Bush Exercises First Veto

In yet another non-surprise, Baby Doc finally found a bill out of the rubberstamp congress that he could veto. The Stem Cell Research bill made it out of both houses with a good strong majority -- but not one that is veto-proof -- only to get rejected as "immoral" by the Magic Christian at the helm of the listing ship of state.

So the Rethugs once again have pulled a cynical manipulation in an election year. The ones who voted for the bill can go home to their constituents -- two-thirds of whom support the legislation -- with an "I tried" excuse, the Christianists can claim a victory since it was vetoed by their cowboy messiah, and the progress of science is once again thwarted.

What is missing in this whole "immoral" argument is the ultimate fate of those frozen embryos. They are going to be destroyed anyway, and I don't see any upsurge among the life-begins-at-conception (or before conception, actually, since they are also opposed to the so-called Morning After pill, which actually prevents that conception from happening) crows with offers to turn over their precious gift-from-god uteruses as human incubators for these thousands of pre-borns.

Nope, so all of them will be destroyed. And we're back to the question I asked a while back: If you are a supporter of the rights of the pre-born (or the pre-pregnant) and you are standing outside an in-vitro fertilization clinic when a fire breaks out, and you can save either 20,000 frozen embryos or one live baby, which would you choose?

Uh-huh.

Hypocrites.

More Unconstitutional Arrogance

Another installment of News That Doesn't Surprise Anyone: Alberto "Torquemada" Gonzales admitted to congress that Der Monkey Fuehrer blocked a review by the Justice Department of the domestic spying program by refusing necessary security clearances for the lawyers doing the review.

Admitted it! As in stated flatly that Baby Doc personally intervened to prevent the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, which investigates charges of misconduct inside DOJ, from having access to the records, even the program itself.

This is what used to be called, back in the days when we had a constitutional republic and leaders who did not consider themselves above the law, obstruction of justice.

The list of impeachable offenses just keeps getting longer and longer, and yet the kool-aid-drinking congress just keeps letting it happen. They just keep rolling over, taking it up the old wazoo, and whimpering, "thank you, sir, may I have some more?"

So the only way out is to elect Democrats in sufficient number to put the skids to this illegal maladministration, this criminal conspiracy. But the more I consider the increasing numbers of Diebold voting machines being deployed all across the country, the less confident I am in the results of the fall elections.

And the corrupt, evil or stupid motherfuckers in congress don't seem to care very much that any powers they voluntarily give up to their Repugnican Thug president will devolve to the next Democratic president. They must believe -- or somehow know -- that the GOP will retain the presidency in 2008. Otherwise, the thought of a President Hilary Clinton with the vast unconstitutional power that Baby Doc Bush has arrogated to himself ought to make them piss their pants.

Neener Neener

It with more than a little glee that I learn that admitted shitweasel Ralph Reid has lost his bid to become Georgia's Lt Governor. By a resounding ten points in the Georgia primary held today.

Can we dare hope that the Xian Coalition is coming apart at the seams? That the long dirty skirts of JACK AbramOFF have also deposited some nasty porno-theater residue on the smarmy little shit?

That the knuckledraggers in the Old South are finally coming to their senses? I certainly hope so.

And in the meantime, let's all enjoy this little frisson of schaudenfraude. I believe I'll just pop open a bottle of special Fish Tale IPA I've been saving for a special occasion.

The Battle of Long Tan

Here in the good ole USA we tend to forget that a number of other nations had forces in Vietnam, but there were troops there from several other countries, including Australia.

Now a group of Australian veterans of the now-almost-forgotten Battle of Long Tan are petitioning their government for medals honoring the bravery and sacrifice of the Diggers of Delta Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, as the 40th anniversary of that battle approaches. The Australian forces were outnumbered by at least 20-to-1, yet fought steadily over a two-day period to repel an advancing force of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerillas.

The Australian government has steadfastly refused to honor their service with appropriate medals for bravery, even though later firefights that were less costly and more routine resulted in medals for the participants.

The History Channel has scheduled a documentary about the Battle of Long Tan for August 16th -- it ought to be worth watching, to get another view of the Vietnam War.

