DoD Surveillance?

I'm sure everyone has heard that DoD (Dept of Duh-fense) has hopped into the Way-Back Machine and has resumed conducting surveillance (and building dossiers) on anti-war protestors, including a Quaker study group.

This is another one of those brilliant ideas to come out of the administration that flies in the face of that goddamned piece of paper. You'd think the government -- and especially DoD -- would remember the crap that hit the fan the first time around. I mean, it's not like any of the administration's members were out of the country or anything.

The supreme arrogance of these clowns would be amazing if it weren't so damned sad. The bozos in DC are so paranoid about retaining their grip on power that they are willing to sell the Constitution -- and the rest of what this country stands for -- down the river.

They have no pride. Or honor, for that matter.

Big Time? Not Yet.

I thought I had finally hit the really big time. The lovely-yet-talented Mrs. 618 asked if she could put up a post. That would have been my first guest blogger, which would have put me in the same league as Kevin Drum, Josh Marshall, TBogg and Jesus' General.

Unfortunately, this rassafrassin' Blogger ate her post.

Sigh.

On an Even LIGHTER Note...

From Michigan's very own Representative Dingell (via Demagogue), a good take on the "Christmas-Being-Stolen" meme... and a cheap shot at the wingnuts to boot:

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House,
no bills were passed `bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near.

Katrina kids were all nestled snug in motel beds,
while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In Iraq, our soldiers need supplies and a plan,
and nuclear weapons are being built in Iran.

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell.
Americans feared we were in a fast track to ..... well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily,
a fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly.

We will pretend Christmas is under attack,
hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger,
Wake up Congress, they're in no danger.

This time of year, we see Christmas everywhere we go,
From churches to homes to schools and, yes, even Costco.
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy
when this is the season to unite us with joy.

At Christmastime, we're taught to unite.
We don't need a made-up reason to fight.
So on O'Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter and those right-wing blogs.
You should sit back and relax, have a few egg nogs.

'Tis the holiday season; enjoy it a pinch.
With all our real problems, do we really need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues, I say with delight,
a Merry Christmas to all, and to Bill O'Reilly, happy holidays.
Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas."

Congressman Dingell, I hope you don't mind me reprinting this.

If you do mind... I live in your district....

I thought you might see it my way.

On a Lighter Note...

...pass me my Zippo, please...

No, actually, I ran across an interesting story on the Ya-pfui news feeds this evening... "Scientists Figure Out Why Mona Lisa Smiles." To make a long story short (if you're too lazy to read the article), the University of Amsterdam used some new "emotion recognition" software to determine the mysterious lady was "83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, and 2 percent angry."

Of course, the morons at DHS will probably get their hands on it and find some way to use the software against us...

More Religious Intolerance

The far-right wing Talibangelical theocratic fascists are at it again:

A lesbian woman will challenge an appeals court ruling that permitted two doctors to claim a religious defense in their refusal to artificially inseminate her.

"[Brody] believes that participating in the [fertilization procedure], she is acting as the male," Coppo said. "It is an elective, invasive procedure, and to be there for the moment of conception, she religiously can't participate."

With doctors trying this crap, it's just a matter of time till some quack claims that his or her "religious beliefs" "prevent" him or her from treating homosexuals. Of course, their "religious beliefs" don't prevent these same doctors from being like the money-changers in the Temple (even if it involves fraudulently billing Medicare to maximize their income).

It seems simple to me. If your religious beliefs prohibit abortion, artificial insemination, etc., don't work at a women's clinic. And if your religious beliefs prohibit contraceptives, don't become a pharmacist.

These yahoos seem to feel that their religious beliefs supercede everyone else's beliefs... and rights. Yet, if one has the balls to criticize these narrow-minded bigots, they're the first ones to scream discrimination.

At least some companies are taking the right approach. Walgreen's recently suspended four pharmacists for trying to pull the "Target my-beliefs-preclude-me-from-doing-the-job-you hired-me-to-do" defense. Of course, the fact that Illinois has a state law requiring pharmacists to fill legally-issued prescriptions may have something to do with it. One result of Walgreen's action is that they will be getting the money the lovely-yet-talented Mrs 618 and I had previously spent at "Tar-get-your-Plan-B-somewhere-else".

The growing religious intolerance in this country is starting to really scare me.

We're becoming more like the old Soviet Union every day. Or Afghanistan. Or Texas.

These right-wing neoconpoops have GOT to do.

Wally World - Where Tacky Reigns SU-preme

The lovely-yet-talented Mrs 618 and I were at Wally World the other day, doing some holiday shopping (bite my shorts, O'Reilly, you terrorist sympathizer) for the various munchkins in the extended family.

Among other things, we got a "Crime Scene Investigation" set -- complete with white and black fingerprint powders -- for a certain 7-year-old forensics genius (no, he lives somewhere far, far away, so we don't have to clean the shit up). I wanted to get a drum set for the four-year-old nephew, but that idea was shot down (remember when Little Ricky Ricardo [as opposed to Little Ricky Santorum] got his first drum set?).

We also saw something truly tacky, even by Wally World standards. I wouldn't mention it, except Missouri Mule at BlondeSense mentions my mother's all-time favorite holiday gag gift (celebrate this, ya blotchy-faced, morally-leprous, walking-talking anal wart terrorist sympathizer), Big Mouth Billy Bass.*

Big Mouth Billy Bass is passe. Wally World now has... get ready... a moving, talking deer head, complete with karaoke microphone. The ears wiggle, the head moves side to side, and the mouth opens and closes. He evens sings "Friends in Low Places." Didn't get a chance to kill Bambi this year? Don't worry, Wally World will save you from a lifetime of embarrassment. Perfect for putting over the fake mantle in the double-wide, right next to the aluminum tree. And it's less than a hundred bucks (so to speak).



* Did you know the Queen of England has a Big Mouth Billy Bass? On display in the Palace? And that she demonstrates it for all her guests? I can just see Shrub staring at it, mesmerized, with drool running down his weak little, receding chin...

Bush and the "Goddamned Piece of Paper"

Over at Capitol Hill Blue, Doug Thompson has a piece on Bush, the PATRIOT Act, and the Constitution. In effect, some of the GOoPers tried to tell His Lord God King Heiney-ness that the PATRIOT Act, and some of his other patented fuck-ups were pissing off a mighty percentage of the American public, thereby threatening their continued existence as the party in power. (When discussing the PATRIOT Act, all that needs to be known is that it's so friggin' bad, both the ACLU (for you mouth-breathin' sister-humpers, that's the American Commie Libruls Union) and Phyllis Schlafly are agin' it.)

GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

Thompson has confirmed this, he says, with three of the people present; all three said the quotes were accurate.

Now, this would appear to be the very same Constitution that ole Georgie swore to uphold when the Supreme Court annointed him in 2000, and again when Florida and Ohio joined forces with Diebold to re-annoint him in 2004.

Now, follow me on this, cause it gets complicated, especially for the neoconpoops (who, come to think of it, wouldn't read this blog because of all the big, unfamiliar words like "justice", "Constitution", "freedom", all those things they can't sound out).

1. George places his hand upon a Holy Bible, not once, but TWICE...
2. ...before a high government official (as opposed to an official getting high)...
3. ...who is empowered and REQUIRED to administer a legally-binding oath...
4. ...REQUIRING Twig to uphold the Constitution of the United States...
5. ...Shrubbie swears -- both times -- to uphold the Constitution of the United States...
6. ...and ends the oath -- both times -- by saying, "[so] help me God".

He subsequently says the afore-mentioned Constitution is a "goddamned piece of paper". This makes it obvious he can't and won't support the Constitution.

THEREFORE:

1. The lying sack of shit lied to the Chief Justice of the United States;
2. The lying sack of shit knowingly and willfully made a false statement to a government official acting in performance of his duties;
3. The lying sack of shit lied to the People of the United States;
4. The lying sack of shit lied to the Fundies who voted for him, thinking he "wuzwonus";
5. The lying sack of shit took the Lord's name in vain; and
6. The lying sack of shit LIED TO GOD.

Now, where I grew up, in the enlightened Northeast, where we breathe through our noses, don't marry (or fornicate with) immediate family members or barnyard animals, and drive vehicles that don't belch 40 pounds of crud into the atmosphere every 5 minutes, what Twigster did would be considered wrong (I know terrorist sympathizer Tub'O'Turd O'Reilly is gonna have a "Christmas-stealing","terrists-have-won" hissy fit over using "Bush" and "wrong" in the same sentence, but screw him with his own smelly felalfel). In fact, what little Georgie did is illegal.

