US Partner In War Crimes

For years, people have been fed the atrocities of the Hitler regime, and yes, the Holocaust was a bad thing. But in an effort to ensure that "never again" will genocide be used against the Jewish people, genocide is now being used to protect the people of Israel.
And whatb does this have to do with us in the US? Well, for one, we blocked a UN vote calling for Israel to stop their attacks against the people of Gaza. And we are pushing Hamas for a durable ceasefire when in fact it was Israel who violated the last ceasefire agreement.
So while the world rallies around the Palestinians, remember that the US is Israels' partner in war crimes, and that never again should be applicable to all humans.

Scannon Family Top Ten For 2008

As the year draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to share with you the past year's obsessions within the Scannon family household. Some are old, and some are new, and some are exclusively ours.
10.Legend Of The Seeker

Around here television watching isn't a form of mindless entertainment, it's a family activity where anything and everything is up for ridicule. Case in point:Legend of the Seeker, a Hercules/Xena hybrid with a bit of Lord of the Rings thrown in as well. Featuring a hero with anachronistic hair, a cleavage bearing female lead, and a wizard who bears more than a passing resemblance to Todd Rundgren, who, ironically, once titled an album A Wizard, A True Star(bonus points if you can connect a wizard attack to a Rundgren song title, it helps to have somewhat a familiarity with his canon) Cheesy yes, but boundless interactive entertainment for those who enjoy riffing on bad television.

9.DEER
While still not equaling earlier enthusiasm, when everything deer was dear to their hearts, my kids can still be persuaded to take a walk through Huff Park, where these magnificent mammals may be observed, running freely through the thicket, like a bad Ted Nugent song (is there any other kind?)
8.The Simpsons
While it may not have jumped the shark as of yet, America's longest running animated prime time series is circling the cage. And with older and far more superior seasons still in syndication, one is sure to find an episode you haven't as yet seen, at least in a while. So we still make time around here to catch it while we can.

7.You Tube
From watching their Cousin Nick do a bad Christopher Walken impersonation, to watching an endless choice of Green Day videos, spending time at YouTube is always a choice for this family.
Watch this Todd Rundgren Beatles homage/parody "I Just want To Touch You":

6.House, MD A drama about a drug abusing doctor? How is that not appropriate for children. While not our collective favorite show, it is fun to watch for fans of A Bit of Laurie and Fry.
5.Tropic Thunder"These head movies make my eyes rain."

4.The Dark Knight-The best movie of the year,the best Batman movie ever, and the most superlative super hero movie. Director Christopher Nolan takes another step up. Plus, that dead guy did a good job as The Joker.
Seriously, someone who had seen the movie recently at work commented on how dark the movie was, and how they could see how the role may have driven Heath Ledger to overdose on drugs. But watching the movie, to me, it seemed that this was an actor having the time of his life in the ultimate role of his life.
3.WiiGiven as a gift from Grandma last Christmas. Much better than the XBox, the Xbox 360, the Wii forces more body movement (and therefore, more isometric exercise) from those who play. Whether it be at their mother's house, or on the occasion when they bring it here, nothing occupies the boy's time more than their Wii.
2.The Beatles-Once, it was the boys main obsession. Now, it has fallen by the wayside as the boys found a new band that is actually writing recording and releasing new material in this millennium. Still, our vinyl collection(s) picked up more favorites from the Fabs this year. And that makes
1.Green Day number one on the list, as the boys scramble to have the most Green Day CDs in their collections. And, it has led to endless arguments about who is the better band, Green Day, or Butthole Surfers? One thing for certain, with the release of a new Green Day album in 2009, they're sure to remain at the top of the list.
But hey, at least it's not the Jonas Brothers.

Happy Holidays From Dick Cheney

Sometimes Progress Is Good, Sometimes People Are Stupid

I grew up in a simpler time. Computers were still gigantic and expensive items not yet developed for home use, television was broadcast through the air, which meant sometimes, you couldn't pull a signal to watch your favorite show, and the rotary phone was still the main means of communication for most Americans.
While in elementary school, with my father at work everyday and my mother spending most of her time in the hospital, we were left unsupervised, and with no one to guide us, were introduced to the prank phone call. Calling places to see if the carried Prince Albert in a can, or random houses to see if their refrigerators were running was a source of amusement we never tired of, safe in the knowledge that if we ended the phone call quick enough, there'd be no way to trace it back to us. We'd scan the phone book, seeking out oddly named people, and make prank phone calls based upon them. (pity the poor widow of one Caesar Dusterwinkle, who must have received hundreds of phone calls from fourth, fifth and sixth graders at Mary A. White elementary school pretending to be elves asking if Caesar was home)
But that was then. Nowadays, with caller ID and cell phones, prank calling has been replaced by the robocall and the junk call. A person would have to be fairly stupid to call the police and threaten to shoot the next snowplow driver to come down your street. Having spent much of my teenage years in a rural area where a visit from the snowplow was as frequent as a full moon, a snowplow driving down our street would have been a welcome sign, especially for my dad, the only one who had a truck and would have to drive into town to buy cigarettes beer and food for some of the neighbors less daring to take the daunting trek down unplowed roads. And I knew that I'd rather have to shovel out chunks of snow from the end of my driveway than have to spend the winter cooped up in the house with my Dad and stepmom with out any weed.

Governed By Crooks

"There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

-Lt. Gen. Antonio Taguba
Dick Cheney has been making the rounds lately, openly admitting he is a war criminal who willfully and wantonly violated the Geneva Conventions. There doesn't need to be any investigation by the DoJ, when someone confesses on national television, I believe that's all the evidence needed.
However, it's unlikely that Cheney will actually be prosecuted for being a war criminal, something that puts him in the same league as Pol Pot or Adolph Hitler, because he is wealthy, and a member of the corpocracy, the people who decide that you should go to jail for smoking a joint, but for someone who authorized the wholesale slaughter of 1,297,997 Iraq civilians, and the torture of people who may be in US custody because they were sold to the US for bounties as opposed to being linked to al qaeda, 9/11, or even are any kind of terrorist.
Take Bernie Madoff, who made off with $50 billion in fraud. His ass should be sitting in jail right now, but he's not. He's under "house arrest" in one of the mansions that his scams bought him. Poor guy!
That these people should go unpunished is unconstitutional. We are guaranteed equal protection under the law, but from where I'm sitting, things don't look all that equal. In fact, it almost would appear the bigger the crime, the more likely it is that you will see any jail time. This is to encourage our children to think big, even when it comes to crime.

