Is Jeb Bush a Child Molester?

That's the question being asked over at AmericaBlog. The answer? "I don't know, define child molester for me".

This is of course poking some innocent fun (okay maybe not so much fun for the victim) at Jebbie Bush as a result of this story on CNN

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told an interviewer that he could not say whether or not President Barack Obama is a socialist, and that the president would not have been elected if he had been honest with Americans about his agenda.

Bush would not answer the question of whether he agreed with the assessment of some congressional Republicans that the president is a socialist. "I don't know. Define socialism for me," he told Esquire Magaznie. "It's a word… I believe he's a collectivist. He believes that through collective action, through government, you can solve more problems." He added that he believed the word "socialism" was a pejorative, and "didn't help" the GOP make its case.

In terms of political discourse, this kind of thing is right down in the Republican gutter. You'd think that gutter would be overflowing by now, what with all the slander and shit and garbage in it, but they must have found, miraculously, those waste water removal tools that mysteriously went missing from New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina... That's what keeping the Rethug gutters flowing. They can pour tons of their shit out there every day and there's always room for more.

Another Repug Sex Scandal? Yawn

This time it's Nevada's US Senator John Ensign (R-Naturally), whose -- get this -- whose parents bailed him out with an almost $100,000 payoff to the family of the "other woman"...

That's the only aspect of this story that raises it even slightly above the yawn stage when it comes to Republican sex scandals, that makes it more than your routine "dog bites man" story.

But it does give a whole new slant to those "Republican family values", doesn't it now?

The "Real Victim" of the Vietnam War

Jesus, what the fuck happened to the Washington Post? It used to be in the vanguard of the Fourth Estate (remember Watergate?). Now it is just another suckup rag excuse for a newspaper.

Witness its despicable editorial "obituary" of Robert McNamara:

...in 1995, 30 years after the launching of the American buildup in Vietnam, Mr. McNamara made the astonishing (if only for its candor) admission that he had suspected almost from the beginning that the war could not be won. Rather than closure, that brought a new wave of vilification, not just from the war opponents but from those who had supported the American action and saw Mr. McNamara's attempt at penance, or at an honest accounting, as a betrayal.

Well boo-fuckin'-hoo. Poor Bobby McNamara. Hated by the left, then hated by the right. I feel so fucking bad for him...

No, not really. I'm beyond the point in my life where I can somehow "forgive" McNamara for his sins. It's not my place, really. As I've said before, it's almost worth wishing for some kind of "judgment day" after death, just so I can see the evil that people have done come back to bite them on the ass. But that's too much to hope for, I guess.

The judgment of history will have to suffice.

Batboy's Batshit Crazy Advisory System

Thanks much to my blogbuddy Blue Gal, here's a new Batshit Crazy Alert:

Great to see that our favorite Congressperson, Michele Bachmann (R-Insane) has been honored with first place.

McNamara Update

Here's Pat Olyphant's take on the death of Robert McNamara:

No further comment is necessary.

You all know how I felt about the motherfucker.

Robert McNamara Dead at 93

I missed this poignant bit of news yesterday. Robert McNamara, SecDef under JFK and LBJ, died at the age of 93.

This is the man, you'll recall, who was the chief architect and most gung-ho supporter of the US massive intervention in Vietnam. But tragically, according to his later "second thoughts" revelations, he became resigned early on to the fact that it was a hopeless task, an unwinnable war.

Got that? That goddam McNamara knew -- he fucking knew! -- that we were doomed, and figured it out that we had been doomed from the very start of that ignoble misadventure.

Never mind that...he STILL kept sending troops there.

Including yours truly. And many of my friends who had misfortune to die there, or leave body parts there, or be cursed in their later years by the damaging effects of Agent Orange poisoning.

Thanks, Bob. Thanks for everything.

And I'm sure that a large number of those 58,000+ who died in Vietnam would be thanking you too. If they could. They never got the chance to attain those "golden years" of which you seem to have been served more than your share...

Today's the Day: Harry Reid, Shit or Get Off the Pot

Al Franken, fresh from his victory lap around the mouldering bones of Norm Coleman, will be sworn in at the 60th Democratic Senator of the 111th US Congress.

What this means, for those who have been living under a rock under a boulder under a crashed comet under the ocean for the last fifteen years or so is that now Harry Reid won't be able to mumble out that wishy-washy namby-pamby mommy-the-were-mean-to-me whining about the Dems not being able to pass any legislation because of the threat -- just the threat! -- of a Rethug filibuster.

Well now, Harry old boy, it's time to shit or get off the pot. Knock off that cross-the-aisle bullshit you've been sowing and start passing some fucking legislation!

Universal single-payer health care would be a great place to start, doncha think? If the Republicans don't want to play nicely, remember what Farnsworth always says: Fuck 'em! They're now as marginalized -- more marginalized -- as the Dems were for so many years.

It's not like they're even a viable party any more. Cut 'em off at the knees and let 'em crawl out of the capitol like a bunch of the crippled war vets that they've been so eager to create in the last eight years.

Palin a Corrupt Politician? Say It Ain't So.

After a few relaxing days camping at Long Beach (WA) and another couple spent hunkering down in the bunker from the resounding artillery strikes from my neighbors (aka the celebration of Independence Day) I'm back.

The first thing on the radar, of course, is the resignation of Sarah Palin from the Alaska governor's seat. Even though the USA today story's headline said that top Rethugs were "puzzled" by her abrupt resignation.