Illegal. As in, "against the law". As in, "go to jail, go directly to jail, do not collect $200.00". As in, "Mah name is Bubba, an' yore name is Georgette, now"

It's not something simple like getting a hummer from some ugly trailer-trash bimbo. This is major-league, big-time illegal, the kind of illegal that warrants prison time... and not in some Club Fed, either, but someplace like Marion.

Not to mention the fact that a born-again Christian lying to God is probably doomed to an eternity of purgaory -- which for these idjits would be Bill Clinton (he of budget surplusses and concern for the common folk) as perpetual President.

Shrub and his accomplices have probably broken countless other laws, for which his own God will ultimately hold him responsible. But, if nothing else, the nine vestal virgins of the Potomac should be so pissed at little Georgie lying to them, they oughta lock his ass up in the worst hell-hole thay can find (hmmm, "hell-hole" for Georgie? Make him Hillary's Tampax!).

As the sign says.....

Thursday Night Pet Blogging

Well, those large knuckle-draggers from DHS and Blogger showed up again and told me I was once again running behind on the required pet blogging.

In the interest of self-preservation, here's the latest picture of the Great Lakes Pasture Wolf.

In this picture, the vicious animal is circling her prey, and getting ready to attack again. As you can probably see from the crazed look in the beast's eye, this particular spcimen is probably rabid, and is an obvious threat to helpless tennis balls. The creature has a finely-honed instinct for hunting and fetch-- err, killing.

A truly ferocious animal.

You should see the lovely yet talented Mrs. 618 brushing the beast's teeth. What a sight. If we manage to get a picture of that spectacle, we'll post it.

O'Reilly's Favorite Things

Dedicated to our very own blotchy-faced, self-righteous, sanctimonious, hypocritical, lying tub-o-turd...

To the tune of "My Favorite Things"

Smearing a hooker with hot fresh falafel
Doing things to her that are not quite lawful,
Tying her down on my new innerspring…
These are a few of my favorite things.

Screaming at libruls and egging on bombers,
Pissing off people to build ratings numbers…
Screeching and preaching, (I’m such a witling)
These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in black leather with seamed fishnet stockings,
Doing things to me that truly are shocking,
Handcuffs and ball gags and little cock rings…
These are a few of my favorite things.

When I’m looking
At the news polls,
I don’t feel too smug.
I simply remember that Bush is still king
And then I give Rush a hug.

Hanging with Malkin, and Matt Drudge and Britt Hume,
Claiming that our farts smell just like perfume,
Watching as Chimpster fucks up everything
These are a few of my favorite things.

Torturing A-rabs and people of color,
Claiming Alito’s a real nice feller
Wishing I’D have an illicit fling,
These are a few of my favorite things

Espousing my bullshit while waving a flag,
Doing Ann Coulter, though she’s such a hag,
Being a neo-con, rude and bo-ring
These are a few of my favorite things.

When I’m looking
In the mirror
I don’t like what I see
I simply remember that I am the one
King of hypocrisy

Mouth-breathing, gun-toting, and hooker-humping,
Sister-molesting, while still Bible-thumping,
Praying the truth doesn’t really have wings,
These are a few of my favorite things

Bitching that Christmas was stolen from us
Hoping that Murtha falls under a bus
Lying and killing and even cheating…
These are a few of my favorite things.

Supporting our soldiers by staying at home,
Paying off Christians by throwing ‘em a bone,
Being so snide and condescending
These are a few of my favorite things.

I’m a douchebag,
I’m a dipshit,
I don’t need to live.
So when the Dems win in twenty-ought-six
I’ll go jump off a bridge

Lambasting O'Reilly

Many people -- including yr obt svt --have been screaming about Tub-O-Turd O'Reilly's comments apparently calling for a terrorist attack on San Francisco. Via Blondesense, I ran across The Dark Wraith, who posted an open letter to O'Reilly. Unlike much of my writing, the point is made without name-calling, oaths, or other degradation (although being mean to neocon wingnuts is one of the high points of my day).

This is a tremendously impressive piece of writing, even for a professor.

Herewith, and by permission, is the Wraith's "Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly":

Special Blog Post:An Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly

Dear Mr. O'Reilly:

You have received a small share of wrath from bloggers who are appalled and revulsed by your invitation to al-Qa'ida to bomb San Francisco without fear of retribution. That you deserve every angry word that has been published about you is not in dispute: you have earned that animus in its full measure, and you should receive more. Much more. Your right to speak your mind does not include the privilege of a wide audience; you should be fired that you may learn the right of speech carries the accountability for its consequences.

Far more diversity than you imagine may be found in the voices arrayed against you. I am hopeful that you will publish my Website in the list of your enemies: those who might have found some reason to continue their support for you need to see that your simplification of the world is not merely dangerous, but wrong, too.

I was born into a Republican family. I grew up during the Cold War.

Contrary to the facile way that era is now treated by many, the times were complicated and perilous, both at home and abroad; great men confronted the issues of those times. I learned to be what is now sometimes derisively called a "Rockefeller Republican." One of my uncles was a member of the Sierra Club; another was gay. My parents left a church, never to return, the Sunday the preacher thundered against John F. Kennedy. Eisenhower was a great man, but his vice president was something of a toad; and Barry Goldwater was just a little bit "out there" somewhere, more of a mild embarrassment than a contribution. Both of those men, though, regardless of how history and the institutional Left might treat their legacies, came to contribute something to the society. Despite their great flaws, I hold no grudge against either. They were Americans, and so am I.

The enemy back then was Communism, and its armies were to be vigilantly kept in check on a global chessboard, where most of the moves–actually, all of the good moves–were incremental. Nameless Air Force pilots patrolled the cold, night skies to keep us safe; young grunts tried to keep their eyes open through the miserable nights at Checkpoint Charlie; gunners stood watch ready, but never really believing, that those hills way out there on the plains of Europe could one day be a sea of Russian tanks to target in furious hails of artillery bombardment.

Men of long experience and extraordinary wisdom met with others of the same kind in places all over the world to maintain, and once in a great while expand, our sphere of influence. Occasionally, we made deals with the Devil, but we usually told ourselves that one day we'd get rid of him once and for all. That was the incremental vision of a world that we should hand off, generation after generation, a little better than we received it.

At home, we did our best to allow the tide of a liberal society to flow forward through the second half of the 20the Century, while trying to keep that inevitable process slow and introspective. That part was harder than keeping the Communists at bay: the American society was just bursting at the seams with new ideas, and everyone wanted everything to happen right then and there. Unrepentant kids wanted to tear it all down, and blustering ignoramuses wanted to hang them all in the streets.

Those who managed our world and our government were educated in the best traditions of Western Civilization. They had learned the lessons of history, philosophy, and science; and they were able to infuse into their policies and decisions a secular, rational mindset. They saw themselves as the caretakers of the Age of Reason, without any doubt at all that this was the age for all future ages.

All of that is gone, now. Men and women of your kind now stand prominent and proud in bitter anger at a world that is not exactly as you want it. An influential religious leader like the Reverend Pat Robertson warns that natural disasters will befall those whose beliefs and practices differ from his; an influential former political man like William Bennet says that crime rates would be lower if only we would remove people of color from our society; and you, sir, literally call down the most violent and destructive of our enemies—enemies who hate our nation, our beliefs, and even our very ways—upon those with whom you disagree on politics and social policies.

My God, Mr. O'Reilly, can you not see—can you not grasp—the utter shamefulness of what you said? What tribal, primitive god, or more precisely, what demon in the mask of a god, brought you to what you are?

Were you my boy, I would take a belt to you; and I would do so every time you opened your mouth to spew such filth. You see, Mr. O'Reilly, I'm Old School; and even though I abide to the extent I can the wise words of men like the rabbi from Nazareth, I haven't an eternity to wait for the world to come to my way of seeing things.

Make no mistake, though, sir: were you to be in the way of harm from our common enemies, I would defend you. That is the call of duty. More importantly, however, I would choose to defend you. That is the call of honor.

But should men, women, and children suffer and die because you have delivered them to the murderous hands those enemies, I would take action. Were the civil society unable, infected as it is by men of minds like yours, to decline the obligation to exact retribution upon you, then I would have no qualm in exacting vengeance upon you.

Should you exhort your followers to seek pro-active harm to me, ensure first that they do not read this open letter. You might find that, when they have seen what I have to say, they will find that I am not as you have characterized all who disagree with you; you might find, instead, that they would affirm that you do, indeed, need that belt taken to you. You might find that they, too, are Old School.

And you might find that, unlike you, sir, most Americans are people of honor.

The Dark Wraith has spoken to you, Mr. O'Reilly.

I had not read the Wraith prior to seeing his letter. Now, however, he has been added to the list of commentators I check daily. He should be added to your daily checks, as well. In addition to the letter lambasting O'Reilly, the Wraith (a professor of economics, math, and finance, among other things) is running a crash course on economics... which might finally let me understand the stuff I couldn't grasp in Econ 101, lo, these 30 years ago.

