was heading. People in this country were being re-trained for new jobs and there was a palatable feeling that we were heading one direction: FORWARD.

Then President Bush came into office and the more people having more money thing went out the fucking window. The people that put Bush in power want LESS people having MORE of the money. In their minds, the 1990s were a stain on America. Think of the horror. Some scumbag in a smelly T Shirt having stocks and having a say in how this country is run? It quite literally sends shivers up and down the spine.

So, over the course of the last eight years, we have seen more money go to the wealthiest people in this country and the gains that many poor communities made in the 90s are forever gone. And, according to the report, have no hope of coming back. Here is a key quote.

Such increases in concentrations of poor people in specific neighborhoods create a kind of self-perpetuating economic segregation.That's because low-income neighborhoods generally have lower-performing schools, less access to good jobs, poorer health outcomes, higher crime rates, and less economic investment.

The last three words are key: less economic investment. The people that own most of the wealth in this country...the ones that really run the show....the top 1 percent....the ones that have been President Bush's biggest supporters.....knew that in order to maintain their stranglehold on the direction of this country all they had to do was get the almost as rich to stop investing in these neighborhoods. And that's exactly what has happened.

What I find to be completely hilarious about all of this is that when you here certain people talk about poverty, their child like solution usually is something along these lines:

Buck up and pull yourself up by your boot straps!

To quote Hawkeye Pierce, I think these cretins should pull themselves up by their own jock strap.

If we really want to get these poor communities back in shape again, what we really need to do is: a) Elect a president that is not a pimp for power whores and b) Expand on an old proverb. Remember the one that goes "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day...teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime." I say teach a village to fish and you create an economy. Throwing more money at these communities will help somewhat but what is really needed is an investment of time from successful business leaders around the country to educate folks in these poorer communities. People in this country need to learn how to run a community from an economic standpoint. It has to be the combination of money and time, not just money. From this investment of time comes a framework or a structure that can help solidify the economies of these communities for decades.

Now which presidential candidate has more experience building up communities?

Hmm..let me think about that one for a....millisecond.

Can John McCain Read?

The Q and A last Saturday night at Rick Warren's church brought a moment which I think very much defines John McCain. When asked about evil in the world, he pounded his fist on the table, said that Al Qaeda has made their decision to make Iraq the center of the war on terror and that, as president, he would stay there until the troops came home in victory.

This would be a fine example of why he should not be president. All of our national intelligence estimates point to Pakistan and Afghanistan as the epicenter of Al Qaeda and those who would use terror as a weapon. A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor details this quite clearly. So why doesn't John McCain get it?

In fact, this is the area of the world that has always been the problem and our current president has largely ignored what has to be done over there, both militarily and diplomatically. I guess McCain just can't operate outside of a certain parameter, in this case the Iraq one, which is about a one centimeter box. I'm not sure he is capable of forward thinking when it comes to Al Qaeda and Barack Obama needs to take advantage of this.

Take a look at the first sentence in Obama's plan to fight the war we need to win.

The first step must be getting off the wrong battlefield in Iraq and taking the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

No shit. This plan is the main reason why I am voting for him. McCain's only advantage over Obama is on defense and he is being terribly backwards in his philosophy. His position just doesn't make sense. If someone can explain it to me, I'm all ears.

The Biggest Supporters

Next time you have a conversation with your average conservative, ask them how they feel about affirmative action. Between their not-so-genuine insistence that they are not racist and their spittle from screaming at the top of their lungs about how unfair everything is right now with employment standards (i.e. I'm white and I'm all a feared of these different colored folks), try to insist that they tell you EXACTLY what they find to be faulty with current laws regarding equality in the workplace.

The most common answer they will give you is that businesses should be able to hire the most qualified person regardless of sex, race, color or creed. It's too bad that they don't stand by their words. I offer the picture below as an example.

Shouldn't a man who is supposed to be patriotic know the proper way to hold our flag?

Most conservatives don't actually want someone who is qualified for the job of presidency. This explains why many of them despise John McCain, a man who I generally disagree with on most issues, think his only direction for the path of this country is backwards and is more or less full of crap. He is, however, qualified for the job. And we can't have that, can we?

In looking at President Bush, take just a moment and think....what is the one thing that a president must do on a daily basis? The one thing he should be impressive at?

Take a moment....

Take a moment....

It's public speaking and putting an impressive image out to the world. He is a miserable failure at both. The photo above clearly demonstrates how poor he is at the latter and one need only do a simple YouTube search to see how poor he is at public speaking. I recall a conversation I had a few years ago during the 2004 election in which a person I was playing tennis with told me he was voting for President Bush because, y'know, he was in the military and that's what military people do. He went on to say, "But keep him away from a microphone. That man is a horrible public speaker!" Setting aside the fact that the Republican Party has been the worst thing to happen to the US military, umm......isn't public speaking one of the top qualifications for the FUCKING JOB OF PRESIDENT!!!!!

Sheesh...

If he were at a job interview, a conservative would look at his resume and laugh. Hmm...let's see...ran oil company into the ground...ran Texas Rangers into the ground....ran Texas into the ground....and you want to be our CEO....how exactly are you going to do that? Buh Bye.

Here's the deal, folks. Conservatives like to talk a good game about affirmative action but at the end of they day, THEY vote on their feelings and beliefs, not who is better for the job. They want someone who thinks like them, looks like them, and someone they can have over for a barbecue. Conservatives are the biggest supporters of affirmative action. And, if that person does not share their EXACT beliefs and is clearly more intelligent than them? Well, then they are elitist. They are arrogant.

They are......Barack Obama.