I picked up a copy of the book when I visited the Australian Vietnam Veterans Museum when I was in Australia in early 2004, and it is a fascinating read.

BTW, the Diggers, like their American counterparts, also had extreme difficulties in getting their own PTSD issues recognized by the government, as demonstated in yet another book I picked up in Australia, The Battle After the War, by Ambrose Crowe.

The Australians unfortunately have a long history of being used and abused as the instruments of Empire -- you don't have to look any farther than The Battle of Gallipoli for proof of that.

So it would seem from all this that veterans everywhere have a hard time getting the proper respect and acknowledgement from their own governments.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 784 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Greed is Not Good

"Greed is good." -- Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's Wall Steet

How precocious, way back in 1987, to make that trenchant observation on the American condition. Of course that was at the end of the Reagan Years, but no one could have predicted the absolute mess we have today in an economy built entirely on greed.

You'd have to go back well over 100 years, to the so-called "Gilded Age", to find an equivalent set of economic circumstances in American history, the age of the Robber Barons, the age of brutal suppression of the working classes, the age of corruption in politics and the spoils system in political appointments.

Kind of sounds like today, doesn't it. That's not a coincidence.

It was a combination of things that eventually ended the Gilded Age: Theodore Roosevelt and Progressive Movement; WWI, the various recessions/depressions in the economic cycle, culminating with The Great Depression, the New Deal and finally the societal changes resulting from WWII.

The neocon post-industrialist fascists who are now in charge of things have made no secret of the fact that they want to roll back each and every one of these advances and reforms, at least back to the way things were before the New Deal (and even farther if the truth were known).

And sadly we're well on our way down that road. The minimum wage hasn't been increased in nine years, and it looks like there's no chance for an increase with the current party in power. They'd like to do away with it altogether but they haven't figured out quite how to get away with it. The gap between the richest people and the rest of us has grown every year, and the "great economy" touted by Bushco isn't so great for those of us toiling away at the bottom of the ladder.

Greed is not good. As Molly Ivins argues in her July 11 column, the capitalist system will not be destroyed by "communists" or any other outside force -- it will destroy itself through its own self-consuming greed.

An economy is really nothing more the value of the goods and services that are in motion within it. What is beyond me is who these new post-industrialist Robber Barons think that they are going to peddle those goods and services to if the people creating them are being paid slave wages, with only enough cash for food and shelter.

Henry Ford, for all his faults (anti-Semitism, anti-unionism, etc), instinctively "got it" -- he doubled the pay of his factory workers, on the theory that a man who was building his cars ought to be able to afford to own one.

Today's corporate execs, in a race to the bottom when it comes to the wages, hours and working conditions of their employees, patently don't "get it". I don't know what it will take before they get it, but if we can survive long enough to avoid World War III, we'll have to figure out a way to make them get it.

In the words of Chairman Mao, "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun".

It doesn't have to come to that. Our only hope now is to put back into power the party of The People. The Democrats, in the meantime, have to come up with some non-nuanced sound bites that will get the attention of the Moron-American voting bloc and stop allowing the Repugs to run on their tried-and-true good ole boy "god, guns and gays" platform, convincing people to vote against their own economic self-interest.

Supporting Veterans -- Republican Style (Redux)

A couple of months ago I ran a piece about Supporting Veterans and how the DAV rated the votes of each member of congress when it came to supporting veterans' issues. It came as no surprise to me that the Repugs were at the lower end of the scale and the Dems were at the higher end.

The info was cited from the VA Watchdog website, and it was just a list by state. It made it a little hard to read and to extract the telling information, so all props to Theo over at Theo's Impressions & Such for doing the tedious job of copying the information and putting it into an easily-digestible spreadsheet table, arraying the members from lowest score to highest score.

The stark differences between the two parties now leaps off the screen at you. It ought to be totally embarrasing to the Repugs, but by now these guys are just incapable of embarrassment.