Update on O'Reilly=Terrorist Symapthizer

Okay, I'm slow, I admit it. I got permission from Skippy to post his comments back on Saturday; his original post was on Friday. Here it is Monday night (check your local calendar for date where you are), and...

It's already done.

Go to Google, enter "terrorist sympathizer", click "I feel lucky" and -- volia! -- there's Bill "Tub-O-Turd" O'Reilly's pitiful excuse for a website.

Thank you Skippy (and all the others, especially at Kos).

Target? No, thanks.

The lovely-yet-talented Mrs 618 and I have enjoyed shopping at Target for years. Now, however, Target has knuckled under to the mouth-breathin', Bible-thumpin, hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', gun-rack-in-the-pickmup, neoconpoop wingnut brigade. As reported on AmericaBlog, Target is now letting their pharmacists force their religious beliefs on their customers, by refusing to fill prescriptions -- prescriptions, mind you, signed by an MD-type -- for the "Plan B" emergency contraceptive, if it goes against their beliefs. In fact, Target says (first) that this is required under the Civil Rights Act, but also says (second) that "Plan B" is the only product to which this particular civil right applies.

I don't know about you, but if Target is gonna let the mouth-breathers tell a woman she can't have "Plan B" after being raped (or even if she got drunk and made a mistake), I don't think I need to spend my hard-earned money supporting them. It's bad enough I have to support the neoconpoops (and I would like to thank whoever coined that term) through payments to the IRS.

Bombing O'Reilly

After O'Reilly's comments the other day (about how al Qaeda should blow up San Francisco), a movement started at Daily Kos (and was picked up by countless others) to Google-bomb O'Reilly, and have his name pop up when Googling "Terrorist sympathizer", much the way Googling "miserable failure" takes you to Twig's White House bio.

I spent a fair amount of time working on a snarky-yet-reasoned approach to this idea.

Then I read Skippy's take, and realized he said it all. Perfectly.

Herewith, Skippy's commentary (reprinted by permission. Really)

da bomb
here's an excellent idea...in light of bill o'reilly's latest comments on how al qaeda should blow up san francisco...why not google bomb him as a terrorist sympathizer?after all, his words make him a terrorist sympathizer. anyone who encourages a terrorist act is a terrorist sympathizer. and we don't condone any terrorist sympathizer making statements like that on american airwaves. no terrorist sympathizer for us!damn that terrorist sympathizer!

Works for me.

Update: Added link to the original Kos diary (with apologies to HollywoodOz).

Ya GOTTA Check These Out!

The Wizard of Oz, Little Ricky Santorum and Gomer Pyle, and GOP Holy Cards.

All at 2 Political Junkies.

Don't have anything in your mouth, though... unless you want to have to replace your keyboard.

Buh-bye, Georgie...

From Capitol Hill Blue, via American Samizdat:

GOP Leaders to Bush: 'Your Presidency is Effectively Over'
By DOUG THOMPSON
Nov 4, 2005, 08:13

A growing number of Republican leaders, party strategists and political professional now privately tell President George W. Bush that his presidency "is effectively over" unless he fires embattled White House advisor Karl Rove, apologizes to the American people for misleading the country into war and revamps his administration from top to bottom.

"The only show of unity we have now in the Republican Party is the belief that the President has failed the party, the American people and the presidency," says a longtime, and angry, GOP strategist.

With the public face of support for Bush eroding daily from even diehard Republicans, the President faces mounting anger from within his party over the path that may well lead to loss of control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections and the White House in 2008.

"This presidency is in trouble," says a senior White House aide. "Even worse, I don't know if there is a way out of the trouble."

Congressional leaders journeyed to the White House before Bush left on his South American tour this week to tell the President that his legislative agenda on the Hill is dead, his latest Supreme Court nominee faces a tough confirmation fight in the Senate and he is facing open revolt within party ranks.

"The Speaker is having an increasingly difficult time holding his troops in line," says a source within the office of House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert. "Anger at the President grows exponentially with each passing day."

At a recent White House strategy session, internal party pollsters told the President that his approval rating with Americans continues to slide and may be irreversible, citing his failed Iraq war, the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers and his failure to deal decisively on a number of fronts, including Hurricane Katrina, the economy and the Valerie Plame scandal.

In meetings, leaders and strategists have suggested a number of things that Bush must do to try and save his presidency and GOP prospects in upcoming elections, including:

• Apologize to the American people, Congress and our allies for misleading them on the reasons for invading Iraq;
• Revamp the White House staff from top to bottom;
• Fire Rove.

"We keep coming back to Rove," says a GOP pollster. "He has escaped indictment, so far, but the feeling within the party is that another shoe is ready to drop and the longer he waits to jettison Rove the greater the damage. As long as Karl Rove remains at the President's side, the Bush presidency is effectively over and he is just riding out the days until the nation elects a Democrat to replace him. Even with Rove gone the damage may be irreparable."

Bush, however, has dug his heels in on Rove. When a GOP strategist suggested last weekend that the President fire Rove, Bush exploded.

"You go to hell," he screamed at the strategist. "You can leave and you can take the rest of these lily-livered motherfuckers with you!" The President then stormed out of the room and refused to meet further with any other party leaders or strategists.

Bush's escalating temper tantrums and his intransigence on political issues increase Republican worries about the long term effects on both his presidency and the party's prospects in upcoming elections.

"Right now, George W. Bush is the Republican Party's chief liability," says a GOP strategist who has advised Presidential campaigns for 30 years. "The entire political future of the party and perhaps the nation now rests on the shoulders of a President that no one - Democrat or Republican - believes in or trusts."

Just what we need: a petulant, spolied-rotten little whiny preznit who throws hissy-fits when anyone dare imply Lord God King Georgie-poo might possibly, in some small way... be wrong.

Yes, it's good to think it's time to stick a fork in the Chimpster, but when someone is this unstable, that person is liable to do anything. And this particular psychopathic manic-depressive loser has launch codes for "nukuler" weapons.

Are there any adults in the White House these days?

Scary...

From the fine folks at American Samizdat:

The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism
By Chris Hedges for Theocracy Watch

"Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School , told us that when we were his age, he was then close to 80, we would all be fighting the 'Christian fascists.'

"The warning, given to me 25 years ago, came at the moment Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts at taking control of all institutions, including mainstream denominations and the government. Its stated goal was to use the United States to create a global, Christian empire. It was hard, at the time, to take such fantastic rhetoric seriously, especially given the buffoonish quality of those who expounded it. But Adams warned us against the blindness caused by intellectual snobbery. The Nazis, he said, were not going to return with swastikas and brown shirts. Their ideological inheritors had found a mask for fascism in the pages of the Bible."

He was not a man to use the word fascist lightly. He was in Germany in 1935 and 1936 and worked with the underground anti-Nazi church, known as The Confessing Church, led by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Adams was eventually detained and interrogated by the Gestapo, who suggested he might want to consider returning to the United States . It was a suggestion he followed. He left on a night train with framed portraits of Adolph Hitler placed over the contents inside his suitcase to hide the rolls of home movie film he took of the so-called German Christian Church, which was pro-Nazi, and the few individuals who defied them, including the theologians Karl Barth and Albert Schweitzer. The ruse worked when the border police lifted the top of the suitcases, saw the portraits of the Fuhrer and closed them up again. I watched hours of the grainy black and white films as he narrated in his apartment in Cambridge ."

He saw in the Christian Right, long before we did, disturbing similarities with the German Christian Church and the Nazi Party, similarities that he said would, in the event of prolonged social instability or a national crisis, see American fascists, under the guise of religion, rise to dismantle the open society. He despaired of liberals, who he said, as in Nazi Germany, mouthed silly platitudes about dialogue and inclusiveness that made them ineffectual and impotent. Liberals, he said, did not understand the power and allure of evil nor the cold reality of how the world worked. The current hand wringing by Democrats in the wake of the election, with many asking how they can reach out to a movement whose leaders brand them 'demonic' and 'satanic,' would not have surprised Adams . Like Bonhoeffer, he did not believe that those who would fight effectively in coming times of turmoil, a fight that for him was an integral part of the Biblical message, would come from the church or the liberal, secular elite.

"His critique of the prominent research universities, along with the media, was no less withering. These institutions, self-absorbed, compromised by their close relationship with government and corporations, given enough of the pie to be complacent, were unwilling to deal with the fundamental moral questions and inequities of the age. They had no stomach for a battle that might cost them their prestige and comfort. He told me that if the Nazis took over America '60 percent of the Harvard faculty would begin their lectures with the Nazi salute.' This too was not an abstraction. He had watched academics at the University of Heidelberg , including the philosopher Martin Heidegger, raise their arms stiffly to students before
class.