Wake Up, Shit Asses

Last Thursday, I went to the club where I work out. I forgot to bring a bottle of water so I went into the cafe they have there now which basically looks like a Starbuck's. As I waited in line, behind someone who was getting a half caf double decaf half caf with a lemon twist (aka a painfully long process to go through just to get a fucking cup of coffee), I looked around the counter. Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING...was geared around one simple word.

Energy.

Drinks, food, pockets of powder, and a wide variety of other consumables were all guaranteeing a an increase in energy to help you in your life....which, according to many of the products, all of us are lacking. I realize that designer coffee has been a trend for awhile but the "boost" business has really gotten out of hand. Are people in this country in that dire need of a jolt?

I haven't even had a drink of caffeine since 1998. I am a pretty hyper and anxious person so I really need the opposite which is usually cured by red wine. So, I guess what I am trying to figure out is this: is the population of this country so asleep that they HAVE to have this crap in order to wake up? Why? What the fuck is the matter with everyone?

All Apologies

YouTube went maniacal and all of those times that I tried to post the video of Bob Costas interviewing President Bush ended up being posted here. So, if you came to my blog and saw a bunch of the same thing (i.e. a real mess), I am sorry. It was not my fault. Apparently YouTube is having trouble communicating with Blogger.

Why Would A Republican Vote For Obama

I got this great article from Our Girl Friday recently and I thought I would share it with you all. The best line?

We, the Republican Party, are not worthy and do not deserve another four years. Under President Bush we've betrayed every principle we've stood for as a national party -- fiscal responsibility and discipline, limited government and a foreign policy guided by realism and coalition building.

Competence and integrity have no ideology. Obama in '08.

Yep. Pretty much sums it up.

Surprising Me Yet Again

Just when I think that President Bush couldn't be any LESS in touch with reality, he stuns me yet again. During an interview with Bob Costas, at the Olympics, he commented on Russia's invasion of Georgia.

Here we are trying to promote peace and harmony and we are witnessing this conflict take place.

Umm.....was he absent the day they taught irony in his Yale literature class?

For some reason, YouTube can't share with Blogger again so click on the link below to watch the full video. The quote is about 3 minutes in. The stuff before that is also really...just....hard to watch.

Bush Interview with Costas.

A Big, Fat Middle Finger

I have been watching and thoroughly enjoying Generation Kill on HBO. It is a seven part mini series that follows a Marine unit as it enters Iraq at the beginning of the war in 2003. The show is based on the book of the same name by Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright, who was embedded with a Marine unit for two months.

There are so many things I enjoy about this series. The dialogue is mega raunch which always appeals to me. Some of it is word for word what the marines said and I have to say that even I...crap mouth of the universe...felt unclean after watching the first ep. The acting is great, mostly because of the talents of Alexander Skarsgard and James Ransone who play Sergeant Brad 'Iceman' Colbert and Corporal Josh Ray Person. Even the minor characters are played by wonderful actors, all of which are new and fresh. It feels real and has an edge to it that is very Saving Private Ryan like.

My favorite scene is a big, fat fuck you to both the left and the right which, as you all know, is something I enjoy immensely. The scene occurs in Episode 2, when a group of Iraqis surrender to the Marines. Since the company is moving north, they have no place to keep them and cannot manage prisoners so they turn them loose or "unsurrender" them, as it was said in the episode.

They do this knowing full well that all of these Iraqi men will probably be shot by their own army for being deserters. The reporter sees and hears all of this transpire. He is about to start writing when he stops and sort of looks for permission from First Lieutenant Nathaniel Fick, played by Stark Sands. Fick says, "Write this as you see it" which, of course, he did.

See, folks, this is how it really is. The left likes to gripe that the army hides stuff and that the troops are psychotic baby killers. Not true. Well, the army does hide stuff but it is mostly at a much higher level. We get to hear a lot of real stories. And the right? Well, when they see stuff like this, they usually blow a bowel and call the media a bunch of commie faggots who hate the troops and love to paint the army in a bad light. Again, it's what actually happened and I know many troops who tell reporters the same thing that Fick did.

It's always a good day when the left and the right are frothing at the mouth about the same stupid shit. Check out the show. It's a corker!

Guv Says Buh-Bye to VP Slot

Well, I guess Governor Pawlenty decided he didn't want to be McCain's VP after all. Senator Obama was in Minnesota yesterday and, when asked to comment on him, the Guv said the following

Say what you will about Barack Obama, people gravitate when you have something positive to say. People want to follow hopeful, optimistic, civil, decent leaders. They don't want to follow some negative, scornful person.

Hmm...sound like he is describing the latest round of McCain ads when he says "negative and scornful person."

I don't agree with our Governor often but he is dead on right here!

Tell Me A Story

How many times has this happened to you?

You are at a party or some sort of social situation and you meet someone you don't know. The first words out of your mouth or theirs are, "So, what do you do?" And then the conversation proceeds down the tedious path of each job that you do on a daily basis, how much of a "bear" it is, and how you can't wait to get a vacation.

Setting aside the fact that most of this nation is on permanent vacation (more on that later), Americans seem to love to define themselves by what they do. I have had many discussions regarding this topic with our very own Crabmaster Scratch, currently known as Last In Line. It may surprise all of you to know that both of us are in complete agreement: defining yourself by your means of employment is fucking lame.

A job is not who you are, particularly with so many Americans hating their jobs (more on that later as well). When I think of Crab, I don't think of his work for a medical parts company. I think of softball, salsa dancing, martinis, girls, guns, and his secret life with MI-6.

Well, OK..the last four are someone else but I think you get my point. I am sick and tired of people in this country playing the 'what do you do' game when the meet someone. It is shallow, trivial, and half the time the person they are talking to isn't even listening anyway.