The Philosopher's Stone

The Republican party was at a loss following the last presidential election, and seeking a leader. A number of the people in the party chose to rally around Sarah Palin, not because of any good reason, rather, because she said things that they wanted to hear. like "Drill baby, drill!"
Meanwhile, in the past election cycle, Ron Paul was ridiculed because he said things they didn't want to hear, such as things stated in the above video.
The American dream of unlimited growth is unsustainable. With a finite amount of resources available in this country, only so much value can be ascribed to it. The only way the truly wealthy can acquire more wealth is if the take it from the collective rest of us in a grand, glorified Ponzi Scheme disguised as a free market. The defense contractors and brokers and other criminal members of the corpocracy are looting the country, printing us up a bunch of worthless paper that becomes less valuable with every CEO that gets a bailout, until one day, all that will be left is a bunch of beer swilling television watchers wondering "Wha happened?" as they stand waving a flag that used to stand for something.

Another Shoe Bomber

George W Bush paid another "surprise" visit to Iraq, on his farewell tour, where he was the target of a pair of shoes, hurled at him by an irate journalist. No, it wasn't an American "journalist" who barely had the temerity to hurl uncomfortable questions at Bush in eight years, let alone a pair of uncomfortable shoes.
Bush blamed the US-led invasion on Saddam, you know, because he was asking for it, standing over there in Baghdad being all alive and crap. Really, was it Saddam who forged the Nigerian yellow cake uranium documents? Was it Saddam who stood before the UN and claimed a mobile weather balloon inflation trailer was in reality a mobile chemical weapons lab? Was it Saddam who claimed to have WMD? (These are all rhetorical questions and if you don't know the answer by now, there is no hope for you)
Bush now claims that "America is safer" since the invasion, a spurious claim since Iraq never posed any threat to the US in the first place. So what is America safer from? Economic collapse? Crumbling infrastructure? No, America will not be entirely safe until you are back on the ranch at Crawford, doing the one job you were competent at: clearing brush.

There's Always Someone Who Has It Worse Than You

Everyday I face the daunting task of going to a job I despise while simultaneously being thankful I still have one. I know there is no bailout for me, when that job is gone, it's gone.
But then I think of those less fortunate than me. Sure, I may have it tough, but I've weathered worse storms than this and survived. It's like Bob Dylan said, when you got nothin' you got nothin' to lose. What can we do to help those whose livelihood is teetering on the abyss?
SPONSOR AN EXECUTIVE

Let's Fetishize Christmas!

I can imagine it must be confusing for most Americans this time of year. On the one hand, you want to decorate your yard with the tackiest kitsch you can find. On the other hand, you don't want to let your guard down in your love for America, lest the terrorists catch us unaware. Still yet, you want to show your support for the troops so much that you're happy they're spending the holidays away from their family mired down in an endless pointless war with no exit strategy.
Well, forget about all that "Peace on Earth, Goodwill To Men" crap, it doesn't apply to indigenous brown people anyway, and stick the above "Soldier Santa" in your front yard, because nothing lets you say everything you need to say more than an eight foot tall light-up inflatable Santa dressed in desert camo fatigues. See you dirty heathenistic Ramadan lovin' terrorists. We're going to win because we got Satan Santa on our side. He sees you when you're sleeping and he knows when you're awake, (but just like God, he can't really stop you from strapping yourself with explosives and blowing us up)and he knows when you've been bad or a slave to the capitalistic system (good).
And you can sleep better at night knowing that you did your durndest to keep America safe on this the Holiest of nights, right after the Fourth of July.
Father Christmas-The Kinks

Break The Law, Win A Prize

Torture works. That is, if your goal is to attract more foreign fighters to attack US troops in Iraq (last paragraph). It's a good way to ensure that a war continues in perpetuity.

Bill Kristol, chief neocon, editor of The Weekly Standard and probable defense contractor stock holder thinks that those who torture should be given the Medal of Honor. Because there's nothing more honorable than ensuring that foreign fighters and Iraqi insurgents continue to kill American forces in Iraq than torturing people.
Torture is a war crime, which would make those who authorized war criminals. So into the moral quagmire we ask can you pardon some one for committing a crime you authorized?

WAR! WAR! WAR!

First, the war on Christmas....

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.

The 34-year-old employee, a temporary maintenance worker, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

Only in America. One day you're spending your Thanksgiving holiday with your family, the next day, hundreds of people overcome with the spirit of goodwill to men are leaving their bootprints on your body as they fight their way to get at the limited quantity big screen TVs.
Next, the war on drugs.....

The United States' war on drugs has failed and will continue to do so as long as it emphasizes law enforcement and neglects the problem of consumption, a Washington think tank says in a report co-chaired by a former president of Mexico.

What are you going to do? The government imports the drugs, then privatizes the prison industry so they can make a profit from the incarceration of all the people using the drugs you smuggled in and abuse them while their at it.
People have been cultivating pot for smoking since before Jesus, perhaps the US needs to re-examine it's drug laws and policies rather than lock people away for recreational drug use.
Finally, the war on terror.....
George W Bush says he wants his legacy to be that of a liberator of millions. Sure, he liberated millions of Iraqis from this mortal coil and still terrorists keep attacking people. This is your legacy.

Things That Need To Go The Way Of 2008 When 2009 Arrives

As 2008 merrily winds it's way down into history, there are a few trends that I think it should take with it when it departs. Some are boring, some are trite, and some should have never existed in the first place
For instance, Pin's "Sober" video (no, I'm not going to post it) has trend number one-young women making out with each other (in the video's case, Pink actually makes out with herself!). For a number of years now, hot young starlets have been able to get publicity by sticking their tongues down another female throat I'm sorry, but that whole girl-on-girl thing is played, so unless you're going to take it to the next level and go all Maria Ford, don't even bother. That kind of stuff may be shocking to drunk mothers who have sex with strangers in sport stadium men's rooms, but I've seen it and it doesn't do anything for me.
Of course, the hole drunken mom thing started me thinking that I might actually get laid more if I went out drinking more often. Unfortunately, all the bars within walking distance from here are sports bars, which is another trend that needs to die. These places are like Chuck E Cheese's for grown ups, or people who should have chronologically grown up but still cling to their hopes that something sports related may happen to them. Sports jerseys and backward baseball caps were something I was kind of hoping we could leave back in the old millennium. Alcohol is mind numbing enough, eight large screen high def television sets blasting out every available sport simultaneously while some sports nerd rattles off stats that only he's proud he knows is probably the number one cause of brain death in America.
Speaking of sports, another thing that is pointless are the post game interviews of losing coaches. They all spew the same inane cliches, why do we need to hear them say them? No coach is going to say his team sucked, they screwed up, the other team cheated, and there'll be Hell to pay in the locker room, don't waste my time.
Finally, the last thing that I think that should go the way of variety shows (and never be revived is the lazy writer's answer to everything: lists. Magazines, television, and even here on the intertubes, if you want fill up space with little effort, just make yourself a list. From the 20 stupidest GI Joe Vehicles Ever to the Classic Ten: All-time Greatest Anti-heroes to this list, they are all as pointless and played out as George W Bush. At least with him, we know that he will go away.

