by Robert J. Elisberg on HuffPost
The other day on a radio talk show, a caller began criticizing Democrats in Congress, saying all they're doing is complaining, and she's getting tired, tired of hearing Democrats complain. Absolutely understandable. Of course, if Republicans are weary, just imagine how Democrats feel.
Trust me, if someone thwacks you in the head with a hammer, and the next day punches you in the gut, and later kicks your groin and then crushes your foot -- and afterwards steals your wallet, takes your watch and spits in your face -- it's no fun having to keep complaining. But then, it's even less fun having to smile and take it.
The caller should also understand an even more basic truth: if you don't want to hear Democrats complain, then Republicans should stop giving them things to complain about.
This has become the Republican mantra. As Democrats called for a perjury investigation into currently-resigned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, White House spokesman Tony Fratto whined that Democrats are "more interested in headlines than doing the business Americans want them to do."
If you don't want to be investigated, then stop doing things that require investigations. Quit lying to Congress about firing U.S. Attorneys. Quit leaking the name of covert agents. Quit wiretapping American citizens without warrants. Quit illegally involving federal employees in party politics. Quit destroying email evidence.
(Emphasis added)
Read the rest here ...
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
No, you can't make this stuff up ...
“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said Mr. Reed [Republican strategist], sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”
The New Your Times has more here ...
OK ... so, the real question is have Republicans always been this arrogant, this out of tune with the people they're supposed to represent? Have they always had this little regard for the law? Have they always had this streak of hypocritical cynicism?
OR
Is this just the kind of drunken binge they go on when they're given a little power as they've had since the mid-90s?
Granted, the other side of the aisle has a share of head-shakers like the William Jefferson idiocy, but by comparison, they seem so tame and so far and few between.
SO, my dear friends on the right, and some of you truly are dear friends - PLEASE CHOOSE - or offer an alternative explanation for the string of scandals we've been seeing - from DeLay to Abramoff, from Cunningham to Foley, from gay restroom cruising to outright fraud? What's this all about?
The New Your Times has more here ...
OK ... so, the real question is have Republicans always been this arrogant, this out of tune with the people they're supposed to represent? Have they always had this little regard for the law? Have they always had this streak of hypocritical cynicism?
Is this just the kind of drunken binge they go on when they're given a little power as they've had since the mid-90s?
Granted, the other side of the aisle has a share of head-shakers like the William Jefferson idiocy, but by comparison, they seem so tame and so far and few between.
SO, my dear friends on the right, and some of you truly are dear friends - PLEASE CHOOSE - or offer an alternative explanation for the string of scandals we've been seeing - from DeLay to Abramoff, from Cunningham to Foley, from gay restroom cruising to outright fraud? What's this all about?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Bush in Seattle
What's wrong with the pictures?
Check them out and tell me what you see.
I particularly liked the photo titled "Man of the People".
Check them out and tell me what you see.
I particularly liked the photo titled "Man of the People".
In the end, it was Graham Greene
by Chris Kelly on HuffPo
Some say the best way to win a debate is to invent a straw man on the other side, and then refute the crazy things they never said. I say those people are wrong.
The problem isn't using the occasional fictitious opponent in an argument; the problem is that's all President Bush ever does. They're his one great rhetorical "go to." Right after lies.
You could waste a lot of time, after a typical Bush speech, trying to find the imaginary people who believe the things he strongly doesn't. The liberals who loved Saddam Hussein, the racists who don't like "No Child Left Behind," the Democrats who said the answer to 9/11 was therapy, the women who wish there were more late term abortions.
Where does the President meet these people?
He says "some say" a lot, for a guy who brags that he never listens to anyone.
Find out more about who these people are ... or aren't ...
Find out more about the Right-wing's other favorite logical ploys ... all of them.
Learn about:
Some say the best way to win a debate is to invent a straw man on the other side, and then refute the crazy things they never said. I say those people are wrong.