Far be it from, though, to bitch and not offer a solution. I just started doing this recently and the response I have gotten has been overwhelmingly positive. When you first meet someone and that moment comes when you feel the urge to say, "What do you do?" instead say this:

Tell me a story.

At first they might look a little baffled (or uptight if they live in Minnesota), but if you explain to them why you are asking this, that you are much more interested in that part of life that makes them human, interesting, and exciting, they usually open up. Heck, it can even be a story about their job! People love to hear and tell stories and what better way to break the ice than with a tale?

Give this a try and make sure that when you do, you tell them to pass it on and really get it out there. If I have to sit through another shit eatingly boring story about someone's dumb ass job, which they don't really want to talk about anyway, I will go insane.

Hallelujah!

I really need to get more organized with my links and blog information. It's just terrible. Whenever I am having a discussion with someone in comments, it's a real struggle to find pertinent information to back up my points.

The need for organization was played out quite eloquently in a recent discussion I have been having with one reader regarding whether or not the rich are taxed more. I could not come up with the information quickly and was quite unimpressive in the debate.

After searching for days, I finally found the links that show some hard numbers on what is really going on in this country. The main link I was looking for, by Thurman Hart on NJ.com, a New Jersey web site, neatly explains how "Paris Hilton and her pals have gotten windfall tax breaks while Joe Sixpack has had to take up the slack." Bear in mind, his information is coming from the Census Bureau, the IRS, and the Tax Center. Please go and double check his numbers. I did and it is nauseating.

He explains things in a very brief and clear fashion. An example?

The marginal tax rate - the highest tax bracket - in 1968 was 75.25% for incomes over $200,000. Adjusted for inflation, that would be a $1,128,351 - and they would pay 35% taxes on income over $326,450. For someone making over a million dollars a year currently, that's a 40% tax savings! According to the IRS Statistics of Income, that means about 270,000 people benefited from this tax break in 2004 (2005 and later statistics not currently available). So how much money is that? If the whole sum were subjected to only a 20% tax, the United States government would have brought in an additional $98 BILLION. By way of comparison, this is $17 billion more than was spent in Iraq in 2005.

This is a natural function of the multiplier effect of wealth. Less than one percent of Americans earn more than a million dollars, but they account for 11.2% of all income. This doesn't mean we should "soak the rich", but it does mean that over my lifetime the extremely wealthy have benefited from massive tax cuts.

And that has been my point all along. If you need more tables and charts to understand this, check out this site which is chock full o' data. Check out the CEO compensation charts at the bottom of the page.

I also found this article from the Times which further enforces my point regarding the stratification of our society. This was in regards to the Congressional Budget Office report regarding middle class income earners-the same report the Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson was coming when he took office. It shows a very bleak future for our country and, if we don't pay attention, we are going to be in real trouble.

Back In Action

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few days. Blogger mistakenly identified thousands of blogs as spam blogs. These are blogs that contain multiple links to one site that is trying to hawk something or engage in pyramid scam. Mine was one of them.

I should have a new post up sometime tomorrow. Not quite sure what the topic will be...there is so much to choose from :)

Conservative...terrorists?

Remember the cover of the New Yorker a couple of weeks back? The basic jist of that was a lampoon on conservative (see:white man shaking and a quakin' because he can't get his big fat dumb ass head around how much our America has changed) paranoia. In what has to be the most hilarious dichotomy in....the history of this country...conservatives think that Senator Obama is a "radical" who spends his time with "other radicals" like William Ayers (see: conservative douche bag fear mongering pundit machine really, really reaching for...something...hee hee) and is going to wield his Che Guevara ways,similar to Harry Potter's wand, and destroy all life in this country as we know it. I only have one thing to say to these imbecilic putzes:

PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF.

Why don't we spend a few moments and take a look at domestic terrorism? Let's start with an oldie, but a goodie...abortion clinic related violence...

Murders

In the U.S., violence directed toward abortion providers has killed 7 people, including 3 doctors, 2 clinic employees, a security guard, and a clinic escort

• March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn of Pensacola, Florida was fatally shot during a protest. He had been the subject of wanted-style posters distributed by Operation Rescue in the summer of the year before. Michael F. Griffin was found guilty of Dr. Gunn's murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
• June 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, were both shot to death outside of another facility in Pensacola. Rev. Paul Jennings Hill was charged with the killings, received a death sentence, and was executed September 3, 2003.
• December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, were killed in two clinic attacks in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Salvi, who prior to his arrest was distributing pamphlets from Human Life International was arrested and confessed to the killings. He committed suicide in prison and guards found his body under his bed with a plastic garbage bag tied around his head. Salvi had also confessed to a non-lethal attack in Norfolk, Virginia days before the Brookline killings.
• January 29, 1998: Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed when his workplace was bombed. Eric Robert Rudolph, who was also responsible for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, was charged with the crime and received two life sentences as a result.
• October 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death at his home in Amherst, New York. His was the last in a series of similar shootings against providers in Canada and northern New York state which were all likely committed by James Kopp. Kopp was convicted of Dr. Slepian's murder after finally being apprehended in France in 2001.

A fourth doctor, George Patterson, was shot and killed in Mobile, Alabama on August 21, 1993, but it is uncertain whether his death was the direct result of his profession or rather a robbery.