The Month Before Christmas

No apologies to Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the month before Christmas,and all through the town
Gifts were purchased with no money down
People were hung from the rafters with rope
The holiday stress they just couldn't cope
The children were on Ritalin for their ADD
Caused by too much sugar and Play Station 3
Ma with her Prozac and me with my Xanax
And a couple of bong hits to help us relax
When from out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
But I was already awake from my overactive bladder
I picked up my cell and to the window I plied
To attempt to record what was happening outside
The moon in the sky like a streetlight did shine
On all of the neighbor's 'home for sale' signs
When, what to my wondering eyes should I see
But a silver tongued demon in a black SUV
Followed by a flurry of angels to damn him
I knew that it was the False God of Mammon
With blinding headlights that went three city blocks
Sticking flyers and catalogs in every mailbox
"Bring VISA! Bring Discover! Bring your Master Card!
To Target! To Penney's! To Sears and Wal-Mart!
To the new shopping center! To the suburban mall!
Now spend away! Spend away! Spend away all!"
As furry lemmings hurl themselves over the bluff
Some people never seem to acquire enough stuff
So in the early morning well before dawn
In houses bedroom lights all were turned on

Then all down the lane the slamming doors
From eager shoppers heading to stores
So I threw on some clothes, and hopped in my coupe
And followed them all to get the real poop
They were all dressed in down, wearing caps and mitts
And behaving as if they had all lost their wits
They all got in line despite all the cold
The rich and the poor, the young and the old
Their eyes--seemed so empty, their souls seemed so lost
Waiting for bargains no matter the cost
And I saw in the lot, waiting just as a vulture
Their false God stood grinning for exploiting their culture
The stump of a crack pipe held tight in his teeth
And big bags of gold surrounded his feet
His eyes were red rimmed, yellowed and beady
As he punished the hopeful and rewarded the greedy
In the line the people were peaceful and loving
'Til the doors flung open and people were shoving
'Twas the start of the holiday shopping stampede
And six old ladies trampled under their feet
He spoke not a word, he just stood there and grinned
Not seeming to mind the cold Northern wind
And laying a finger aside of his nose
He had a good snort of some really good blow
He sprang to his SUV with big sacks of gold
Then shut the doors with the windows unrolled
As he drove away, I heard him speak:

"Everything will be marked down even more next week!

Award Winning Bloggery

Much thanks to libhom at Godless Liberal Homo for passing along the Superior Scribbler Award to unbrainwashed. For (in his words, not mine) "Tired of all the crap you are fed by the corporate media and the politicians? Enjoy snark and reasoning that undermines the garbage. Acknowledging brainwashing in this society itself is largely taboo, which makes the blog's title especially gratifying."
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Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
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Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
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Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
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Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
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Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.
Now, the hard part. Picking out five from my many favorites.

Born At The Crest Of The Empire-Mike always offers insightful analysis and opinion based on the facts, rather than than emotion (in other words, it's the complete opposite of this blog). Tireless and endlessly updated, it's worth visiting several times a day.

Who Hijacked Our Country-Tom I see as a kindred soul, one who is as disappointed and disgusted in the direction our country has taken as I am.

MCCS1977-Succinct and too the point and always lavishly illustrated. Superiorly snarky, Fred's just cool.

Stone Soup Musings-Fellow Michigander (Michiganian?) kathy shows the connection between the local and the national.

Brown Man Thinking Hard- I discovered Brown man recently, and have added it to my regular rounds. Witty, intelligent, embodying all the qualities I wish this blog had.


There were so many other blogs I would have liked to give this award to, picking out five meant that there were at least five others I wish I could have gifted. (Or, I could have copied libhom, who gave out six instead of five) But then, I would have been taking away someone else's opportunity to award a friend, since at times it seems that that's what we all really are.

No One Wants To Shake Your Hand When It's Covered With The Blood Of Millions

This weekend, the kids and I rented the first Die Hard because none of had ever seen it. What I found most amazing, other than the fact that Bruce Willis actually used to have hair was the fact that the villain of the picture was German. East German to be precise, but yet still, forty years after the end of World War II, Hollywood was still using Germans as stock villains in motion pictures.
I bring this up because in the James Bond picture, America is the villain. No longer the shining city on the hill, the US is on the fast track to be stock villain for the next millennium. In seven very long years, the Bush administration and the Republican party have taken an outpouring of sympathy and turned it into vile contempt for our nation as a whole. This is their real legacy.
Now George Bush can't even get one of the members of the G20 to shake his hand. It would be sad and pathetic, if it wasn't George Bush. All his friends have deserted him. His party has turned their back on him. All that's left of his legacy are those appointees "burrowed" deep into senior civil service posts.
This is a lame duck, walking.

You Can Keep Your Conservative Corporate Media

For many years now, the American people have been fed a myth. The myth of the liberal media. This myth was perpetuated by those on the right whenever they were portrayed in an accurate but unfavorable light.
But for the years between 1997-2005 conservative guests dominated on Sunday Morning news shows, effectively setting up the talking points for the week that were then passed along to conservative talk radio hosts nationwide in an attempt to hammer home the message to the American people.
Many on the left suggest a boycott of sponsors, since all they really worship is money..

or reviving the Fairness Doctrine which brought balance and diversity to the nation's airwaves. However, if you examine the results from the past two election cycles, being in charge of the echo chamber hasn't really helped them out at all. Disseminating right wing talking points has only shown how ridiculous those talking points are when contrasted against the news of the failures of the Republican controlled congress and the Bush administration.
So I say, let them keep their corporate media. The success they've had with has proved that in four years, there won't be much of a Republican Party left, right?