The problem isn't using the occasional fictitious opponent in an argument; the problem is that's all President Bush ever does. They're his one great rhetorical "go to." Right after lies.
You could waste a lot of time, after a typical Bush speech, trying to find the imaginary people who believe the things he strongly doesn't. The liberals who loved Saddam Hussein, the racists who don't like "No Child Left Behind," the Democrats who said the answer to 9/11 was therapy, the women who wish there were more late term abortions.
Where does the President meet these people?
He says "some say" a lot, for a guy who brags that he never listens to anyone.
Find out more about who these people are ... or aren't ...
Find out more about the Right-wing's other favorite logical ploys ... all of them.
Learn about:
- Ad Hominem Arguments
- The Appeal to Fear
- The Straw Man
- The Burden of Proof Argument
- and 38 other mis-uses of reason often prominently featured on FIXed News, in Bush's speeches, Hannity's editorials, and on the Rush Limbaugh Show.
We don need no steeenkin' oversight
Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations
By JAMES GLANZ and ERIC SCHMITT / NYTimes
BAGHDAD, Aug. 27 —
Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other matériel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here.
The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, the officials said. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005, American officials said Monday.
There is no indication that investigators have uncovered any wrongdoing by General Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, who through a spokesman declined comment on any legal proceedings.
What a way to run a war ... get your fair share here ...
... and on who's watch is THIS happening?
By JAMES GLANZ and ERIC SCHMITT / NYTimes
BAGHDAD, Aug. 27 —
Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other matériel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict here.
The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, the officials said. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petraeus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005, American officials said Monday.
There is no indication that investigators have uncovered any wrongdoing by General Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, who through a spokesman declined comment on any legal proceedings.
What a way to run a war ... get your fair share here ...
... and on who's watch is THIS happening?
US Homeland Security To Mobilize 'Thought Police'
WASHINGTON, DC., 8/25/07 (Anal Addler):
Department of Homeland Security management say they are moving forward aggressively with their program of 'Thought Police". "We've had this program in mind and under development ever since before there was a Department of Homeland Security." said Transportation Security Administration public affairs specialist Amy Kudwa. "This was one of Karl Rove's favorites! Soon we will be able to single out potential terrorist threats by computer reading the thoughts emanating from their brains."
More about it here ...
Department of Homeland Security management say they are moving forward aggressively with their program of 'Thought Police". "We've had this program in mind and under development ever since before there was a Department of Homeland Security." said Transportation Security Administration public affairs specialist Amy Kudwa. "This was one of Karl Rove's favorites! Soon we will be able to single out potential terrorist threats by computer reading the thoughts emanating from their brains."
More about it here ...
Doing the work of God
"A large party of Mormons, painted and tricked out as Indians, overtook the train of emigrent wagons some three hundred miles south of Salt Lake City, and made an attack. But the emigrants threw up earthworks, made fortresses of their wagons, and defended themselves gallantly and successfully for five days! Your Missouri or Arkansas gentleman is not much afraid of the sort of scurvy apologies for "Indians" which the southern part of Utah affords. He would stand up and fight five hundred of them. At the end of the five days the Mormons tried military strategy. They retired to the upper end of the 'Meadows,' resumed civilized apparel, washed off their paint, and then, heavily armed, drove down in wagons to the beleagured emigrants, bearing a flag of truce! When the emigrants saw white men coming they threw down their guns and welcomed them with cheer after cheer...."
~ Mark Twain in "Roughing It"
Uncovering the past with Archaeology ...
~ Mark Twain in "Roughing It"
Uncovering the past with Archaeology ...
Opus: Eavesdropping again
Wherein Lola Granola's x-treme spiritual journeys continue to vex good ole' Steve.
Get an insight here ... maybe even a religious revelation.
Get an insight here ... maybe even a religious revelation.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Good-bye Gonzo
Even until the bitter end, Gonzo was lying about every goddamn thing he could:
That’s his own spokesman he lied to. For no discernible reason at all. The man lies about what he wants for breakfast in the morning. He tells his dog she’s good but doesn’t mean it.