Attempted murder, assault, and threats

According to statistics gathered by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), an organization of abortion providers, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, there have been 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery, and 3 kidnappings committed against abortion providers. The attempted murders were:

• August 19, 1993: Dr. George Tiller was shot outside of an abortion facility in Wichita, Kansas. Shelley Shannon was charged with the crime and received an 11-year prison sentence.
• June 29, 1994: June Barret was shot in the same attack which claimed the lives of James Barrett, her husband, and Dr. John Britton.
• December 30, 1994: Five individuals were wounded in the same-day shootings which killed Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols.
• December 18, 1996: Dr. Calvin Jackson of New Orleans, Louisiana was stabbed 15 times, losing 4 pints of blood. Donald Cooper was charged with second-degree attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years.^[11]
• October 28, 1997: A physician whose name has not been revealed was shot in his home in Rochester, New York.
• January 29, 1998: Emily Lyons, a nurse, was severely injured in the bombing which also killed Robert Sanderson.
• September 11, 2006 David McMenemy attempted a suicide bombing of a women's clinic in Davenport, Iowa after scouting targets throughout the Midwest. It was later revealed that the targeted clinic did not perform or make referrals for abortions.

Anthrax threats

The first letters claiming to contain anthrax were mailed to U.S. clinics in October 1998, a few days after the Slepian shooting, and since then, there have been a total of 655 such bioterror threats made against abortion providers. None of the "anthrax" in these cases was real.

• November 2001: After the genuine 2001 anthrax attacks, Clayton Waagner mailed hoax letters containing a white powder to 554 clinics. Waagner was convicted of 51 charges relating to the anthrax scare on December 3, 2003.

And where are we on the whole anthrax thing again? And who was targeted? Just saying...

Arson, bombing, and property crime

According to NAF, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, property crimes committed against abortion providers have included 41 bombings, 173 arsons, 91 attempted bombings or arsons, 619 bomb threats, 1630 incidents of trespassing, 1264 incidents of vandalism, and 100 attacks with butyric acid ("stink bombs"). The first clinic arson occurred in Oregon in March 1976 and the first bombing occurred in February 1978 in Ohio. More recent incidents have included:

• October 1999: Martin Uphoff set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, causing US$100 worth of damage. He was later sentenced to 60 months in prison.
• May 28, 2000: An arson at a clinic in Concord, New Hampshire on resulted in damage estimated at US$20,000.
• October 1, 2000: A Catholic priest drove his car into the Northern Illinois Health Clinic after learning that the FDA had approved the drug RU-486. He pulled out an ax before being shot at by a security guard.
• June 11, 2001: A bombing at a clinic in Tacoma, Washington on destroyed a wall, resulting in US$6000 in damages
• July 4, 2005: A clinic Palm Beach, Florida was the target of an arson.
• December 12, 2005: Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe threw a Molotov cocktail at a clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana. The device missed the building and no damage was caused. In August 2006, Hughes was sentenced to six years in prison, and Dunahoe to one year.
• September 13, 2006 David McMenemy of Rochester Hills, Michigan crashed his car into the Edgerton Women's Care Center in Davenport, Iowa. He then doused the lobby in gasoline and then started a fire. McMenemy committed these acts in the belief that the center was performing abortions, however Edgerton is not an abortion clinc.
• April 25, 2007: A package left at a women's health clinic in Austin, Texas contained an explosive device capable of inflicting serious injury or death. A bomb squad detonated the device.
• May 9, 2007: An unidentified person deliberately set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
• December 6, 2007: Two unidentified persons set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Mentioned above is Eric Rudolph, the man responsible for the 1996 Olympic bombings. His reason?

Under the protection and auspices of the regime in Washington millions of people came to celebrate the ideals of global socialism. Even though the conception and purpose of the so-called Olympic movement is to promote the values of global socialism, as perfectly expressed in the song Imagine by John Lennon, which was the theme of the 1996 Games even though the purpose of the Olympics is to promote these despicable ideals, the purpose of the attack on July 27 was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand.

The John Lennon mention perfectly exemplifies the complete and utter fucking ignorance of people that think this way. Imagine (hee hee) the level of intellect that these people have that completely misinterprets one of the greatest songs of all time. I guess I would expect nothing less from this type of mindset. Less than zero maybe?

And then we have the Oklahoma City bombings by right wing nutters who were tired of the government as well as a whole host of grievances that sound suspiciously like a certain blog I know. This same blog recently posted a story recounting the "Threshold of Outrage" of 58 year old Jim Adkisson who, last Sunday, stormed into a Tennessee Church, angry at its liberalism and tolerance of homosexual members, killed two people and wounded seven others during a performance of a children's play. Naturally, he had a statement...he targeted the church because

"...of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."

Hmm...sounds just like that guy I recently met at a Christmas Party who some of you said was an anomaly. Oh, and this is great. Inside Adkisson's house they found "'Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder' by radio talk show host Michael Savage, 'Let Freedom Ring' by talk show host Sean Hannity, and 'The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly.'"

Gee, what a shock.

As I read through Kevin's post regarding the tragedy, I did see a few hints of condemnation but the jist of the post, as well as the comments, was this....DON'T PISS OFF WHITE PEOPLE. And, as BLK noted after he read the post.

Geez, he sounds like a bleeding heart liberal. The poor guy's threshold of outrage was reached. We can hardly blame him. Those damned liberals made him do it. It's society's fault.

What I find to be curious about all of this is I wonder if Kevin has seriously taken a look at the people he criticizes and the people he defends? How blinded can his dogmatic belief system be? If I were him, I would be less concerned about the left and more concerned about his own house, which quite clearly has more shit bags in it. As BLK so eloquently put it to me in a recent email regarding this topic...

Why is personal responsibility abdicated when conservatives commit crimes?

Indeed. This would include Ted Stevens and the Justice Department under President Bush....two topics that will be covered over the next few days.....

The Benefits of Conservative Ideology

For the past eight years, many small businesses, largely made up of Republican voters, have been reaping some pretty big rewards or, more to the point, they have been given a break on their taxes.