"Two decades later, even in the face of the growing reach of the Christian Right, his prediction seems apocalyptic. And yet the powerbrokers in the Christian Right have moved from the fringes of society to the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Christian fundamentalists now hold a majority of seats in 36 percent of all Republican Party state committees, or 18 of 50 states, along with large minorities in 81 percent of the rest of the states. Forty-five Senators and 186 members of the House of Representatives earned between an 80 to100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian Right advocacy groups – The Christian Coalition, Eagle Forum, and Family Resource Council. Tom Coburn, the new senator from Oklahoma , has included in his campaign to end abortion a call to impose the death penalty on doctors that carry out abortions once the ban goes into place. Another new senator, John Thune, believes in Creationism. Jim DeMint, the new senator elected from South Carolina , wants to ban single mothers from teaching in schools. The Election Day exit polls found that 22 percent of voters identified themselves as evangelical Christians and Bush won 77 percent of their vote. The polls found that a plurality of voters said that the most important issue in the campaign had been 'moral values.'

"President Bush must further these important objectives, including the march to turn education and social welfare over to the churches with his faith-based initiative, as well as chip away at the wall between church and state with his judicial appointments, if he does not want to face a revolt within his core constituency."

Jim Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, who held weekly telephone conversations with Karl Rove during the campaign, has put the President on notice. He told ABC’s 'This Week' that 'this president has two years, or more broadly the Republican Party has two years, to implement these policies, or certainly four, or I believe they’ll pay a price in the next election.'

"Bush may turn out to be a transition figure, our version of Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck used “values” to energize his base at the end of the 19 th century and launched kulturkampt, the word from which we get 'culture wars,' against Catholics and Jews. Bismarck ’s attacks split the country, made the discrediting of whole segments of the society an acceptable part of the civil discourse and paved the way for the more virulent racism of the Nazis. This, I suspect, will be George Bush’s contribution to our democracy."

Chris Hedges, a reporter for The New York Times, is the author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning . He holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School . His next book , Losing Moses on the Freeway: America 's Broken Covenant With The Ten Commandments is published by The Free Press.

This could be a very scary development. As the next post points out, some Republicans are complaining that Bush's presidency is "effectively over". If that is the case, Bush may cave under the pressure from the Fascist far-right in order to "ensure his place in history" (Nooo problem there, Georgie, your place is guaran-damn-teed: "Worst. President. Ever."). Hopefully, though, Chimp will continue to screw them as he has since day one.

The "Talibangelicals" (or "Texas Taliban", take yer choice) have taken advantage of our complacency to achieve a position of power in this country, a position they want to leverage into their view of a "Christian Nation". Of course, their view of a Christian nation includes an absolute ban on abortion (with one lunatic Senator urging the death penalty for doctors who continue to perform them), the elimination of science from American life, and the complete perversion of the Bible to their own twisted, sick "philosophy".

One of the most high-profile members of this crowd is Little Ricky Santorum (whom one of the Philly papers referred to as 'one of the finest minds of the 13th century'); others include Jeb Bush, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and the rest of the "usual suspects".

These are the people who want to take us back to the "good old days", when a woman's place was in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant; when "coloreds", "Nigras", and other even more-insulting terms knew their place was at the back of the bus, if not just being legally considered to be property; when heretics could be burned, drowned or otherwise painfully executed (how much you want to bet that wasn't an unspoken part of "Abu Al" Gonzales' "torture memo"?).

Yet, if one really examines what these mouth-breathin', sister-humpin', Bible-thumpin', southern redneck MO-rons are saying, it is that they want to drag us back to the days of the Old Testament, the days of a vengeful, wrathful God, smiting and destroying, not the forgiving, all-loving God of the New Testament that they claim to follow.

These people must be stopped.

Apologies Due...

... for not having posted anything in such a long time.

My only excuse? Two jobs are a hassle and my kid has the flu.

(Hmm, wonder if I could turn that into a song of some sort?)

Anyway, sharp-edged analysis, biting sarcasm (especially against the Chimpistration) and miscellaneous musings to follow shortly.

Friday Pet Blogging

I was visited this morning by a pair of large, burly bruisers wearing sunglasses and carrying baseball bats. They identified themselves as special agents of Blogger. They reminded me that there is a Federal law mandating pet blogging on either Thurday or Friday, and that I have yet to post any pet pictures... and this blog started months ago. As they so eloquently put it, "If y'all don' put up pitchers of yer pets, the terrists have won."


So to keep myself from an all-expense paid trip to Club Gitmo....

The Dreaded Wild Kitty of Borneo


The Great Lakes Pasture Wolf
guarding her kill from other predators

I wouldn't want anyone to think I don't love America.

Brown is out...

I just heard on NBC News that Michael Brown has resigned as head of FEMA. Too bad is took this kind of disaster to make it obvious that Brown -- and the rest of the Bushies -- are completely incompetent.

"We Didn't Know..."

The Feds and the White House keep saying "We didn't know it would be this bad." Need more proof that they're lying sacks of shit?

They obviously don't read National Geographic. Like this article from October, 2004:

The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

Link via Crisis Manager, and Jonathan Bernstein, Bernstein Crisis Management.

This Explains a LOT!

From the Department of Homeland Security web site:

“DHS is truly grateful to the airlines for their immediate and generous contribution to help us to bring hurricane victims to safety,” said Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Jackson.

This really would explain it, wouldn't it?

The World Has ENDED...

Michelle Malkin is making sense!

AND she's making sense here, too!

I don't believe.

I just do not friggin believe it.

Billmon on the Feds

Billmon, in his usual inimitable fashon, has a fascinating piece up on his blog, comparing the Federal response to Katrina with the response to last year's Florida hurricanes. In it, he points out the apparently magical properties of years divisible by two ("and particularly every other year divisible by two").

Another masterful indictment of the current administration.

More on NOLA, Part II

Maureen Dowd's op-ed piece in Saturday's Times is well worth reading, as is Frank Rich's piece today.

There's also an article on how Katrina has affected the NO Police Dept: at least two officers (one an aid to the Superintendent) have committed suicide; others have abandoned their posts and fled. As a former cop, I can't tell you how distressing that piece of information was. To me, it shows that the police in NO have accepted these "facts":

• They're on their own, and nobody's going to help them
• The system they have sworn to uphold and defend has abandoned them
• It was time to put their own safety and the safety of their loved ones ahead of the system that has betrayed them
  

Now, no one goes into law enforcement for the money... all in all, cops get paid about 10% of their true worth to society (same with firefighters and EMS personnel). Nor do people enter these fields for the snazzy uniforms (generally polyester, which is hot in the summer, cold in the winter and always, but always, looks crappy). No, people go into emergency services because they want to "try to make a difference", they want to make society safer, better, more productive. Try to imagine what these cops must have experienced for them to decide to flee.

The cops in NYC on 9-11 (and also the FDNY and EMS, the Port Authority staff, and hundreds or thousands of others) stood their ground, doing what they had sworn to do. How many died in that effort? 343 firefighters, and hundreds of law enforcement officers (local, state and Federal).

Why didn't they flee?

Easy. They knew help was on the way. Thousands of volunteers -- many trained, most not -- were already heading for New York, even before the towers fell. The next day, there was a measurable Federal presence (aside from Twig with his bullhorn).

In New Orleans, though, it was different. They were left on their own for five days, days in which Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin were begging for help. Five days in which people were dying, the city was dying... and no one came.

The disaster in NYC covered a few square blocks; in New Orleans, the entire city was under water. NYC was able to call for assistance from New Jersey, Connecticut, and the rest of the Northeast. New Orleans couldn't: the entire deep South had been clobbered (after all, New Orleans is 'the big story' but there are also Biloxi, Gulfport and countless smaller communities). The Twin Towers tragedy affected the whole world, that's true, but -- for the most part -- the emergency workers knew their loved ones were safe somewhere else. The cops and firefighters and EMS workers in New Orleans knew their loved ones were trapped, or missing... or dead.

And they knew no one cared.

Sure, the locals pitched in and helped the best they could. Even the communities virtually destroyed by Katrina tried to help each other. But where were the Feds?

FEMA was gutted under Bush's insane privatization policies, their training and mitigation mandates transferred to other parts of DHS or to the private sector. Millions of dollars in levee improvements were dropped, in favor of paying for Bush's war of choice in Iraq. A third of the National Guard troops from the affected areas -- troops that would have been available for search and rescue, security, fire fighting -- and half their equipment was halfway around the globe, defending Halliburton's right to make obscene profits.