Economic Extortion:Bush Blackmails Barack

After losing much in this past election, the GOP has decided it needs a new identity. What it needs is a whole new platform.
Yesterday, when Barack Obama met with George Bush, he raised the posibility of a bailout for the auto industry. Bush said he might if the Democraps back a Columbian free trade agreement that Bush has been trying to pass and Democraps opposed. So what it comes down to is Bush is saying that either we give up these jobs here, or sign on to give up more jobs in the future. Either way, more Americans will be out on the street.
I hardly blame the worker or the CEOs for the auto makers problems. They were only making cars Americans wanted to buy, and four years ago, those were big gas guzzling SUVs. It wasn't until recently, when oil prices went up, did some Americans choose to give up their gas hogs, and by then it was too late.
But the problem isn't only that consumers aren't buying these cars, it's that the market has changed. America has switched from a manufacturing economy, which paid well, to a service economy, which doesn't. People in the service economy can't make house and car payments, as well as credit card payments, insurance payments, or any of he plethora of other payments, and still keep the gas tank filled (or shop at Circuit City) any more. The real criminal is out sourcing (which the auto industry has done to a certain extent) which has not only created a trade deficit, but a wealth deficit as well. And now President Bush wants to continue that policy, which has proven to be so detrimental to the US economy, and he wants to do it over the backs of the US auto worker.
So if the GOP really wants a new identity, perhaps it should give up the greed glorifying free market friendly one per center pandering image it has and instead do something that benefits the rest of the country. But don't count on it.

Someone Trying To Lie Us Into Another War?

One of the linchpins on which the Bush administration tried to hang a casus
belli to invade Iraq on were forged Niger documents that claimed Saddam Hussein (no relation to Barack Hussein Obama) was trying to buy yellowcake uranium for his (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction program. Later, Joseph Wilson, sent on a fact-finding tour discovered them to be fakes and said so in a New York Times op-ed piece that eventually led to the outing of his wife as a CIA agent by members of the Bush administration.
In 2005, the US toured the world with a stolen laptop computer they touted as evidence Iran was developing nuclear weapons with it's uranium enrichment program, not nuclear power. This was contrary to the National Intelligence Estimate that stated Iran had given up it's nuclear ambitions two years earlier. Now, as it turns out, the documents may have been fabricated. Gee, ya think? Someone in the Bush madministration faking evidence to start a war in another Middle East country rich with oil?

A Small Step Backwards

The Republican party, after receiving a major set back in this past Tuesday's elections, have decided the way to go forward is to take a step backwards.
Citing the success of the passage of measures opposing gay marriage in three states, they have decided that the "sanctity" of marriage is the way forward.

"There were three state referendums on marriage ... all three carried. The vitality of the conservative movement around the country is very real,"

Three referendums passing does not equal the vitality of the conservative movement. For instance, here in Michigan not only did a measure supporting stem-cell research pass, but a referendum on medicinal marijuana did as well.
What is going on now is the conservative right movement, after spending so much time effort and money these past few months trying to convince voters that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim Socialist Terrorist, is now saying that because people elected him even though his far left agenda was exposed does not mean that the country has shifted to the left politically, and is still in fact, center right.
Now it would appear that the GOP is giving up on national security, economic progress (unless you think that clinging to the failed notion of free markets is going to suddenly prove successful), in order to appeal a fringe part of the base that still clings to a notion that somehow prohibiting gays from becoming married is "freedom". How quaint.

14:59

The elections over. John McCain doesn't return your phone calls. Fox News isn't inviting you on their network to spew your ignorant views. While there still is that recording contract you know that if you really had musical talent, you would have been a star long ago. How does a media sensation know when their time is up? Hangers-on and sycophants won't tell you, they'll just desert you when you can't get them beyond the velvet rope anymore.
Luckily for you, we have devised this handy-dandy Oblivionometer. It will tell you when it's time to stop stalking Sarah Palin and get back to snaking turds from stuffed-up toilets. So enjoy autographing copies of your ghost written autobiography in the back of the Bargain Book Barn in some suburban strip mall while you can, there'll soon come a day when even the regs at the bar you drink will have heard your story enough that they'll make fun of you behind your back.

Has Your God Failed You Or Have You Failed Your God?

In the days preceding the election, we were treated to many of the Christiansane, praying to their Lord to protect America from the ravenous traitor-Marxist-Socialist-Secretly Islamic-terrorist buddy. Even the VP for the GOP got in to the act by "putting this into God's hands that the right thing will be done on the end of the day on November 4."
She then proceeded to display her God of Love (or love of God) by bearing false witness against her opponent, coveting power, and turning the American flag into a graven image.
How'd that work out for you?
Liddy Dole, wife of Bob, ultimate Washington power couple and the first people who spring to mind when someone mentions good church goin' folk, smeared her Sunday school teacher opponent as "Godless".
That was a good idea.
For years we have listened to the least Christian of people spew their venomous hate towards fellow Americans for not loving their country enough, loving people of the same gender too much, and declared anyone who didn't contort to fit their narrow definition of "freedom and liberty" as an "enemy".
And now, after putting this election in God's hands, they have rejected the answer that God has given them, "You are all wrong", and embraced even more fear mongering and hate. How very Christian of them.
That they keep trying the same vitriolic methods and expect a different result is the very definition of insane.

YES, I VOTED

.....but I didn't vote for Barack Obama.
I've been voting since 1980. In that election, I cast my vote for John Anderson. he was an independent, much like Ron Paul, who ran in the primaries as a Republican, generating a large following, then losing the nomination to Ronald Reagan. So, in my first election, I voted for the loser.
I then began to see no real clear difference between the two major parties. They existed as other duopolies exist in our country; to shut out the other guys. Coke or Pepsi? Why not Dr. Pepper? McDonald's or Burger King? Why not Subway? National League or American league, tastes great or less filling, America the land of abundant choice had now been reduced down to the lesser of two evils. Which, if you do the math, is still evil.
So I voted third party. In 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, I opted out of the Democrap/Republicant part and instead chose to cast my ballot with the Libertarian Party. Of course, it helped that at the time, I was a major stoner and liked their stance on the decriminalization of marijuana. And I accepted that my candidate wouldn't win, because I knew that I only got one vote, and if I didn't use it, it would be gone. You can't accumulate them and cash them all in on one election. And I figured not voting was as bad as voting for the major parties, it would be like saying, I accept what either party has to offer.
But in 2000, something changed. As bad as other candidates had been in the past (and remember, I had the opportunity to vote Democrat against Ronald Reagan, easily one of the most vile presidents we had ever had, twice), that year, the Republicans offered a candidate that actually made Reagan seem appealing:George W Bush.
So, in the primaries, I voted Republican against George Bush ( for, you guessed it, John McCain) not only because I found him to be morally reprehensible then, but because Michigan's then Governor, Republican John Engler, had promised to deliver Michigan to Bush in the primaries. (He didn't. McCain actually won it) And in November of that year, I voted, for the first time, for a major party candidate.
Well, we all know what happened. The vote was stolen, which only served to infuriate me more because the first time I ever vote for the winning candidate, and the opposition steals the election. So, in 2004, I voted against Bush again.
I'm not playing that game any more. While I certainly prefer Barack Obama over John McCain, I'm fairly confident that Obama will win Michigan, with or with out my vote. McCain conceded Michigan long ago, when he pulled his advertising. If the popular vote counted, I might have been persuaded to vote for Obama, but since it all depends on who wins the electoral votes, I returned to voting my conscience.
I voted for Cynthia McKinney. I liked her when she demanded an investigation into 9/11, and I liked her even more when she slapped that cop. And I know she'll never win, if white America feels nervous about electing a black man president, a black female probably scares them more.