And by break, I mean the "hands off" government of George W. Bush has looked the other way when it comes to their payroll taxes. According to a recent AP report, 1.6 million businesses owe 58 billion dollars in back taxes and penalties. This story caught my eye for a couple of reasons. The first was this quote from my Senator, Norm Coleman

Paying taxes isn't an option for hardworking Americans, yet these businesses act like they are exempt from this basic civic responsibility. Employers shouldn't have to worry about whether or money taken from paychecks is being used to line their employers pockets.

First of all, Norm, FUCK YOU! You and your ilk have encouraged this sort of behavior for the last eight years (six for you) and for you to come and say now that this "bad" is terribly disingenuous.

The other thing that I found interesting was how this proves, through hard evidence, how much our country has gone off track from good capitalism. Many of you have said that American businesses aren't like this.....it isn't common...blah blah blah...sucking any corporate leader's cock is patriotic because that is how success is defined...

It is quite clear conservative ideology encourages this sort of behavior. Examples?

• One company that it said had failed to pay $12 million while the owner diverted business money to buy luxury cars, planes and a mansion.
• A construction firm that owed $2.5 million dating back five years was found to be underbidding contracts while using unpaid payroll taxes to subsidize losses.
• A health-care company owing $2.5 million over 30 quarters filed for bankruptcy three times. Around the time of the bankruptcy filings, officers made cash withdrawals from the business of about $700,000.
• A waste-management firm owing $16 million stretched out over 10 years. The business was investigated for hiring illegal immigrants and the owner was arrested for income-tax crimes.

This is what happens when you follow the conservative line of thought regarding business and government. I find it to be hilarious that your average conservative bemoans government corruption and yet quietly chuckles when something like this happens.

So, corruption is OK when it happens the free market?

I Take This Man To Be My Wife

Steve Young is a real estate developer who wrote a column in today's Strib about one of my favorite topics: the "fun" people have in Minnesota. In one beautiful piece of opinion, he summed up what I have been saying for years about the thought process of most people in this state. If they start having too much fun around here, they usually think to themselves the following...

"Wow. I am really having fun. I better ramp this shit back and go do something that makes me fucking miserable like mow my lawn at the cabin or spend a Saturday morning at Menard's and a Saturday afternoon fixing up my house with the shit I bought at Menard's. I know some of my friends are playing a fun sport/going to a ball game/hitting the clubs today/tonight but hey...too much fun is a bad thing. I will not go with them and I will verbally berate anyone who does for having too much fun. It is abnormal. It is abnormal. It is abnormal...."

(sound of Theremin and person slipping into hypnosis)

Steve hits the nail on the head with the following quote from the article:

Ten years ago, I moved with my young children to Minneapolis from Chicago. That summer, and every summer since, when I go to one of the city beaches I am amazed and annoyed with the city officials who turned our natural gift, our city lakes, into large, boring wading pools -- people standing or sitting in the water, hampered by the multitude of antifun rules that the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has imposed over the years.

It really is true, I am sad to say, for those of you readers who hail from other lands. Oh, and did you noticed that he moved from Chicago? A place where they know how to pull the stick out of their collective arses and have a good time.

For the full article click here.

Three Days and Counting...

I have waited all year for the new season of Mad Men and it is three short days away. I fucking love this show. It takes place in the early 1960s...the zenith of Kennedy Era cool. Martinis....grey flannel suits....and chicks in tight skirts with curves in places where most women don't even have places.

Yummy.

Especially yummy is Christina Hendricks, number two on the top five mega fucking hot chick list of yours truly, pictured here with co-star and lead man, Jon Hamm.

Click on the photo if you would like to read more about the show.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Iraq

Before Barack Obama's trip this week to the Middle East, the President of Iraq, Nouri Al Maliki, stated that Iraq wanted US troops out of Iraq. This sentiment was echoed by several members of the Iraqi government.

The reaction from the Bush Administration was bizarre, to say the least. At first, they tried to deny that he said it. Then they vehemently disagreed with him, which is odd, of course, because we are supposedly still there at their invitation. To suggest otherwise would make us an (gasp!) imperial force occupying a foreign land. And we all know that's not true. Can't be. We aren't an empire because when you say "empire" or "imperialism" you can only use the strictest definition (see 18th century dictionary) and any other meaning is liberal hysteria. Lunacy...I tell you....lunacy!

Finally, on Friday, just as Obama was making his way to the Middle East, Bush and al Maliki agreed, via video conference, to a rough outline for withdrawal of US Combat Forces.

Huh?

Pardon me for scratching my head here (and I know I shouldn't in the ever changing, see if you can find the nut under one of these three coconuts approach to foreign policy that is the Bush administration's modus operandi) but I thought if we "cut and run" we would be giving in to the enemy? (Side note: still wondering who the enemy is in Iraq...haven't got an intelligent answer yet other than "bad guys." So, I'm still waiting...)

Apparently, the scuttlebutt is that combat troops will be out of Iraq by 2010. This comes a great disappointment to John McCain who has made his entire campaign about national security and if he loses that talking point then....why should he be president again?

Thus we have the picture to the left. Here we see General David Petraeus giving Barack Obama a personal tour of Baghdad. I look at this picture and really feel all of the wheels in motion regarding Obama's trip to the Middle East. I can't help but grin at the obvious fact that many of our nation's great leaders yearn for a competent, intelligent man to take the reins in these incredibly tough times and they have found him in Senator Obama. They are sick and tired of the buffoonery that has defined the least eight years.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that they have made their choice.

Are We Stupid?

Last Tuesday, President Bush was all set to deliver a speech on the state of the economy. While he did touch on that subject, the topic he really wanted to talk about was drilling for oil in our own country. My question to all of you is this....why doesn't President Bush just stand up and there and say the following:

I would like to make my friends in the oil industry richer. That is why I want to drill.

DOES HE THINK WE ARE ALL FUCKING STUPID?