DHS itself was concentrating exclusively on terrorism, to the exclusion of all other disasters in their purview. As security expert Bruce Schneier put it (several times), they were 'preparing for the last attack'. FEMA's own experts considered a breach of the levees to be one of the three most likely disasters facing the US... and the most costly, in terms of lives and dollars.

The Feds don't care.

Evacuation from New Orleans was tough, granted. How in hell do you move 450,000 people quickly and safely? But for the Feds to say, "we're sending 500 buses"?!? Mayor Nagin was right when he said the Feds should nationalize Greyhound and send their entire fleet. And there's a report that refugees from the Hyatt in New Orleans were moved to the head of the evacuation line at one point; yeah, I can understand the comments that 'rich whites are more important than poor blacks'. And I can understand -- and sympathize with -- rapper Kanye West's statement (on the NBC concert) that Bush "doesn't care about black people".

And where does DHS Secretary Chertoff get off claiming he "didn't know" there were 20,000 evacuees in the Superdome and 25,00 at the Convention Center? For Christ's sake, it's his job to know.

The Feds don't care.

Denny Hastert says we should bulldoze New Orleans instead of rebuilding they city.

Bush turns the worst disaster in American history into a comedy sketch: "I can't wait to sit on Trent Lott's porch".

The Feds don't care.

More on NOLA

In no particular order:

• I heard Dear Leader's weekly address today. The Federal response to Katrina is "unacceptable". This from the man who was too busy strumming his git-tar with his buddies... whose Secretary of State was laughing at "Spamalot" and blowing wads at Feragamo... whose former head of FEMA , Joe Allbaugh, is now a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary KBR. "Unacceptable". Ya think?!?
• Halliburton has been tasked to repair Naval facilities damaged by Katrina. Big surprise, right? Who'da thunk BushCo would use this disaster to further enrich their corrupt cronies? (Hallibutron Watch, via First Draft)
• The NBC concert last night was interesting, but for a strange reason. Rapper Kenye West said -- flat out -- that the preznit "doesn't care about black people". When the concert was repeated, NBC did not cut that part. They also included some fairly explicit commentary from Brian Williams, Mayor Nagin, and others. The only comment supportive of Twig was from Twig himself.
• Preznit was talking to two black women, trying to get them to a Salvation Army center. They kept telling him, "It's gone". Bush, of course, couldn't comprehend that, and wound up looking an even bigger fool than he already is.
• Skippy's Red Cross donation challenge is going strong. Donate. Add a penny to show you were convinced by bloggers. Volunteer. Give blood. Pray, too.
• Stupidest Headline EVER Published: "Jobless Rate in Gulf Coast Likely to Surge". Skippy linked to this LA Times headline; I couldn't find the article, so it appears some editor slapped his forehead (then slapped the writer) and fixed it. As the lovely-yet-talented Mrs. 618 said, "Duh! There's noplace to go to work".
  

Follow Up to Skippy's Challenge

Well, my wife and I contributed 20.01, the best we could do under Bush's "economic miracle". On the other hand, I've been a first aid/cpr instructor and disaster team member for 15 years. The Red Cross, by the way, is always seeking donations and -- more important -- volunteers.

You don't need special skills to volunteer. You can answer phones, help with the mail, etc. If you do have special skills, that's even better. No matter what your skill level, we can find a place for you.

And it doesn't have to be a major disaster, either. The Red Cross responds to hubdreds of emergencies a day across the country. Take a look at the scene of the next 'real' fire in your home towm. Chances are, the Red Cross will show up with food and drink for victims and firefighters, shelter assistance, clothing vouchers, all the things to help the victims get back on their feet.

Call your local chapter to see how you can help.

Back to Skippy's challenge: I would love it if every person who reads this blog (all 3-4 of you) sent a donation to the Red Cross. Remember to add one penny; this is how the RC will know these donations are coming as a result of all the bloggers working together.

And read Skippy's blog; he hit a million visitors a couple of weks ago, and needs to hit a million bucks in Red Cross donations.

Skippy Does It... Again!

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo has a GREAT idea: donate to the Red Cross and add one penny, as an indication that the donation came as a result of bloggers. In the "weird mix of the day", Skippy (very liberal, of course) has been joined in this effort by Glen Reynolds of "InstaPundit" -- yeah, the arch-conservative. He started with a donation of $100.01 and challenged everyone to match him. The first blogger to take the challenge was able to contribute even more!

And as Skippy says, if you can't afford $100.01, any amount over $5.01 will help.

Just remember to add the penny.

Oh, and pass it on.

A Note to Readers

I guess I've hit the semi-big time. I've been getting a lot of comment spam recently, so I've had to enable a "verification word" feature in the comment section. All you have to do is enter the displayed word. I apologize for the extra step, but it'll keep all of us from being treated to comments regarding enlargement of body parts... if you get my drift.

"Full Disclosure" Run Amok

Ampersand at "Alas, A Blog" has an interesting post on some recent abortion research. In short, a recent JAMA article concludes that fetuses cannot feel pain until roughly the 28th week. This conflicts with a proposal from the pro-life crowd that patients be told their fetuses will feel pain. Now, some of the pro-lifers are bitching about the fact that one author worked for NARAL, another performed abortions, and the third is a professor at a med school, affiliated with a women's clinic.

As Ampersand points out -- correctly -- "Finally, the pro-life press is full of studies conducted and funded by professional pro-life advocates - and many of those studies are never published in legitimate peer-reviewed journals. It seems unlikely that pro-lifers would be willing to hold their own studies to the standards they're holding this study to."

Read the whole thing.

Bush's Response to Katrina

While the flood waters rise, and people die, Shrub shows the usual concern for everyday (i.e., non-billionaire) Americans:

President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day.

His increasing disconnect from reality is scaring the hell out of me.

More Compassion From the Conservatives

The far-right neocon wingnut 'Christians' are raising more hell in Georgia. Someone vandalized a home near Atlanta, spraying swatikas on the walls, burning another into their lawn, scrawling "fascist" and crapping on the porch.

Now, given the victims were Jewish, I would think it's a safe bet them damned libruls din't do it.

So it must be the Pat Robertson "love thy neighbor, lessin' they's Jews" compassionate Christian conservatives.

Jesus must be weeping at the things these animals do "in His name".

Jackalope Found in Minnesota

No, really.

I read it on the Internet, so I know it's true.

For more information on jackalopes, see here.

Gotta LOVE Them Neocons!

I was reading about the latest goings-on with Cindy Sheehan, down there in Crawdad, trying to interfere with Twig's vacation.

1. One batch of mouth-breathin', hooker-humpin', Bible-thumpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickemup bunch went after a group that seemed to be supporting Cindy. Oops, turns out it was a different bunch of mouth-breathers. Stupid friggin' neocons can't even tell their friends from their enemies.

2. One of the neocon media jerks -- Hume or Limbaugh or one of those twits -- apparently mistook Cindy Sheehan in Crawford with Cindy Crawford (of Sheehan?). The afore-mentioned wingnut was blithering about supermodels in politics. Go drink some more of that Kool-Aid.

3. One of the "support our military" types decided to show his support of the military by plowing over a dozen or so of the crosses that Sheehan and her followers set up. Each cross bore the name of a service member killed in action. Yup, drivin' yer pickemup over them crosses sure shows your support, Bubba.

4. In a semi-related vein, a bunch of right-wing neocon wingnuts is heading for South Carolina, to establish a 'Christian Republic' that will follow the tenets of the Old Testament. Um, guys, the OLD Testament is before Jesus. You'll be running a pre-Christian society. Not that they'll really care; they'll be able to keep women, minorities and other 'sub-human' species in line. And why am I not surprised to see they chose South Carolina? SC was the first state to secede prior to the Civil War (and the current batch of wingnuts is also talking secession). Y'all wanna secede? Fahn. Go ahaid. But don't y'all come lookin to us to bail out yer sorry asses with furrin aid.

As I said, you gotta love those fascist, neocon wingnuts.

Prayers... and Pampers

I just heard Dear Leader asking for prayers to help Katrina's victims. As a member of the reality-based community, I take a slightly more pragmatic approach.

Donate to the American Red Cross. Cash is best, as they can use it to purchase (at wholesale) the supplies that tre most needed. Aso, the Red Cross is not set up to handle donations of food, water, etc. (although other groups will certainly be taking physical contributions).

The Red Cross has already mobilized their disaster services units across the country. As a past member of Disaster Services, I can tell you these people are highly trained and incredibly motivated. These are regular American citizens who are willing to travel across the country -- or around the world -- to help wherever and whenever needed.

Prayers are good, but right now, the people in LA, MS, AL and surrounding areas need more concrete items, like Pampers, food, water and shelter.