Get a laugh!
Now, where IS that picture a buddy of mine to sent me ... the one of him and the Gonzter standing in front to pyramids in Egypt, shaking hands and grinning from ear to ear? The one that prompted me to say, "at least there's one honest man in the picture".
My friend asked if I was referring the the Egyptian tour guide in the background.
All liars seem like "nice guys", my friend. The better they are at lying, the nicer they seem. That's how they get away with it!
Mr. Roehrkasse said Sunday afternoon that he had telephoned Mr. Gonzales about the reports circulating in Washington that a resignation was imminent, “and he said it wasn’t true, so I don’t know what more I can say.”
That’s his own spokesman he lied to. For no discernible reason at all. The man lies about what he wants for breakfast in the morning. He tells his dog she’s good but doesn’t mean it.
Get a laugh!
Now, where IS that picture a buddy of mine to sent me ... the one of him and the Gonzter standing in front to pyramids in Egypt, shaking hands and grinning from ear to ear? The one that prompted me to say, "at least there's one honest man in the picture".
My friend asked if I was referring the the Egyptian tour guide in the background.
All liars seem like "nice guys", my friend. The better they are at lying, the nicer they seem. That's how they get away with it!
Here we go again! More Conservative Republican Family Values
"Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
Read more about the he said. he said misunderstanding here ...
I guess the big difference would be that Billy C. tried to hide his indiscretions in the privacy of the Oval Office while the Republicans flaunt theirs in public restrooms? All I can say in Bubah's defense is that at lest he wasn't a c@cksucker.
According to Wonkette, Idaho Values Alliance will have 'Hard Time Swallowing' the Larry Craig news.
Family Values Party Gathering
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
Read more about the he said. he said misunderstanding here ...
I guess the big difference would be that Billy C. tried to hide his indiscretions in the privacy of the Oval Office while the Republicans flaunt theirs in public restrooms? All I can say in Bubah's defense is that at lest he wasn't a c@cksucker.
According to Wonkette, Idaho Values Alliance will have 'Hard Time Swallowing' the Larry Craig news.
Family Values Party Gathering
Facing a draft, Nugent bravely wet his pants
Rocker is all talk as he calls Obama, Hillary vile names
August 27, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist
So Ted Nugent roams a concert stage while toting automatic weapons, calls Barack Obama "a piece of -----" and says he told Obama to suck on one of his machine-guns. He also calls Hillary Clinton a "worthless bitch" and Dianne Feinstein a "worthless whore."
That Nugent, he's a man's man. He talks the talk and walks the walk, right?
Except when it was time to register for the draft during the Vietnam era. By his own admission, Nugent stopped all forms of personal hygiene for a month and showed up for his draft board physical in pants caked with his own urine and feces, winning a deferment. Creative!
Ah, but that was a long time ago. Nugent isn't just a washed-up rocker -- he's a right-wing madman who's not afraid to call out some of the leading Democrats in language so vile it makes the Dixie Chick Natalie Maines' comments about President Bush sound like a love poem.
Read the rest ...
Another right wing example of taking personal responsibility ... the standard that applies only to other people. To top it off, they're so quick to point the finger at those whom they accuse of being "haters" .... unless it's their own.
We'll just add ole' Ted to the list of draft dodgers:
August 27, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist
So Ted Nugent roams a concert stage while toting automatic weapons, calls Barack Obama "a piece of -----" and says he told Obama to suck on one of his machine-guns. He also calls Hillary Clinton a "worthless bitch" and Dianne Feinstein a "worthless whore."
That Nugent, he's a man's man. He talks the talk and walks the walk, right?
Except when it was time to register for the draft during the Vietnam era. By his own admission, Nugent stopped all forms of personal hygiene for a month and showed up for his draft board physical in pants caked with his own urine and feces, winning a deferment. Creative!