Apparently, we are. I just got back from my annual digital exam (yipee!) and as I was waiting to give some blood for a PSA screen, a woman and her mother were sitting next to me having a loud conversation about the economy. The woman said, "If Congress would just let us drill offshore, then all of our problems would be solved. But they won't listen to the President. And now, the Chinese are getting all of that oil."

Setting aside the fact that giving more oil to oil companies is like giving more heroin to drug dealers, the Chinese aren't stealing our oil. This woman obviously spends her time listening to right wing talk radio and watching opinion media like Fox News. Recent assertions by both outlets have proved to be false. Their source was Dick Cheney, who was since recanted his statement and said he was mistaken. Do you think this woman knows about this?

Nope. She has made up her mind. It's all the fault of Congress (aka liberals) and the Chinese. I felt like saying something but it was too early to point out the extraordinary depths of American ignorance.

More of that Liberal Media Crap

Two articles of interest in today's New York Times for those of you who are still on the liberal media kick. They are up Charlie Rangel's ass with a tweaser now and show no sign of letting up. If I were ol'Charlie I would....whine like a baby about how the media are biased. Oh no, wait...that's what the right does all the live long day. Anyhoo, if I were Charles I would find a new place to live and pay what the people he supposedly represents pay (aka his fair share).

Another article discusses Senator Obama's upcoming visit to Iraq and presents several voices who (gasp!) disagree with him about troop withdrawal. In fact, the first person interviewed states unequivocally that the US should not leave. Could the Times be towing the Bush line?

Nah, can't be.

Oh, and by the way, why is it the voices on the left are much quieter in their whining about conservative media?

Liberal Media Watch

Every time I see a story or stories which prove that the media is far from liberal and interested in selling whatever their corporate owned asses are peddling, I am going to start pointing it out. Starting fucking today...which is why you see, at the bottom of this post, tags appearing for the first time. Anyone who does a search for liberal media might be pointed here. From now on, all of you can consider this a repository of information that proves how bullshit the claim is that the media is liberal. Please tell your friends...

Anyway, let's take a look at the New York Times, as an example. Called the "Traitor Times" by many on the right, this is the same newspaper that sat on the wiretap story for a year...a fucking year!...because they were too afraid of Dick Cheney. This is the same newspaper whose reporter, Judith Miller, went to jail because she wouldn't reveal who in the Bush Administration was leaking information about undercover CIA agents.

Now we see they have hired Bill Kristol to be a columnist. And last week they ran a series on Charlie Rangel and his palatial apartment set up. Are there still people out there who consider the New York Times liberal? If so, what is the matter with you?

But the real icing on the cake was the latest issue of the New Yorker. Check out this cover.

Um...what do you think they were trying to accomplish with this cover? Could it be they wanted to.....SELL SOME SHIT?

Once again, I feel totally vindicated. The editors of the magazine say they were trying to lampoon the right's view of the Obamas but it doesn't take a genius to figure out they were just trying to boost sales and raise advertising rates in a struggling economy.

They are pandering, as most members of the media do, to the lowest common denominator, encouraging a tabloid culture whose members exist only on the most paranoid and superficial levels of emotional intelligence.

I see example of this crap everyday and wonder..how does this favor liberal views...exactly?

Morning Chuckle

I opened up my copy of the Strib today and saw something that made me laugh so hard I almost went to Methodist for oxygen. A letter from a reader regarding Rush Limbaugh's new contract with Clear Channel had the following line in it:

Radio shows such as Rush's are the only place that conservatives can get the whole picture. We certainly can't get it from the liberal news media...with the state of Public Radio and Air America, I'm wondering if it isn't just plain jealousy that is causing the complaints.

Putting aside the fallacy of the liberal news media (more on that tomorrow), um..."the whole picture?"

BWAA HAH HA HA BWA HAH HAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try a PERFECT picture of propaganda. This is just another example of how conservatives can't process new information (see actual scientific proof) and have to go to a source that tells them what they want and need to here. This also proves how Rush's listeners aren't seeking entertainment but what they feel is news. I wonder if this letter writer, and others who feel like him, understand that Clear Channel pays people like Limbaugh to make sure that their corporate interests...Republican interests....are met in Washington. Now that I think about it, this would also be an example of how US Corporations, not the government, are the ones that are really running the show.

I will give him Air America, though. No doubt that has a liberal bias.

But Public Radio? Nope. Just because they report something you don't like, something that is culturally diverse, or something that is from another culture's point of view (see: white fear, paranoia, and insecurity) doesn't make it "liberal." Often dry and even sometimes boring is NPR but liberal?

Well, I suppose when you see enemies around every corner....

Whither Phil and Jesse...

As I have stated many times on this blog, we are in a new era of politics. The rules are different, folks, and many of you, on both the left and the right, don't get it. The American people have had quite enough of the bullshit, thank you very much, and expect more out of their candidates. We have finally started down the right path. Not stellar yet, but down the right path

So it really cracks me up when I see folks who still follow the old way of doing things. I offer as an example the Reverend Jesse Jackson and former Senator Phil Gramm. Jesse Jackson has become a caricature of himself. He sees enemies and "people talking down to black people" around every corner.

Note to Jesse: Barack Obama is black.

And Phil Gramm is really on the ball, isn't he? Our economic problems are all in our head, according to Phil, and we should just "get over it." This is a classic and shining example of how tone deaf conservatives have become in this election regarding what is going on this country. It will ultimately prove to be their undoing.

Jesse and Phil represent the past...the old way of doing business. Both of them look terribly out of step and foolish any time they are put in front of a microphone. And it makes my heart warm to see people recognize them for what they both are...

A joke.

Who's not listening....again?