And if you can, please donate blood as well.

Barnes and Noble

We've all heard at least something about the brouhaha at the Wilmington, DE, Barnes and Noble, where Little Ricky "man-on-dog sex" Santorum was signing copies of his latest screed. A couple of students decided to go ask Little Ricky some embarassing questions, and found themselves being escorted out -- and subsequently dragged down to the hoosegow -- by a uniformed Delaware State Police sergeant.

I sent the following letter to customer service at B&N:

Gentlemen:

I have been a Barnes and Noble customer for years, and have always appreciated not only the vast selections, but also the ambiance of your stores.

The recent happenings at the Rick Santorum book-signing (at the Wilmington B&N), and the refusal of B&N management to condemn these activities, have shown me that B&N is no longer worthy of my business. As a book store and publishing house, your company should be a champion of free spreech. Instead, you allow Santorum and his goons to stifle any dissenting opinions.

I'll be spending my money elsewhere from now on.

And when Santorum and his fascist cohorts eliminate freedom of speech and of the press, and B&N is gone, you will have yourselves to thank.

Today, I received a reply from them:

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. I appreciate having the opportunity to clarify the situation regarding Senator Santorum's signing at our Wilmington bookstore:

Barnes & Noble did not remove the students from the store, and we regret what happened. A law enforcement officer took control of the situation and acted on his own. He physically removed the students without talking with us or notifying our store managers beforehand. We do not agree with the actions of this officer and feel the situation was mishandled.

This kind of usefully ignores the fact that B&N "knew or should have known" (as the lawyers put it) of the behaviors previously exhibited by Little Ricky and the rest of the Bushies -- the "free spech zones" at political rallies (designed to keep protesters out of the sight of Dear Leader), the recurring attempts to brand dissension as "commie-sympathizer" rhetoric, the outright theft of elections, the steady erosion of civil and Constitutional rights, and the rest of their sorry panoply -- yet B&N still expressed surprise that such behaviors occurred. It's akin to saying "we didn't know the Illinois Nazis were going to be making hate speeches in Skokie".

Come on.

If one is going to invite a hate-monger to one's business, one should realistically expect hateful speech. And if one invites a politician whose entire career is based on quashing dissent, one shouldn't be surprised that Gestapo tactics are used in that situation.

Yes, the lady from B&N was polite, and expressed the usual big-business platitudes about being sorry, but they knew what Santorum was like, and they invited him anyway.

I'll still be buying my books elsewhere from now on.

Oh, and lest someone think I'm lettingDelaware's answer to Major Hochstetter off the hook... the sergeant in question should be fired immediately, and charged under Federal statutes for violating the civil rights of the students involved.

Not that Twig's "so-called 'Justice Dept"" will ever do that. These kides were, after all, commie-sympathizin', Murica-hatin' libtard scums, right?

A Moving Statement

Back in 2002, out in California, little Samantha Runnion was brutally murdered by Alejandro Avila. Last week, Samantha's mother Erin Runnion delivered a victim impact statement at Avila's sentencing.

Read it here.

This is one of those cases where I believe the proper sentence is life. Without parole. In general population. Where "skinners" (child molesters) are put through the sheerest forms of hell by their companions.

Let Avila spend the next 30, 40, 50 years being some big, fat, smelly biker's bitch.

And let Samantha Runnion's family find some peace, finally.

PETA in the News...

The following story is from This is True dated 17 July 2005. It is
Copyright 2005 Randy Cassingham, all rights reserved, and reprinted here
with permission:

"Ethical" Defined

After more than 100 dead dogs were dumped in a trash dumpster over
four weeks, police in Ahoskie, N.C., kept an eye on the trash receptacle
behind a supermarket. Sure enough, a van drove up and officers watched
the occupants throw in heavy plastic bags. They detained the two people
in the van and found 18 dead dogs in plastic bags in the dumpster,
including puppies; 13 more dead dogs were still in the van. Police say
the van is registered to the headquarters of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, and the two occupants, Andrew B. Cook, 24, and
Adria Joy Hinkle, 27, identified themselves as PETA employees. An autopsy
performed on one of the dogs found it was healthy before it was killed.
Police say PETA has been picking up the animals -- alive -- from North
Carolina animal shelters, promising to find them good homes. Cook and
Hinkle have been charged with 62 felony counts of animal cruelty. In
response to the arrests PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said it's against
the group's policy for employees to dump animals in the trash, but "that
for some animals in North Carolina, there is no kinder option than
euthanasia." (Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald) ...Oops, my mistake: that's
"Playing God" Defined.

In his author's notes section, Cassingham had more to say about this story:

The more I learn about PETA, the less I think of
them. The story of them killing animals isn't even unusual. According to
PETA's own filings, in 2004 PETA killed 86.3 percent of the
animals entrusted to its care -- a number that's rising, not falling.
Meanwhile, the SPCA in PETA's home town (Norfolk, Va.) was able to find
loving homes for 73 percent of the animals put in its care. A shortage of
funds? Nope: last year PETA took in $29 million in tax-exempt donations.
It simply has other priorities for the funds, like funding terrorism
(yes, really). But don't take my word for it: I got my figures from
http://www.PETAkillsAnimals.com
-- and they have copies of PETA's state and federal filings to back it
up. The bottom line: if you donate money to PETA because you think they
care for and about animals, you need to think some more. PETA literally
yells and screams about how others "kill animals" but this is how
they operate? Pathetic.

And you know what I wonder? PETA's official count of animals
they kill is 86.3 percent. But if they're going around picking up
animals, killing them while they drive around and not even giving them a
chance to be adopted, and then destroying the evidence by dumping
the bodies in the trash, are those deaths being reported? My
guess: no. While 86.3 percent is awful, the actual number is probably
much, much higher. How dare they lecture anyone
about the "ethical" treatment of animals!

(This is True is a weekly column featuring weird-but-true news
stories from around the world, and has been published since 1994. Click
the link for info about free subscriptions.)

As Cassingham says, PETA's performance is pathetic. Many of my friends are active in various animal-friendly pursuits -- rehabbing and the like. They would never consider this wholesale slaughter of innocent animals.

If you really, really, REALLY care about animals, don't contribute to PETA. Send your money to the ASPCA or the Humane Society.

Congratulations...

...to Skippy the Bush Kangaroo ; he recorded his 1,000,000th visitor about five minutes ago.

I, on the other hand, am at 14.

Of course, Skippy's been at this game for three years, I've had this blog for about four months.

Plus, Skippy's good. Real good.

"No Pal Left Behind"

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an editorial about BushCo and friends:

President Bush likes to talk about high standards, accountability and
personal responsibility. While Bush expects students, school systems and
future retirees to toe the line, his friends get an easier deal.

[. . .]

Schoolchildren, take note. There will still be high standards for you, your
teachers and your schools. But at the White House, the rule is a little
different: No pal left behind. Unless, of course, he is an out-and-out
criminal. That's quite a standard.

Read it.

This is yet another example of BushCo's "Do as I say, not as I do" philospohy. I've seen used car salesmen and door-to-door insurance reps who don't lie this much.

A TRUE Classic...

Having spent 14 years as a cop, I can tell you most, if not all, of the cops I met couldn't write a decent report to save their lives (yes, I consider myself an exception). And police blotter (or arrest book) records are usually classic "Joe Friday" efforts: 'just the facts'.

Courtesy of BoingBoing, this gem is presented for your entertainment. It starts at the bottom of page 1 and runs to the top of page 3.

And I've never heard real cops use words like "interloper" or "miscreant".

The desk sergeant must have been having a slow night. A reeeal slooooow night.

Sad Day (at least for me)

Just two days ago, I complimented South Knox Bubba for the qualityof his blog.

Today, there's a notice on his site that he has discontinued not only the blog, but his whole site.

He will be sorely missed.

Update: Turns out SKB shut down yesterday, the day after I wrote about him.

OK, Then.

(To quote one of my favorite blogs, South Knox Bubba). Now some people may wonder why a New Englander transplanted to Michigan would read a Knoxville-based blog. First, he's an excellent writer. Second, I lived for a while in Tennessee, so it's kinda like keeping up with things there. Third, I stumbled across his site before the election, and I liked what he was saying and the way he was saying it.

While I may not be in the same league as SKB and TBogg, or the grand-daddies of blogtopia (which I think was coined by Skippy the Bush Kangaroo) like Atrios, Daily Kos, Josh Marshall or Kevin Drum, I'd like to think that, somewhere, there might be someone who finds my writing to be interesting, entertaining, or -- if I'm really lucky -- educational.

Not that any of this has anything to do with anything happening, of course.