Speculation has run rampant, of course, mostly centering on some of the apparently shady deals she engineered while still mayor of Wasilla.

But the best part of the USA Today article is this line: "Her lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, threatened legal action against reporters and bloggers who suggest any wrongdoing by Palin or her husband, Todd."

Legal action???

Sorry Tommy Van Fink, but she's a public figure and as such she is fair game for those of us out here in Left Blogistan. Bring it on, you sorry excuse for a hemorrhoidal human wart. Your client and her husband are corrupt crooks who will soon be under Federal indictment.

So sue me.

Off on Another Vacation

This one not so far away. We're going to Long Beach (WA not CA) for a few days of camping. Our trip to California last month didn't entail any camping (even though we'd planned on it, it was too early in the season and none of the National Forest campgrounds were open yet, nor was Mt Lassen National Park.

Nor was the pass that would have taken us from east of the Sierras into Yosemite.

So okay, Long Beach isn't going to make up for Yosemite, but it's close and it's warm-ish this time of year.

Back in a few days.

Time's Fun When You're Having Flies...

It's hard to believe, but I've been at this blog for four years already. You can check out my first wobbling steps here, with some great headlines like Shut the Fuck Up (chickenhawks), A Midget Among Giants (Ronald Reagan), Flag Burning Amendment -- A Solution in Search of a Problem, and my favorite, Rush Limbaugh You're an Asshole, in which I call the fat fucker out "...face to face with a Democrat-votin' meat-eatin' gun-ownin' beer-drinkin' Jeep-drivin' liberal Vietnam vet who will be more than happy to entertain the thought of kicking your fat lily-white ass."

Still no response from The Great Pimple Ass Draft Dodger, but I guess I didn't really expect there to be.

Four years and still kicking. And it's been a ton of fun. Here's to another four years, at which point I'll probably slipping up on my dotage faster than Darth Cheney shooting an old man in the face, and I'll be lucky if I don't spill my drool cup while I'm trying to choke down my Viagra...

Thanks for reading, everyone.

Savana Victorious in 8-1 SCOTUS Decision!

A while back I posted the sorry tale of young Savana Redding, the 13-year-old honor student who was humiliatingly strip searched by school authorities because she was suspected of being the school's number one dealer of ... ibuprofen!

Today the Supremes issued a decision in the case, finding for Savana by an almost unbelievable margin of 8 to 1.

Even "Stripsearch Sammy" Alito voted with the lopsided majority.

The only holdout? Clarence Thomas.

No, I don't know what the fuck is going on in his head, but when it comes down to this kind of lopsidedness -- especially when he is the lone holdout even against his judicial mentor and moral guardian Anthony "Tony Quack-Quack" Scalia, then you have to wonder about his mental health.

This ought to have been a slam-dunk 9-0 decision, but it wasn't. Is there a fund to contribute to that will allow wacked-out judges to get a mental evaluation and treatment? I'm just asking...

Which reminds me of a number of years ago when Oral Roberts was being held hostage by god, who was going to "call him home" if an insufficient number of Oral's posse didn't cough up the cash he needed. Ozzy Osbourne sent him a dollar with the stipulation that he use it only for psychiatric help.

I'd be willing to cough up a similar amount of cash to get poor Clarence the help he so obviously needs.

Rethug Sex Scandals: An Encyclopedic List

Over at The Daily Kos, Marcos and the gang have come up with something he calls the Dkosopedia (not to be confused with the also-valuable Dickipedia).

A prominent section in the Dkosopedia consists of an extensive list of dozens and dozens (must be close to 100 names) of Republican Sex Scandals.

We all know about Sanford and Vitter and Craig and Foley and Haggard, but here are a few of the lesser-known yet in many ways more salacious ones:

· Daniel Dean Thompson, 31, a Utah retailer of "family-friendly" tapes and DVDs (Hollywood films with the "dirty parts" cut out of them), arrested and booked into the Utah County jail on charges of sexual abuse and unlawful sexual activity with a 14-year-old.
· John David Roy Atchison, Republican prosecutor, was arrested for soliciting sex from a 5-year old girl, then killed himself three weeks later. At the time of his arrest, Atchison was an "assistant U.S. attorney" appointed by President Bush's attorney general
· Ted Klaudt, former South Dakota State Rep., found guilty of four counts of second-degree rape of two teenage foster daughters
· Louis Beres, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon. 3 of his family members accuse him of molesting them when they were pre-teens. In August 06, Beres confessed.
· Don Haidl, Assistant Sheriff of Orange Country, in violation of California's rape shield law, led a smear campaign against the child his son poisoned and then violently gang-raped on videotape, adding up to 24 felony counts. He said that his son "acted accordingly" because the child was a "slut"
· Jim West, Spokane Mayor. Supported a bill, which failed, would have barred gays and lesbians from working in schools, day-care centers and some state agencies. Voted to bar the state from distributing pamphlets telling people how to protect themselves from AIDS. Proposed that “any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person” among teens be criminalized. Had a sexual affair with an 18 year old boy
· Brent Parker Utah State Representative. Arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer posing as a male prostitute

And that's only the top of the iceberg.

No, the Rethugs don't have a monopoly on hypocritical behavior, but try finding even a quarter of that number among Democratic politicians who have weathered sex scandals.