See? Socialist!

In a typical display of the socialism that has defined his campaign, Friday night Barack Obama took his daughter door-to-door looking for handouts in his Chicago neighborhood. His daughter, barely disguised as the Corpse Bride of capitalistic democracy as they walked hand-in-hand. Sen. Obama then pleaded with journalists following him to not exercise their First Amendment Rights and expose the true socialistic nature of Obama.

Trick or Treat!

I Have Seen The Future Of The GOP And It Ain't Pretty

Call it the Bush legacy. With all the high profile Republican defectors to the Obama camp (Obamicans, if you will), the brain drain in the regular party has begun.
Drill, baby, drill.
Soon, all that will left of the party are people who still stand with President Bush, and those behind the scenes manipulators pulling their strings.
A party of morons (or is that morans?) led by a gang of crooks.
First off, we have Samuel Wurzelbacher, the party operative better known as "Joe the Plumber". Acting as a Palin/McCain surrogate, he was actually called out by Fox News for stating after being asked by a McCain supporter if "a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel."

"I'll go ahead and agree with you on that,"

At the same time, the McCain campaign was going to put out an ad criticizing Obama's policies on Israel. Coincidence? Any questions as to whether or not Wurzelbacher was working for McCain when he approached Barack Obama on the Sunday before the debate?
(Now we know which country Palin/McCain supporters mean when they say "Country First".)
And with Wurzelbacher speculating about a possible congressional run in 2010, that means the possibility of another politicians who "know just enough to kind of be dangerous."
Contrast that with a recent Sarah Palin rally
"Sarah Oh-12!"
Mrs. Palin and supporters see her emerging as the party leader. When introducing her husband, the "First Dude" of Alaska, cries of Duuuuude rang through the crowd, with Palin stating "We need a dude in the White House".
This would cause one to wonder two things: is she campaigning for 2008, or her run in 2012, and, who would actually be in charge in the Palin White House, the one who was elected, or some snowmobile racing intellectual lightweight?

Return Of The Supertwolieberfaceweaselman

Joe Lieberman, never one to grandstand, or be a political oppurtunist has claimed that he has spoken "to doctors and insurance actuaries" about McCain's health, and McCain "will live to 85 at least." I don't many professional types, medical or otherwise, who would be inclined to make a prognosis with out actually seeing the patients medical records, but according to Joe they looked at his age and his health, including skin cancer, and so we can all rest easy and Thank God that Sarah Palin is not going to have to be president from day one.

Yes, They Have No Shame

AS the presidential campaign winds down towards it's last week and a half, and with their candidate trailing in most polls by double digits, the GOP is getting desperate in it's attempts to switch the narrative of the campaign from how badly their party has screwed up the country to personal smears of the opposition candidate.

First up is this picture, which some purport to portray Barack Obama's moms. Leave it to the party of family values to smear a candidates dead mother. (As the vintage porn collector commented here it's a highly dubious claim) What purpose this serves is beyond me, other than to scare people into thinking that if Obama could get his mother to pose nude before he was born, imagine what he'll do to your mom. This is certainly not an attempt to garner the youth vote, what young woman hasn't had her nude picture taken in these days of digital cameras and video phones?

Next up is the whole Barack Obama birth certificate scandal I received a call today from avid reader Susan, who asked me if it was true that Obama wasn't even born in this country, which, according to Snopes is true. Above is a copy of Sen. Obama's birth certificate, gleaned from the ultra left leaning LA Times This is a tactic that the Clinton campaign tried, look how well it worked for them!
But now Obama's father's identity is called in to question, from a Muslim to an avowed Communist, because everyone knows communism, like Islam,is passed genetically from one parent to the child.
Now we go on the Pennsylvania, where the state McCain campaign was quick to hype the attack hoax, has now been found to be sending out false Obama emails.
There's still a week and a half left. How low will the right wing dirty trick squad go? I believe they'd go to the pits of Hell if they thought it would change the outcome of this election.

Your God Is Anti-American

According to Sarah Palin, she is putting this in God’s hands that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on November 4th.. I thought the US was a democracy, where the right thing is decided by voters, and not by God, the Supreme Court, Diebold, or Republican voter caging efforts. the answer is simple.
The US (or "America", as simple minded people refer to it, forgetting that it also applies to Mexico and Canada) is a democracy. If God as defined by Sarah Palin steps in, then He (or She) is definitely undemocratic. Therefore, if God is undemocratic, that would mean that God is anti-American.
Did conservatives think the hand of God was in play when Bill Clinton was elected? How about Congressional races, aren't they as important? After all, under the American system of government, the power to pass bills,override vetoes, and confirm political appointees is in the hands of Congress, unless you believe that Alberto Gonzales John Yoo crap about a unitary executive (neocon speak for a dictator).
If this all powerful God actually cares about the human politics, why does he only participate in the American elections? Couldn't, say, Hugo Chavez make the same claim, that God has chosen him?
This weekend, I spied amongst the clutter of political lawn signs a sign for the National Day of Prayer To End Abortion. This has been happening since Reagan and the Republicans used abortion as their ticket to the White House. Since then, neither God nor the Republican party has done a thing to bring an end to abortion. One can then only conclude that a) God and the Republican Party don't really care about abortion, b) once the Republicans actually eliminate abortion, they have no other way to grab the vote of the Christian Right ( I mean, the party of Lincoln hasn't been very adept at hanging on to the black vote) and c)only the truly politically jaded would invoke God's name for political gain as well as the truly politically naive would believe that God has a party preference.

Hip-Mo-Tized!!

The GOP is desperate. There is no low they won't sink to in order to win this election. They've tried to smear Sen. Obama as a secret Muslim anti-American terrorist lover, and it still hasn't stopped McCain's numbers from plummeting.
Now, with Obama's victory almost assured (given that all those polled actually vote), they've gone even lower, dredging (or is that drudging?) up ACORN again, you would think that would be as low as they could get. Right? Right?