Nevertheless, this is good information to arm yourself with this fall when each and every one of the veteran-hating motherfuckers in the House -- and a lot of them in the Senate -- is up for reelection. Tell your friends and neighbors about your Repugnican congressman's dismal voting record on veterans issues, and let's all throw the bastards out!

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2500 2513 2532 2540 2546
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1768
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1212
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1172
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 151

It is still 941 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Friday Cat Blogging

Rove Leaked, Rove Leaves

The Prince of Darkness, aka Bob Novak, finally spilled the beans about Karl Rove, and verified that he was one of his sources for the Plame Leak.

Way back when Baby Doc said that the person responsible for the leak would be fired. Remember that?

So I guess it's safe to say that Rove has been asked for his security clearance, his entry badge into the White House and his key to the executive washroom, right?

What's that? No? He's not being fired?

Imagine that.

One Generation of Warriors to the Next

My nearest big-town newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has an editorial today about the outreach efforts by Vietnam Veterans of America to the next generation of veterans, the newly-formed Veterans of Modern Warfare, which encompasses the veterans of the wars since Vietnam, including the "sideshow" conflicts in Grenada and Somalia.

When my generation returned from Vietnam to the scorn of an ungrateful nation, we swore, individually and collectively, that we would not allow another generation of veterans to go through what we went through, so I am proud and gratified to see that we are reaching out to our brothers and sisters of the next generation.

"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another," said Rick Weidman, executive director of Vietnam Veterans of America. (BTW, Rick W. is also, along with me, a founding member of Veterans and Military Families for Progress.)

Psilocybin Study

Those who read this blog regularly know that I am not a religious person, so it's with an odd combination of hope and doubt that I view the news story about some recent controlled experiments with the 60s psychedelic drug psilocybin (the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms") wherein the participants experienced some kind of religious transport.

The volunteers were all "religious people" to some extent or another, and they all experienced some kind of "deep mystical experience" while under the effects of the drug. The fact that the participants were all religious immediately and automatically makes the experiment bogus -- and unnecessary, since it seems to replicate the famous 1962 Marsh Chapel Experiment at Harvard Divinity School. I'd like to see it done again, but this time with a representative cross-section of the population as volunteers.

That said, however, I can tell you from personal experience (you knew that I came of age in the 60s, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to you) that there is something about the psilocybin experience that transcends the typical psychedelic trip. Since I am not religious, there was no mysticism involved (we are all prepared to see and feel what we are programmed to), but I did experience a definite mind-body disconnect and entered what I have referred to ever since as "the realm of pure thought". Which I guess can be mistaken for a "mystical" experience by those who are so inclined.

Now that I am rapidly approaching my dotage, I don't really feel like going up in the flying saucer any more, so this is all pretty much academic. However, if the government would ever lighten up on the Draconian drug laws we have in this country, maybe a group of reputable scientists could do some valid experimentation with the so-called "dangerous drugs" that we have in abundance (magic mushrooms grow wild in my area, and sprout up like dandelions in my yard every fall, and marijuana grows wild in pretty much every state in the union) and they might find that they do have some socially and psychologically positive attributes.

But like with so much else, I'm not holding my breath.

Dereliction of Duty

Veterans Administration Secretary James Nicholson (R-Crony) visited my home state of Washington last week. Now a reasonable person like you might assume -- as I did -- that Nicholson, as long as he was in the neighborhood, would manage to find a little time to drop by the VA Center of Excellence for Limb Loss Prevention and Prosthetic Engineering in Seattle, a clinic that is in the forefront of treatment for amputations and such. But maybe not, since Nicholson's boss, Der Monkey Fuehrer, has proposed slashing the VA funding for prosthetic research by $13 billion.

Or that he would manage to sneak in a side trip to the Veterans Hospital at American Lake, south of Tacoma, which specializes in the treatment of PTSD suffered by returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

But no. You would be wrong if you assumed that. Instead Nicholson was here primarily to campaign for a fellow Repugnican and congressional wannabe Doug Roulstone in Washington's 2nd Congressional District.