I heard on the radio this morning that Karl Rove was cited as the source (or maybe a source) of the Valerie Plame leak. If so, he should be held accountable. Various bloggers have pointed out the spin put on this whole mess by the White House, and have also pointed out that it merely obfuscates the true facts: she was a CIA operative, and someone outed her, apparently in violation of at least one Federal law. End of story.

A couple of people are now starting to start about applying the RICO (Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) law to the Bushies. Now, I was a cop, not a lawyer, so I'm not that familiar with the intricacies of RICO, but I remember how quickly it put an end to a lot of groups ranging from street gangs to the Mafia. Maybe it should be considered. Lord knows they're corrupt enough.

Things to Come...

Now tell me THIS isn't the best dream ever....

Yes, this is sorta-kinda a repeat of this earlier post, but I figured out how to add the pictures.

I think.

"You are a traitor and you are our enemy."

Karl Dubya "Scooter" Cheney to John Kerry?

Nope. Not hardly.

It's four former CIA operatives to the Administration, in this post at TPM Cafe, an offshoot of Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo. It's a posting of testimony they and two others delivered on Capitol Hill in 2003.

Read the whole article, then come on back here.

[Laa-dee-dah... 99 bottles of beer on the wa---]

You're back already?

They do a pretty good job of ripping the GOP obfuscation to shreds, don't they?

John Dean was right: this bunch IS "worse than Watergate". For those who haven't seen it, that's the title of his latest book. And for the younger readers, John Dean was Tricky Dick Nixon's counsel. And if you ask who Nixon was, I'll cry.

London Bombings...

What can one say? At least 50 dead, 700 or so injured, 3 subways and a bus destroyed, and -- of course -- al Qaida claiming "credit".

I have been in the safety and security field for going on 30 years, so people occasionally ask me how a nation can prevent terrorist attacks. Short answer: you can't. No matter how closed and controlled a society may be, terrorists can find a way to perform their cowardly attacks. Don't believe me? The Soviet Union and China -- two of the most-controlled countries on earth -- have not been immune from the threat of terrorism. More open societies -- the United States and Europe, for example -- don't have a prayer. The very nature of an open society invites these atrocities.

Tony Blair said yesterday (paraphrasing here), 'these were not kings or heads of state, these were innocent people.' The same thought was echoed today by Queen Elizabeth. Our idiot leader, of course, tried to sound tough and merely sounded like a fool.

"Innocent people" are, of course, a terrorist's primary target. The terrorist believes that by striking indiscriminately, by killing innocent people, by attacking the very openness of the society he fears and despises, he will somehow 'strike terror' into the hearts of the free. He believes his actions will help free societies see the error of their ways and convert to his "true faith". He believes that freedom-loving people will be cowed into abject obeisance to his way of thinking. He feels that because his stern, hateful, loathsome "God" is on his side, he will prevail.

Don't count on it, Abdul.

These mutts attack innocent people because they are cowards. They are afraid to face trained soldiers. They are afraid to face armed men who would have no compunctions about sending these mujaheddin mongrels to their maker. They are afraid to face the results of the cowardly strikes, so they either kill themselves in the process -- what some in the security field refer to as "not-so-smart bombs" -- or they set their bombs to explode when they're safely away, "praying" in their mosques.

A week or so ago, there was a news story about the potential effects of a terrorist attack on a chemical plant here in the US. Casualty estimates ranged from 20,000 to over a million. I'm sure the Islamic extremists drool at the thought of an attack like that. But if there are any calmer heads in the Islamic movement (and that seems to be a big "if"), they'd better not try it.

Such an attack would be considered a use of a "weapon of mass destruction". American policy has been to respond with the level of attack waged. There is, of course, only one WMD in the American arsenal: a nuke. If the Islamic Jihad mutts managed to cause 20,000 deaths in a single attack, even the most left-wing liberal would say, "Nuke 'em." A MILLION deaths? Ralph Nader would cackle as the button was pushed.

Another major terrorists attack on the US would result in the total elimination of Islam from the face of the Earth.

And you know what?

No one would give a damn.

Mexican Stamp Controversy Brewing

Just a note of politically-correct caution: unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, all references to nationality or ethnicity should be understood to have a "-American" attached. I'm too lazy to type out the full PC hyphenation designation each time.

CNN is covering the start of what may prove to be a real firestorm of political correctness. Mexico recently issued a series of stamps featuring "Memin Pinguin", a cartoon character depicting a black boy with thick lips, large eyes, and exaggerated, almost-simian, features. The character first appeared in Mexican comics in the 40's, and is still being published today.

The African-American population-- with justification -- is annoyed at the stereotypical image of the "pickaninny" (to use columnist Leonard Pitts' term). This comes just a few weeks after Mexican President Vicente Fox annoyed the same contingent with his comments about Mexicans doing jobs "not even blacks" are willing to do. Pitts asks, "When did [Mexico] hire David Duke as an image consultant?"

A few comments on this...

First, while the US and American citizens have a right to make their thoughts known on a subject, we do not have the right to impose those beliefs on others. Especially when the "others" in question is a sovereign nation. (Yeah, kinda like the way we don't have the right to impose our system of government on Iraq, Chimpster & Co not withstanding)

Second, maybe the Mexican goverment should have thought a little harder about using this particular character on its stamps. Back in the mid-80's, I was given a book discussing the cultural history of the 60's. In a chapter on advertising icons, the authors discussed the Frito Bandito... pointing out that Frito-Lay declined to give them permission to show the character, citing complaints from Mexican-Americans, based on the negative stereotypes portrayed. Mexicans also raised a considerable stink over the stereotypes using in creating Warner Brothers' Speedy Gonzales.

Third, the character is not intended to be the butt of racially-motivated jokes. A long-time reader of the series has this explanation:

Memín Pinguín was first published in the magazine Pepin back in 1945. Vargas Dulche had just returned from Cuba, and inspired in the kids she saw there she wrote a story and asked artist Alberto Cabrera to design him. He was a poor kid, dumb and clumsy, that spoke with a cuban accent. He lived with his mother, which looks a lot like Aunt Jemima. He had a couple of friends and got into a lot of trouble. He was teased because of his accent and color, but he was part of the gang. It was a very tender comic book, sweet and innocent. I read it as a child and flipped through an old issue a couple of years ago and I don't think the book was racist; quite the opposite, I think it had a message of integration and acceptance, it criticized racism and, like all of Vargas Dulche´s stories, tried to teach strong family values.

The United States has a long and unfortunately rich history of racial intolerance. While much of that intolerance has been aimed at blacks, a regrettably large fraction has come from blacks as well (witness Louis Farrahkan's comments the Jews, etc.).

We had Amos & Andy, Al Jolson, and Mickey Rooney all in blackface; fortunately, such egregious "humor" is pretty much gone today, although we have black actors -- primarily self-proclaimed "comedians" -- whose roles are far more stereotypical in a negative sense than anything from Archie Bunker or the actors listed above.

Blacks, of course, weren't the only ones targeted. German-Americans during World War I, Germans and Japanese during WWII, Asians during Vietnam, and Middle-Easterners (or anybody with a swarthy complection and/or headwrapping) today have all been penalized to one extent or another, simply for being who they were (or, worse, for "being" who they weren't). Poles have been portrayed as "slow" -- Wojohowicz on "Barney Miller -- Italians are all mobsters ("The Sopranos", "The Godfather"), and so on.

Intolerance hasn't been limited to racial characteristics, either. For some reason, handicapped characters have traditionally been played by non-handicapped actors. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it was a fear of handicapped actors "not being able to do the job". Marlee Matlin, Deanne Bray, and Michelle Banks -- all gifted deaf actresses -- are helping bring about a positive change, along with a growing number of actors with Downs Syndrome (one series on ABC featured a Downs child in a prominent role, as has "Law & Order - SVU").

More to the point... It's a friggin CARTOON CHARACTER. Okay, maybe some people may consider Memin Pinguin to be tasteless (despite the clear intention to promote acceptance). This ranks right up there with bitching about Sponge Bob being gay, Dora the Explorer's 'Spanish word of the day' (which has alienated the "English-first" crowd), Pepe Le Pew's French-ness (which is obviously a mortal sin in these days of 'freedom fires' and 'freedom toast'), or Bugs Bunny's "Noo Yawk" accent.

You think Memin Pinguin is racially intolerant? Fine. Next time you're IN MEXICO, mailing a letter FROM MEXICO, tell the MEXICAN guy behind the MEXICAN post office counter you want a different MEXICAN stamp. Of course, if the MEXICAN clerk at the MEXICAN post office doesn't speak English (or pretends not to), you can throw a hissy-fit over that, too.

Just remember that most nations are much more multi-lingual than the US. Many Arab leaders speak English; how many American leaders speak Arabic? Same thing with French, German, Italian, even Russian and Chinese leaders. Most Europeans have at least a smattering of English. Most Americans are lost outside of English (some Americans don't even speak English, for God's sake, never mind a 'furrin' language).