No.

Now the claim is that Sen. Barack Obama is Using hidden hypnosis on voters to get them to vote for him. Seriously.

While I respect Sen. Obama more than I do Sen. McCain, and having heard Obama speak on numerous occasions, I do not feel compelled to vote for him. I have a free will of my own.

Just Exactly Where Is "Real" America?

How to find pro-America states.

Cross posted at The American Insurgency
(click to enlarge)

You CanTell It's An Election Year When..........

Yesterday at work we received a printout of this warning from the USFDA about food defense and terrorism, which, after bringing much laughter and derision ( What with MFN Chinese government still sending us food laced with melanine), reminded me that this is an election year and once again the politicizing of government agencies to put fear into voters continues unabated under he Bush administration. (Remember the Justice Department's investigation into ACORN in 2004 which was carried out because Bush had politicized the DOJ?) Is this another case of manipulating terror threat levels right before an election?
Another way you can tell it's an election is falling gas prices, which also happened before the 2006 election. There really hasn't been any major changes in the oil markets to indicate why this has happened, nor have we begun drilling offshore, yet gas prices have fallen almost a dollar or more in the last couple of weeks.
So besides these two things, along with lawns cluttered with signs (because I really care which way a homeowner is going to vote) and rampant vote theft by the GOP what are other indications this is an election year?

Post Debate Thoughts

What happens after the election? One of the two major party candidates will go on to the White House, while the other will return to the Senate. This was what I started thinking about last night while I was watching the debate (and liveblogging over at The Guys From Area 51). After being puzzled by the whole Joe The Plumber incident, I began to wonder, who would be most productive in the Senate should they lose the election?
Barack Obama, I believe would lose as gracefully as he has run his campaign, and go back to the Senate where he will continue on.
McCain, however, will not be as gracious in defeat. McCain has already blamed Obama for the negativity of his own campaign, repeating the charge again last night at the debate. And while the GOP keeps making racist attacks on Obama, again and again, last night McCain claimed his feelings were hurt by some statements made about him at Obama rallies by Obamaniacs. Suddenly, Sen. McCain has become sensitive.
Or the biggest baby in the world.

Darn You Katie Couric!

Sarah Palin in the Oval Office! I especially like opening that door! Spinning the globe is fun as well.

The Cheney Bailout

Dick Cheney canceled a campaign appearance over an abnormal heart rate, and I think, wait a minute! Dick Cheney has a heart?
Really this started me thinking for two other reasons.
One, how much does it cost the American tax payer on an annual basis to keep this decrepit old fart alive? Cheney abused his body throughout his life, yet the final costs are being borne not by Cheney himself, but by the American taxpayer. How many of these obscenely wealthy people are we going to allow to feed off the public tit?
Two, Cheney has a 18% approval rating. Unless those 18 percentile are all living in congressional candidate Marty Ozinga's district, why would he want Dick Cheney to campaign for him? The man is even more of a political pariah than George W Bush and John McCain combined, a ringing endorsement from Cheney would be more akin to a kiss of death.
Perhaps Cheney, never the great crowd drawer to begin with, was asked by the Ozinga campaign not to appear, since people have had enough of Bush and Cheney. Rather than actually have to admit it, they instead went with the "abnormal heartbeat" route.

Don't Cry For Her, She's A Pitbull. With Lipstick.

The McCain campaign has been an abject lesson in judgment. Bad judgment. Years from now, the McCain campaign will still be used as a punchline to a myriad of jokes about bad judgment.
The idea to send Sarah Palin to a Philadelphia Flyers game to drop the first puck was merely the latest in a string of judgment calls that have failed the McCain campaign. In a town where Philly fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus and booed Beyonce, did they really think this would go over?
Another example of the bad judgment would be the selection of Palin as a running mate. They couldn't have vetted her too closely, other wise that whole "Troopergate" thing would have popped up. And now Palin ( a 72 year old heartbeat away from the presidency should McCain get elected) has shown that she too can exercise bad judgment by engag(ing) in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, even after Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful.
The McCain campaign also decided to grandstand on the financial bailout mess, "suspending" it's campaign for no other reason to call Joe Lieberman so McCain could claim he was reaching across the aisle to solve this problem, which, in another exercise of bad judgment, they blamed on "earmarks".
But perhaps the one judgment call that has sealed their fate has been the one to play up a non-existent link between William Ayers and Barack Obama as one where Obama is "palling around with terrorists". While this has played well with inbred Bible Thumping non-readers, even conservatives admit McCain is running a stupid campaign. And using Palin as their attack dog?

Animal On Display

See this video.

Watch CBS Videos Online
It is not funny. It is not cool. It is not intelligent. It is not acceptable. It is disgraceful, distasteful, shameful, and a racist embarrassment. In short, it is a perfect example of America for the whole world to see. (Even more disgraceful are the comments at the CBS News blog where this was lifted from.)
This was taken at a rally where Sarah Palin was speaking. Until she entered the campaign, many of the Christian Republican base were not enthusiastic about McCain. But now that she has, they have come out of the woodwork, displaying their true colors. Ignorant and racist. Intolerant. Instead of elevating us all, our political campaigns drag us all down to the level of the Moron Majority, wrapped it up in a flag and called it patriotism.
(Thanks to Mike Votes for the video find

What Are Earmarks?

At the second presidential debate the other night, John McCain criticized "earmarks". That's the cause of our financial meltdown. Earmarks.
But a congressperson, when they go to Washington DC, one of the things they do to prove to the voters back home that the congressperson is truly working for them is to try to bring some of the money that constituents paid in taxes back to their state/district, for the betterment of the community. Like the $3 million for a overhead projector for a planetarium that so incensed John McCain. And I can understand that, a lot of the Republican base, while enjoying cell phones, computers, mp3 players and DVRs, tend not to trust science, mainly because they don't understand it.
"How do it work?"
"I dunno"
Religion is much easier for them to understand: God throws lightning bolts, Jesus makes little babies and there's no other explanation needed.
The war in Iraq, for FY2008, is budgeted at about $182 billion dollars a year, or, roughly $10.5 billion a month. So a one time "earmark" is worse than a monthly "earmark" that is $10.2 billion more in John McCain's world. And even though McCain claims the ethnic cleansing, er, I mean, the "Surge" was successful, here it is a full year to a year and a half since it started and we're still over there spending $10.5 billion a month, so it really couldn't have been that successful.
It's no wonder Sen McCain looks angry, the Straight Talk Express has been replaced by the Hate Talk Express, his poll numbers are slipping the closer we get to the election, and every claim he makes has come back to bite him on the ass. But November 5, we'll find out what earmarks really are, the indentations on the walls of a McCain McMansion from banging his head against it for blowing this election.