Kori Schake, a senior policy adviser to John McCain said last week that Senator Obama was not listening the commanders on the ground in Iraq and that all of them have stated that Iraq is the central front in the war. In addition, Al Qaeda has said it is.

Well, golly shucks, Kori, let's please start listening to Al Qaeda for our foreign policy direction. Did it ever occur to you, Senator McCain or any of the other numskulls that support the occupation of Iraq that they want to distract us there while they quietly build up forces in Pakistan? Sheesh....

In actuality, no one in the McCain campaign (or most on the right) are listening to our armed forces. The Pentagon has been saying for the last year that Al Qaeda in Iraq is permanently crippled and all but vanquished. And Ms. Schake's comments came two hours after my new hero, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that additional troops were needed in Afghanistan, lamenting the fact that they were tied down in Iraq.

All of this after a huge spike in causalities in Afghanistan. Are people on the right so bent on being "right" that they can't admit that something has to change-and change now-before another serious attack?

Apparently so.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

A reader down in comments suggested that I respond to a post by just dave from the 14 points of Fascism thread. I want to say right off the bat that I really should do this more often. There are some really great things written in comments every day and from now on, I will take the time to bring them out top more often, as is the case with the post left by just dave.

His post also touches on some things I have wanted to talk about lately so without further adieu, let's break down this little ditty and have some fun.

His first point, in a nutshell:

I extended this to corporations in my comment as well and can provide examples of fascist policies...What party, here and now, looks for that kind of control? Who wants more and more regulation on business? The control looked for by the left should simply leave one gob smacked.

The real problem dave has here is that he is operating under a false paradigm. In 2008, we are not trying to protect business from government...we are trying to protect government (which is us, btw) from business. Take a look at most members of Congress and tell me who has more power...them or the lobbyists? This is true of both Democrats and Republicans. Honestly, does dave think that the US Congress is more powerful right now than Blackwater? KBR? Haliburton? I would like him to illustrate how this might be. What him and others that post here suffer from is corporate dick envy. They view companies such as these as being the way to succeed in life which, ironically, is the exact opposite of the values they purport to represent. I equate their beliefs about corporate America to an eternal school yard crush or blind love-whichever you want.

His second point, in a nutshell:

The media angle we simply will not agree on...it doesn’t matter a lick who “owns” the stations because they’re not the ones on the air talking.... must take people like Dan Rather at their word...

Ah, the "media is liberal" argument. How much money did Rush Limbaugh just get? How long of a contract extension? What are his ratings? What about Fox News? There are plenty of conservative owned media out there with far and wide tentacles that are akin to the so called liberal media. I say so called because it does matter who owns the stations. I challenge dave or anyone else for that matter to find me a liberal on the board of GE or Viacom. Or on any board in "liberal" Hollywood. In addition, compare the media's coverage of the Vietnam war with the current one. Iraq is heavily censored and all of the big networks are told by their corporate masters to not show images that make America look bad. It's bad for business.

His Third Point, in a nutshell:

Human rights… Why didn’t you provide an example? Liberalism cheapens life with policies of abortion and euthanasia.

Really, dave? How many people have we killed in Iraq? How many of them were children? When it comes to the sanctity of life argument, you will get no respect from me as long as you continue with this glaring hypocrisy. I think you need to re-read this post and take another look at these pictures which, btw, the "liberal" media has never showed anywhere and then, please tell me who cheapens life.

As for an example on human rights abuses, how about this one? Didn't you call me "loony" a long time ago for comparing our poor human rights record, under Bush Co, with that of China? Well, I guess your pals have decided that the Chinese method of torture (from 1957!) isn't all that bad and so they stole it. Would you like another one? Chained to the ceiling of an airplane hangar for days. Awesome! That really will show those bad guys....right to bin Laden's door to happily be fitted for a vest. Or about how about another one on the subject of water boarding? And this is from a guy who supports the Iraq War. Dave, we are acting the same way they do...doesn't this bother you at all?

His Third Point, in a nutshell

Religion. We have very different reads on our own history. Seems to me the Pilgrims were seeking religious freedom, not to have religion expunged from their lives. LIL already covered this in fine detail.

I would recommend that dave, and everyone else for that matter, read Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. The book describes various accounts throughout our history of how we have glorified certain people (e.g. Woodrow Wilson, Stephen Douglas) and how we don't assign blame to anything bad that we have done. It all happens anonymously. It is the most honest account of our own history, which includes religion and government, that I have ever read.

His Last Point, parceled out with commentary:

Yes, I do believe we are safer today under George Bush than we would be under Al Gore or John Kerry. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind and no way that I could be dissuaded from this fact.

Thanks for proving my point about how open minded the right is when it comes to their thought process.

Here are some facts for dave and other who believe this line of thought, to consider.

Fact #1: President Bush spent the entire month of August, 2001, on vacation. Up to 9-11, he had spent more time on vacation than any other president in that same amount of time.

Fact #2: Al Qaeda attacked us on 9-11.

Fact #3: Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahari are the heads of Al Qaeda.

Fact #4: Both are still at large, nearly 7 years after the attacks, and, according to Bush's own NIE, have rebuilt their capabilities inside of Pakistan, to carry out attacks that would rival or surpass 9-11. This same NIE said that the war in Iraq has made it easier for Al Qaeda to recruit members and train them.

Fact #5: Al Qaeda was not in Iraq before we invaded in March of 2003.

You are supporting a belief, dave, not a fact. And it is a terribly blind one. If Al Gore had spent the entire month of August 2001 on vacation,was handed a report that said "Al Qaeda determined to attack inside US," and did nothing about it, even in light of all of the previous attacks (Cole, Khobar Towers), you and I would be an agreement. As it stands, your statement proves that you are stuck in belief system that ignores key facts, like those mentioned above. Or, perhaps you can't admit when you are wrong, which would make sense because that's how Bush Co acts all the time.