Ahhh, Sweet Justice

From The-Goddess, via American Samizdat. Both sites, by the way, have excellent graphics in their mastheads.

(And just in case Blogger is lying about being able to insert graphics, check AmSam for the picture of Herr Rove).

After three years of listening to neocon wingnuts shrieking hysterically that anyone who doesn't support the Chimpster is an anti-American traitor, it'll be interesting to see what happens now. After all, revealing the identity of a CIA agent is illegal, and during a time of war, constitutes treason. Wanna bet the tune suddenly changes?

Update: Yes, Blogger IS lying about inserting graphics. Check out the image in it's full glory at American Samizdat (link above).

GOOD For Them!

The NY Times, for July 4:

ATLANTA, July 4 - The United Church of Christ became the first mainline
Christian denomination to support same-sex marriage officially when its general
synod passed a resolution on Monday affirming "equal marriage rights for couples
regardless of gender."

This oughta drive the mouth-breathers nuts.

Good Essay at Billmon (of course)...

Billmon at Whiskey Bar is one of the blogs I check daily. After a period of being MIA, and then a period of just posting excerpts, he's back writing. And his writing is always well worth reading.

Take this essay on being American, for instance. Heck, just go to his site (billmon.org) and read everything.

Oh, One More Thing...

...as of 9:00 am (EDT), the "Republican Test" link is working again...

Happy Fourth of July...

A couple of articles worth passing on:

• Daniel Ellsberg, on the similarities between the speeches he wrote for JFK, LBJ, and Tricky Dick, and Twig's latest (registration required, although there's probably a generic one on www.bugmenot.com)
• Ellsberg -- again -- with an essay (described as "fabulously depressing") comparing Vietnam and Iraq
• Cold Stone Creamery ice cream recall: Their ice cream is a LOT better than Ben & Jerry's, so this is unfortunate, from my point of view. (Basically, they're recalling all ice cream with cake batter/cookie dough, because of a possible link to salmonella)
• Bushies doing the Perp Walk: One of the Daily Kos diarists -- "Dood Abides" -- has some truly wonderful "eye candy" of the Cheney Administration getting their just desserts.

In other news...

There should be a little more regular activity here, now that my wonderful wife and I have completed the move to the new digs. And gotten the DSL connected (oh, man, dial-up sucks after a year of DSL).

No, I did NOT watch any of Live8. Other than Stevie Wonder and McCartney, I couldn't give a rat's rectum about the rest of the "artists". Also on the music scene, RIP to both Luther Vandross and Obie Benson (of the Four Tops). "If there's a rock and roll heaven..."

Yes, neocon wingnuts are still mouth-breathing, Bible-thumpin, hooker-humpin, Stars-n-Bars-displayin, beer-swillin, hypocritical, self-righteous trailer-trash MO-rons.

Q: What's the difference between a neocon and a trampoline?

A: You take your cleats off before jumping on the trampoline.

Be well, folks.

Republican Test

It has been brought to my attention that the republican test page is returning error messages. Check the main page (www.paulkienitz.net) for some other interesting tests.

Turns out the republican test page got so many hits, it overloaded the server.

Wish I thought it was a result of being posted here.

Note to Readers...

...assuming I have any...

After much strenuous research (mainly looking in the help files), I was able to figure out the procedure (basically clearing a checkbox) that would allow anyone to leave comments, not just Blogger members.

So, for those who don't want to share any more personal information than is absolutely necessary (and I include myself)... have at it.

Of course, if you feel you just HAVE to leave your ATM card number and PIN.........

How Republican Are YOU?

I am: 6% Republican.

"You're a complete liberal, utterly without a trace of Republicanism. Your strength is as the strength of ten because your heart is pure. (You hope.)"

Are You A Republican?

Courtesy of the fine folks at http://paulkienitz.net/republican.html

You really should take this test.

Hypocrisy on Parade

The hypocrisy surrounding the Terri Schiavo mess just flabbergasts me. In no particular order:

• Bob Schindler, Terri's father, apparently terminated life support on his mother. I guess there was no money to be made on the lecture circuit with her.
• Tom DeLay, bugman extraordinaire, pulled the plug on his father.
• DeLay also participated in a lawsuit against the manufacturers of the tram that injured his father... this involved (a) product liability, (b) shopping for a friendly jurisdiction, (c) awards for pain and suffering, and (d) awards for loss of companionship, etc... all things that would be lost under "tort reform".
• Dubya, supporter of "erring on the side of life", signed a bill while Governor of Texas, that allows medical facilities to discontinue life support, regardless of family opposition, if the family cannot afford to pay the bill (last week, a six-year-old had his plug pulled, over his mother's objections; he was black, so what did Dubya care, right?).
• Dubya also mocked Carla Faye Tucker's last appeal from death row.
• Dubya presided over more executions than any other governor.
• Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader -- both sensing the presence of TV cameras -- joined forces with the neocon wingnuts. Way to support those progressive causes, guys.
• Bill Frist, MD, has been innundated (as have his staffers) with requests for instant diagnoses, accompanied by low-quality home videos.
• The Schindler's have sold the list of their supporters to a far-right-wing neocon nutcase mailing list provider.

I tell you, this just sickens me. Where is the "erring on the side of life" in Iraq? In Afganistan? Hell, in TEXAS???

These people don't give a rat's behind about Terri Schiavo as a person. They see her as a way to mobilize "the base": the mouth-breathing, Bible-thumpin', sister-humpin', trailer trash that elected them.

Every last one of them should be forced to go through what Terri and her husband are going through.

We're Baaaaaack....

Sorry for the absence (if anybody actually reads this). My wife started a new job, and I've been working so much overtime, I haven't had a chance to do anything else. And my laundry hamper is proof of that.

Anyway, to the news...

The Terri Schiavo Case

The Rethuglicans are trying yet another weasel0deal scam move in the Terri Schiavo case. Now they're trying to subpoena Terri (who's been vegetative for years) and her husband to testify before Congress.

Easiest way to make sure Terri can die with dignity? Let a rumor leak that if she recovers, she's going to vote Democratic. That'll be the end of that.

Drilling for Oil in ANWR

The Bushies are still trying to get permission for Halliburton, et al., to destroy the last vestige of pristine nature in the US. They're claiming that drilling in Alaska would generate $2.5 billion a year. Fortunately, a lot of Congress-critters want to see some proof this time.

Congress and the Smackdown

The Congress-critters finally found the nerve to smackdown the Campaignistration over cuts to Medicare, education, and social services. On the other hand, they increased the tax cuts for the wealthy. Why are we not surprised?

Texas Cheerleaders: Too Sexy?

Yeah, I know, Texas and sexy are two thoughts that don't belong in the same sentence. Some neocon wingnut is trying to get the legislature to ban "overly-sexual" cheerleading routines. This jerk says that fathers and boyfriends will be pleased. Yeah. Right.

OVERALL ANALYSIS:

The neocon wingnuts are doing their very best to bring about their Utopia: an 8th-century Christian theocracy. Unfortunately, they seem to be succeeding: a little erosion of freedom here, a little abrogation of civil rights there... pretty soon, the Texas Taliban will have it all.

Once again, it is time for true-blue Americans to stand up against the Red Menace. But this time, we're not talking China or the USSR, we're talking the red-state thugs in white sheets and hoods, the Bible-thumpin, hooker-humpin, sister-marryin, rifle-rack-in-the-pick-em-up crowd.

Miscellaneous Musings

First, I heard yesterday on NPR that the Federales are forcing 'illegal' aliens to wear monitoring bracelets (like the ones worn by sex offenders). The problem is that these 'illegals' are awaiting hearings regarding deportation. They haven't been convicted yet. This is, of course, another wonderful idea brought to you by the Ministry of Homeland Security.

Second, I heard Mr. Bobo on NPR tonight (and yeah, that means I listen to NPR), claiming that we had to do something about Social Security now. There is one big problem with all of this:

If we follow the figures that 'prove' Social Security is bankrupt, those same figures show the private/personal/individual accounts will do no good. If, however, we use the figures that show the private/personal/individual accounts will make old age secure, THOSE same figures show that Social Security is in good health.

Third, the White House seems to be backing off the private/personal/individual accounts, thereby leaving the wingnuts screaming about the accounts hanging in the breeze. Now, Twig may try to pose this as "meeting us halfway", but it isn't true.

Fourth, BlunderBoy's tax cuts have a much greater (and longer-lasting) effect on the deficit than the Social Security "crisis" -- regardless of how real it may be.

These friggin' neocon wingnuts... what'll they do next?