Ah, but that was a long time ago. Nugent isn't just a washed-up rocker -- he's a right-wing madman who's not afraid to call out some of the leading Democrats in language so vile it makes the Dixie Chick Natalie Maines' comments about President Bush sound like a love poem.
Read the rest ...
Another right wing example of taking personal responsibility ... the standard that applies only to other people. To top it off, they're so quick to point the finger at those whom they accuse of being "haters" .... unless it's their own.
We'll just add ole' Ted to the list of draft dodgers:
- George W. Bush
- Donald Rumsfeld
- Dick Cheney (had better things to do)
- and virtually every other chicken-hawk Neocon who can't get enough of war ... as long as someone else is fighting it for them.
Another Xian Con Game?
Things get weirder and weirder ...
"Da lord heps dem who heps they seves."
The really weird part is people will line up to fork over real money. It's all a fear of death and the need to feel that this isn't all there is.
Personally, I like to think this is more than just a test.
"Da lord heps dem who heps they seves."
The really weird part is people will line up to fork over real money. It's all a fear of death and the need to feel that this isn't all there is.
Personally, I like to think this is more than just a test.
You've GOT to be KIDDING!!!
Fallen Pastor Seeks Aid to Pursue Studies
COLORADO SPRINGS, Aug. 25 (AP) —
The Rev. Ted Haggard, who left the 10,000-member megachurch he founded after admitting to “sexual immorality,” has asked supporters for financial help while he and his wife pursue studies in counseling and psychology.
Mr. Haggard, the former pastor of New Life Church, plans to seek a master’s degree in counseling at the University of Phoenix while his wife studies psychology, he said in an e-mail message sent this week to KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs.
The couple and two of their sons are planning to move Oct. 1 to the Phoenix Dream Center, a faith-based halfway house in Phoenix, where Mr. Haggard and his wife plan to provide counseling, the e-mail message said.
OK ... there's more to this AP story. This is what happens when Irony grows Balls.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Aug. 25 (AP) —
The Rev. Ted Haggard, who left the 10,000-member megachurch he founded after admitting to “sexual immorality,” has asked supporters for financial help while he and his wife pursue studies in counseling and psychology.
Mr. Haggard, the former pastor of New Life Church, plans to seek a master’s degree in counseling at the University of Phoenix while his wife studies psychology, he said in an e-mail message sent this week to KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs.
The couple and two of their sons are planning to move Oct. 1 to the Phoenix Dream Center, a faith-based halfway house in Phoenix, where Mr. Haggard and his wife plan to provide counseling, the e-mail message said.
OK ... there's more to this AP story. This is what happens when Irony grows Balls.
Snicker: Anger at Malaysia 'Jesus cartoon'
from the BBC News
A Malaysian newspaper is facing calls to shut down after it published an image of Jesus holding a cigarette and what appeared to be a can of beer.
Malaysia's Muslim-led government closed two publications last year for carrying controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Now some members of Malaysia's minority religions say they want the same treatment over this latest incident.
Religion is a famously sensitive subject in Malaysia.
More about my imaginary friend being more real than your imaginary friend. Snicker on ...
Another Smear/Lie On Bill Clinton Is Circulating
by Dave Johnson / HuffPost
In 1998 President Clinton launched a major attack on al Queda and tried to kill Osama bin Laden:
At the time the right mocked him for it, claiming he was"wagging the dog" and "bombing an asprin factory" - a chemical plant that belonged to Osama bin Laden.
And just how many cruise missiles were launched at bin Laden in Afghanistan?
75 cruise missiles launched directly at al Queda camps in Afghanistan. 75 cruise missiles!
Today Newsweek has a craftily-worded story that the right is using to smear former President Bill Clinton, saying he lied about trying to get bin Laden.
Want to feel some righteous indignation? Read the rest ...
You have to hand it to them. They're consistent and they're relentless. They've dug themselves a hole and, rather than accept the blame for putting the country in an untenable situation, they look for ways to "blame Bill"! Their sense of "taking personal responsibility" that they tout so proudly, only applies to the other fella in the end.