Republicans:The Missing Link

Palintology-The belief that dinosaurs and humans co-existed, with humans utilizing pterodactyl as airliners, brontosaurus as steam shovels, woolly mammoth as dishwashers, stegosaurus as garbage disposals, and kept saber toothed tigers as pets. Humans also tooled around in stone cars, propelled by their feet accompanied by a bongo solo.
Just how patriotic are the people who support the GOP ticket? Patriotic enough to call for the assassination of a presidential candidate. Just how misguided are these window licking mouth breathers? The policies of the last eight years, the same policies that John "Mavericky" McCain and Sarah Palin are running on have caused retirements accounts to lose $2 trillion in the last 15 months. (Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster that George Bush and John McCain weren't able to privatize Social Security) So instead of being pissed off that they are now likely to have to work until they die (in other words, worked to death), they take it out on the one person in Congress least likely to have caused it. That's not smart. That's fucking regressive. And so, there you have it, the missing link between the Neanderthals and modern man the Palintologisyts of the Republican Party.

John McCain Pals Aound With War Criminal

Following a 2,100 word article in the New York Times (which total discredit any claims to the contrary), Sarah Palin accused Sen. Obama of "palling around with terrorists". Two can play that game.
Conservatives decry the use of politically correct language, how would they feel if they knew that the invasion of Iraq was a war crime. As well as using torture. That would make George W. Bush a war criminal. And who's that in the above picture, embracing a war criminal? None other than Palin's running mate, John McCain.

Right now,the US is using the MeK to strike inside Iran. The Mek is a terrorist organization. Since George W Bush is commander-in-chief, he has authorized the use of terrorism by the MeK. That makes George Bush a terrorist leader.
John McCain asked last spring “How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people?”
How, indeed, Sen. McCain?

Worryin' "Bout Sendin' Our Kids To Learnin'

A couple stray thoughts were stuck in my head followin' last night's Biden/Palin VP debate. One, if I have to hear that voice for the next four years, I'll go crazy.
Two, as Frederick pointed out at The Guys From Area 51 last night live bloggin' the debate, Palin quoted that discredited misinterpretation of Mahmoud Ahmadenijad saying "Israel must be wiped off the map". If she doesn't know this is a false quote, she's not really qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Also, when she talks about "Country First", I found myself wonderin' just what country she is placing first.
But when she started talkin' 'bout her and her husband (and I'm paraphrasing here) sittin' 'round the fancy eatin' table, worryin' about how they'll be able to send their kids to college, I wondered. Son, Shane, fightin' in Iraq now, will probably have his college paid for by the military, if he so chooses. daughter Bristol has spared them the stress of payin' for her college by gettin' pregnant and droppin' out of high school. Son Trig, when he grows up, would be lucky to get a job roundin' up shoppin' carts at the Wasilla Wal-Mart.
That leaves her other two daughters, uh, Tractorpull and Snowmobile (I think). As the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin's salary is $81,000. Add to that the $16,941 per diem she charged the state of Alaska to stay in her own home, that's a pretty good income. On top of that, her husband has a pretty good job, carving' moose calls out of discarded beer bottles (I think) that he sells to oil pipeline workers durin' huntin' season. My point is, with their income, they should have had plenty to set aside to send two girls to college (providin' of course, nature doesn't step in). And if they can't do that, she certainly has no business bein' a heartbeat away from decidin' the federal budget.
You betcha!

Closing Up Shop

Taking another step towards total irrelevancy, John McCain has abandoned Michigan.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida.

I say good. I hated having to explain to my kids how a "war hero" like McCain could outright lie in his ads and still claim to be an honorable person. The McCain campaign is getting ready to implode, what with him terminating interviews, as well as yelling at reporters, but to give up a state like Michigan, well, he might as well throw in the towel.
There is talk that McCain might be able to take Michigan,having beat George Bush there in the primaries in 2000, but I think he won that election because some people were voting against Bush rather than for McCain. And while people here might not be too fond of Gov. Granholm, they disdain George Bush more. To , the election's over, and Obama won!

A-Wah, A-Wah, A-Wah

Pity poor Kathleen Parker. Having made the suggestion that maybe Sarah Palin should step down, now she's crying about the hurtful things "conservatives" are saying to her because of it.

I am a traitor and an idiot. Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a dumpster, but since she didn't, I should "off" myself.

They're called trolls, Ms. Parker, and those of us who have been in the blogosphere long enough know that they are maladjusted cretins who lack the capacity for conscious thought outside the parameters of their own twisted and highly brainwashed worldview. While she boldly defends her right to free speech, in the past she has defended censorship
Speaking of public discourse having been deteriorated, how about some kind words from Ms. Parker about those of us in the blogosphere?

There's something frankly creepy about the explosion we now call the Blogosphere...
Bloggers persist no matter their contributions or quality...most babble, buzz and blurt like caffeinated adolescents competing for the Ritalin generation's inevitable senior superlative: Most Obsessive-Compulsive...
they hold the same megaphone as the adults and enjoy perceived credibility owing to membership in the larger world of blog grown-ups. These effete and often clever baby "bloggies" are rich in time and toys, but bereft of adult supervision. Spoiled and undisciplined, they have grabbed the mike and seized the stage, a privilege granted not by years in the trenches, but by virtue of a three-pronged plug and the miracle of WiFi....Plenty smart but lacking in wisdom, they possess the power of a forum, but neither the maturity nor humility that years of experience impose...what we're witnessing as the Blogosphere's offspring multiply — is that people tend to abuse power when it is unearned and will bring down others to enhance themselves. Likewise, many bloggers seek the destruction of others for their own self-aggrandizement.

Following the events on 9/11, Parker boldly stated Truth is back in vogue, then went on later to condemn those who opposed the illegal invasion of Iraq as "clueless". And yet when someone does speak the truth, as Cynthia McKinney did, "We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th,What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? What do they have to hide?" This of course led professional propagandist Parker to ridicule McKinney with Likewise, every time I hear Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., speak, I think: There ought to be an award. We could call it The McKinney Award - for people too stupid to serve in public office. So much for truth being in vogue, or her lamentations on the deterioration of public discourse.
She also tried to defend George Allen's "macaca" statement as non-racist, and criticized Hillary Clinton for claiming that believing George Bush's claim of WMD in Iraq was her biggest mistake, and then goes on to say it was all Bill Clinton's fault that everyone believed Saddam had those nasty weapons.
Perhaps Parker put Palin on the spot because she hadn't learned the true conservative art of deflecting all questions into a criticism of Democratic policies. All I know is someone so thin skinned should not be throwing poison darts at others.