The bad guys say they want to get us…the bad guys have tried to get us but have been thwarted…and the bad guys are on the defensive because we’re not waiting for them to come get us, we’re actively going after them.

No, we're not. If we were, we would have finished the job in Afghanistan (see Gary Berntsen's Jawbreaker), conducted operations inside of Pakistan, and worked with our European allies to crack down on "bad guys" in places like Holland, Denmark, and England. Who are we fighting in Iraq now, dave? The Pentagon said last fall that Al Qaeda is all but eliminated in Iraq. Honestly, what is our mission there? First, it was WMDs. OK, fine. We took care of that. Then it was Hussein. He's dead. Done with that. Then it was Al Qaeda in Iraq. They're finished. And people like you are saying that if we leave now, we will be defeated? By whom?

You seem to constantly search for enemies that aren't there and, oddly, completely ignore the ones that are there and represent a very serious threat. Why is this so?

Clinton, Kerry, Obama are all on record as favoring “talk”, policing agencies and the courts to combat terrorism which is in fact the policy that was in place pre-9/11. How else can this be said? How can it even be debated?

Clinton bombed Al Qaeda when he was in office. He almost killed bin Laden and would've if bin Laden hadn't decided to go somewhere else. Can the same be said of Bush? Both Kerry and Obama want to bomb targets inside of Pakistan. So they aren't all just about talk. But talk is important (see Bush and North Korea). Talking does not mean appeasement. This another great example of your side's Orwellian doublespeak which preys upon the fear of the unknown.

Dave's PS, in a nutshell

I'm finishing this little nugget while watching the Euro2008 Championship. Events like this are great on so many levels. I particularly enjoy the patriotism the fans show throughout the tournament by displaying their flags and singing songs. It is so striking to think that you and your followers would never be at an event like that...would never show that type of pride in their country. How very sad.

Actually, what is sad is how little you understand "me and my followers." I have been to five baseball games this year and loved singing the national anthem every single time. I love this country. I think it is the best on the planet, even with all of its faults. And the faults are the real problem, aren't they? I look at them, reflect, and wonder how can we do better. You ignore them, re-direct, and say, "Fuck you, you are a traitor". As Mark Twain once said, "I support my country all of the time and my government when they deserve it."

Once the embarrassment that is our current administration leaves office, it is my hope that more people will be proud of this country. The real problem here, dave, and I think the Cliff May/Ed Schultz exchange below exemplifies this, is that you are under the impression that your side get exclusive rights to define what is and what isn't patriotic. You, and others on the right, also think, and this really makes sense in juxtaposition with your perceived grasp of patriotism, that you get exclusive rights to define what the Bible means and, in particular, who is and who isn't a Christian.

You don't get to.

Thankfully, there is a whole country full of people out there with different views then your own. Views that are much more reflective than "There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind and no way that I could be dissuaded from this fact." These are the people that are going to restore some since of respectability to America. From now on, when it comes to defining patriotism and Christianity, you are going to have to get through them first, dave.

And me.

One final parting word of advice: I would be careful as to who you define as not having pride in their country. There are plenty of liberals that I know that won't be as nice as I have been. You see, dave, they live in "flyover" country too and they don't take too kindly to people questioning their patriotism.

But, hey, by all means, ignore what I say and please continue to do so. It just means another pile of votes for my guy!

Ed Schultz Opens Up A Can

Normally, I chuckle at all the pundits bickering with each other and I am not the biggest fan of Ed Schultz (McCain is not a war monger) but this clip is fucking money! One very good thing that has come out of the last eight years...especially the last four years...is that the left isn't going to let the right define them any more. Especially in sub moronic and immature way that Cliff May tries to do here.

I say tries because he utterly fails. I really hope the right keeps trying to do this for two reasons. First, it continues to prove that they have a child like understanding of that region of the world. Second, it gives the left a chance to show the country that every time the right pulls this shit, rather than shrinking back like frightened mice, they are going to come back heavy, like a big hard fucking horse cock.

So, please, righties, keep it up! (Pun fully intended)

A Navy Man, eh?

Regardless of who wins the election this fall, our new president is going to have some great people in the armed services to work with in our current ideological conflict. You may recall a post last November regarding General James Conway, head of the Marines and his desire to transfer troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. After a recent trip to Pakistan earlier this month, Admiral Michael Mullen (left), the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, stated that the "epicenter of terrorism is Pakistan."

I know this doesn't jibe with the extraordinarily delusional fantasy of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their sub moronic supporters (e.g. right wing radio cocks, most conservative bloggers, and some folks who post here) who are still trapped in the single minded belief that Iraq is our best line of defense. Thank God it doesn't and it makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that there are guys like Admiral Mullen on the job. He has also said:

"There appears to be little political progress in Iraq. " (USA Today).

"If [the Iraqis] aren't making progress in [the political] realm, the prospects for movement in a positive direction are not very good. Failure to achieve tangible progress toward [political] reconciliation requires a strategic reassessment." (testimony before Congress).

Each day, we see more and more military leaders saying that without political efforts...ideological efforts...we will not succeed. This is a hard pill to swallow...especially for the crowd that: a) does not have the intellect to understand how to do this and b) is primarily motivated by fear of the "other" and an insecurity stemming from an inability to accept any sort of diversity. We all know who I am talking about.

People like Admiral Mullen are going to be the ones who are going to assist the next president in actually doing something (possibly not a military something) about the real problem we have...the problem we have always had...which is Al Qaeda. They are in Pakistan, folks. We need to get that part of the world and get there soon...with our ideas, our hearts, and even our troops. It's time to win. It's what I have been saying all along and now I have the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff backing my shit up.

Fuck Yeah.