I remember those cruise missiles, the "aspirin factory" and all the hearty choruses of "wag the dog" sung so loudly on the right side of the aisle. I remember the accusations that Clinton was trying to distract the nation from the "real" and "important" issue ... a friggin' blow job! Now they've taken us hip deep into the big muddy. They've taken us into Iraq, a country that had NOTHING WHAT-SO-EVER to do with 9/11. They took their eye off the ball when they pulled troops from Afghanistan to bolster an adventure in a more target rich neighborhood - calculating that bombing people barely out of the stone age back into the stone age didn't make good television. They let bed Linen escape at Tora Bora because, they said, he just wasn't that important.
And now that they've screwed up everything ... literally everything, from international affairs to domestic issues ... the people who vilified Clinton for trying to do something about the terrorist threat, who controlled Congress at the time and worked overtime to block any actions against bed Linen ... now step forward with a straight face and vilify Clinton for NOT DOING ENOUGH? And then they REWRITE HISTORY, leaving out some very important details, as they try to blame someone else for the mess they've brought down upon us?
If I'd ever voted for these people I would hide my face in shame! If I were honest and sincere I would ... if I really cared about "fair and balanced", that is ... if facts mattered to me more than ideology ... if I were honest and honorable, that is, rather than being just like them ... caring more about my party and its ideology than I care about my country.
In 1998 President Clinton launched a major attack on al Queda and tried to kill Osama bin Laden:
The United States launched cruise missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan yesterday against centres allegedly linked with the terrorist bombings of two American embassies.
At the time the right mocked him for it, claiming he was"wagging the dog" and "bombing an asprin factory" - a chemical plant that belonged to Osama bin Laden.
And just how many cruise missiles were launched at bin Laden in Afghanistan?
About 75 cruise missiles landed in Afghanistan at Bin Laden's camps around Khost and Jalalabad. The Khost camp, Zawhar Kili, was the scene of a meeting of "senior leaders of Islamic militant and terrorist groups linked to bin Laden," and was regarded by Pakistani intelligence as a "summit" convened by bin Laden.
75 cruise missiles launched directly at al Queda camps in Afghanistan. 75 cruise missiles!
Today Newsweek has a craftily-worded story that the right is using to smear former President Bill Clinton, saying he lied about trying to get bin Laden.
Want to feel some righteous indignation? Read the rest ...
You have to hand it to them. They're consistent and they're relentless. They've dug themselves a hole and, rather than accept the blame for putting the country in an untenable situation, they look for ways to "blame Bill"! Their sense of "taking personal responsibility" that they tout so proudly, only applies to the other fella in the end.
I remember those cruise missiles, the "aspirin factory" and all the hearty choruses of "wag the dog" sung so loudly on the right side of the aisle. I remember the accusations that Clinton was trying to distract the nation from the "real" and "important" issue ... a friggin' blow job! Now they've taken us hip deep into the big muddy. They've taken us into Iraq, a country that had NOTHING WHAT-SO-EVER to do with 9/11. They took their eye off the ball when they pulled troops from Afghanistan to bolster an adventure in a more target rich neighborhood - calculating that bombing people barely out of the stone age back into the stone age didn't make good television. They let bed Linen escape at Tora Bora because, they said, he just wasn't that important.
And now that they've screwed up everything ... literally everything, from international affairs to domestic issues ... the people who vilified Clinton for trying to do something about the terrorist threat, who controlled Congress at the time and worked overtime to block any actions against bed Linen ... now step forward with a straight face and vilify Clinton for NOT DOING ENOUGH? And then they REWRITE HISTORY, leaving out some very important details, as they try to blame someone else for the mess they've brought down upon us?
If I'd ever voted for these people I would hide my face in shame! If I were honest and sincere I would ... if I really cared about "fair and balanced", that is ... if facts mattered to me more than ideology ... if I were honest and honorable, that is, rather than being just like them ... caring more about my party and its ideology than I care about my country.
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