Weathervane McCain Can't Catch A Breeze

Okay America, and you Democrats in the House, ( you know, the ones who are to blame, but not really, except deep down on the same level as Dick Cheney's undisclosed location), John McCain is mad. he forgets sometimes why he is mad, or what he is mad about, but, he's steaming. He may actually suspend his campaign again!. Funny how he always does that right before a debate, this one being the Palin/Biden VP debate which Palin has spent all day today cramming for.
But don't accuse McCain of grandstanding. Just because he didn't contribute anything to last Thursday's meeting with the president, doesn't mean he won't take credit for a bailout, even when it doesn't pass. I guess McCain is the only one in Washington who thinks he's leading his party on it.
All in all, it's hard to say whether John McCain is fast tracking the Straight Talk Express into irrelevancy, or just trying to make it into the Guinness Book Of World Records for saying "Country First" the most times in a week.

Suspend The Election?

In a not-to-good sign for John McCain, he has suspended his campaign to focus on an economic bailout for Wall Street criminals who are trying to using the treasury to extort $700 trillion dollars from the American taxpayer. This proves that McCain is unfit to be president as he is unable to focus on more than one thing at a time, because I'm sure that as president, crisis will crop up in order and not happen simultaneously.
But is he really suspending his campaign because he needs to find a new campaign manager whose firm wasn't being paid $15,000 a month to lobby for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Or is it because Grandpa "I-Really-Need-To-Be-Educated-About-The-Economy" McCain is falling behind in the polls? Senator "Keating Five" McCain also wants to postpone Friday's debate with Sen. Barack Obama (which was to focus on foreign policy) so he can get as much grandstanding mileage out of the current woes as he can. If he was really serious, he would have done something about this last week, or better yet, three years ago, when people began defaulting on their mortgages.
Grandpa McCain yells at you to get off his lawn

Is this a precursor to suspension of elections altogether? Why else would US troops be deployed in the US as crowd control "for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.”. I've bee trying to avoid this tin-foil hat stuff, but seeing a small unit on my way home from work today, it started me thinking:
(WARNING:Paranoid Conspiracy Theory)
Is this just the emergency George W Bush needs to invoke NSPD-51, effectively making him a dictator? Forget a terrorist attack, when people wake up and realize that they're being ripped off by the corpocracy, d'ya think they're just going to sit there and give up their money?

Uh Duh

Somebody gets it. I wish it was one of our leaders, but really it was Iranian president (which would make not a dictator, you ignorant slut)Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:
“The US government has made a series of mistakes in the past few decades. First, the imposition on the US economy of heavy military engagement and involvement around the world . . . the war in Iraq, for example. . . These are heavy costs.”
McCain-Palin must feel that the economy hasn't been run far enough into the ground, because now they want war with Iran. Maybe it will go as well as Afghanistan. But that's one sure way of distracting people, starting WWIII.

Stupidity Is The Republicans Answer To Everything

Brother James called last week and introduced me to a new feature at Grand Rapids Press.com. Registered people have been allowed to post online responses to readers letters to the editor. I have been there a lot lately because face it, the concern trolls have gone and we spend most of our time preaching to the choir.
It was while reading this letter that I became truly appalled, and yet, somewhat smugly satisfied that I had evidence that we are a nation of idiots.
The author of this letter seems to think that education is a bad thing, especially among political candidates, and even lauds Sarah Palin's naivete.
As Denny Bennett of Plainfield Township writes:

Many articles/comments suggest Sarah Palin's education and experience are less than desirable. An alternative perspective might be worth some thought.
Most people would agree our country is a mess. Our country's leadership consists of many Ivy League elitists, having degrees from Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, etc. Wouldn't you think America would be running like a Rolex with this massive intellect supposedly in control?....
Perhaps it's time to skim the contaminated nerds from the political punch bowl and demand, shall we say, qualified as opposed to over-qualified politicos....
We need to search for a smarter gene pool and get away from the academic stuffed shirts. It is painfully obvious, especially in politics, being highly educated does not always make one smart.
Sarah Palin and others like her might be what America needs. Sometimes less is good.

The writer, obviously confused, is either trying to pin the current economic mess on "nerds" like Barack Obama, or thinks George W. Bush, with his college "C" average, is an intellectual (well, the writer is from Plainfield Township, not known for it's fine academia itself) and thinks we'd be better off with someone less educated.
Another writer "stardreamer" posts a response to another writer's letter entitled Not Better Off

we have had eight years of educated experienced people, and it has done nothing, give me someone out of the washington loop. Biden same old ideas, Obama, his shows up but doesn't bother to offer ideas or even vote. Give me a Palin/McCain ticket, she has shown she will interrupt McCain to present her voice;

The problem is not that we have had educated people running things, the problem is that too many politicians are enabling crooks. The recent bailout of our financial markets is just one more example of why larcenists are in charge of our government. And sure, it takes a pretty smart criminal to pull off a scam like this, but it takes someone smarter to catch them, and a nation of idiots to blindly support the status quo.

So It's Come To This.....

All hail the corpocracy!! While millions of Americans were facing foreclosure on mortgages and losing their homes, Congress, both Democrats and Republicans sat idly by and allowed it to go on as if it were perfectly sane and normal, or oh well, should have never taken that mortgage in the first place.
God forbid anyone should regulate a bunch of criminals and John McCain thought deregulation was so super that he proposed it for our health care system as well. And while CEOs walked away with platinum parachutes, Congress was busy giving immunity to telcoms for breaking the law by spying on us, and feeding the military-industrial complex by funding the war in Iraq, very little of it going to the people actually putting their lives on the line.
Now, if Congress had taken a sliver of what it's going to take to save the financial district, and used it to help Americans hold on to their houses, this whole mess could have been averted, but Congress only has use for you two days a year: April 15 and the first Tuesday in November.
There are some who call the bailout of Lehman Brothers, et al, socialism, but socialism would imply that society as a whole would benefit from the action. And I think having a former banker standing on the corner, dirty and unkempt, with a spray bottle and rag offering to wash passing motorists windshields would do the country better than to have them retreat to their Ivory Towers with their security goon squad making sure that line between us and them is never breached while we are forced to work harder to pay off the debt they incurred.