To be fair, Nicholson did manage to show up for a quick press conference in Walla Walla with Rep Cathy McMorris (R-Moron, up for re-election this year) where he tried to finesse the mostly hostile crowd of veterans concerned about the possible closure of a local VA hospital that serves some 69,000 veterans in Eastern Washington, NE Oregon and Idaho.

Walla Walla was on the chopping block a couple of years ago until Washington's Senator Patty Murray, a longtime friend to veterans, managed to keep it open.

Murray, by the way, was not invited to the press conference. Big surprise there.

Joel Connelly, a columnist for the Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper, hit it on the head in his column: "Nicholson's primary constituent group ought to be young veterans undergoing treatment for loss of limbs -- not candidates for Congress," and Nicholson's politically-motivated visit to Washington State amounted to a "dereliction of duty".

Well put, Joel.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 777 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

A Little Perspective

E. J Dionne has an amazing column in todays WoHoPo comparing the election in Mexico to the US election in 2000.

Imagine the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on Scream Radio and Faux News if the Mexico election had the same elements: The governor of a pivotal state being the brother of one of the candidates; the votes in that state not completely counted because the recount was stopped by a crony court; a ridiculous system that gives undue influence to smaller states, with the result that the loser of the popular vote turns out to be the winner of the election.

If that happened in Mexico -- or any other country in the world -- the outrage would be palpable. On both sides of the political spectrum. Funny, isn't it, how putting on the other guy's shoes can change your own perspective?

So why did we allow it here? Why are we continuing to allow it? The 2004 election was stolen just as surely as the 2000 election -- the election fraud in Ohio was unmistakeable and undeniable.

Demand voter-verified and recountable paper ballots! It is the only way that we can restore faith in our election process.

Friday Cat Blogging

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2500 2513 2532 2540
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1761
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1205
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1165
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 146

It is still 948 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Even More Dueling Quotes

"We will follow the money as a trail to the terrorists and freeze the money to disrupt their actions."

-- Baby Doc, September 24, 2001

"If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And the fact that a newspaper [i.e. The New York Times] disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror."

-- Baby Doc, June 26, 2006

I guess presidentin' is such hard work -- hard work! -- that the stupid monkeyboy can't remember what fucking planet he's on, let alone that he blew his own whistle five years earlier, on the official White House website!!! So does that mean the the wingnuts over on Scream Radio and Faux News who were screaming treason at the tops of their lungs will now turn on Der Monkey Fuehrer and demand his head on a platter? I'm not holding my breath on this one, either.

And while we're at it, let's all just completely ignore the fact that the print media's semi-official arm of the administration, the Wall Street Journal, published the same goddamn story! Where was the outcry at that hotbed of terrorists sympathizers and fifth-columnists?

(Thanks again to Bartcop for the quotes and links.)

And Speaking of Midland, Texas...

...and Baby Doc's avoidance of the Vietnam War, here is a link to the list of casualties in the Vietnam War from Midland, Texas, and Casper, Wyoming.

They are, respectively, the hometowns of George W. "Shrub" Bush and Dick "Crashcart" Cheney. Because our two fearless leaders had "other priorities" and couldn't be bothered to allow themselves to be drafted into the service, two other guys went instead.

So, which of these guys died in your place, Georgie? Which of them died in your place, Dickie?

That's the question you wingnuts asked Clinton when you accused him of being a draft dodger. How about some equal time for your own leaders?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Hypocrites.

A Geographical Coincidence?

Turns out that Steven Green, the ex-Army private who will likely be charged in the Iraqi rape-and-murder rampage, grew up in, of all places, Midland, Texas (see map).

Odd coincidence, that. Midland, Texas, may I remind you, is also the "hometown" of one George W. Baby Doc Bush who, although he managed to avoid service in his own war (Vietnam), is responsible for his own mass-scale rape-and-murder rampage in Iraq.

What is it, something in the fucking water down there? Too much crude oil residue in the air? So flat you can't get perspective?

Anyway, I've just given Green's lawyers the perfect excuse, the Texas Oil Patch version of the "Twinkie Defense". So, when y'all get that movie deal, just remember that you heard it here first...

Osama Bin Who? Don't Ask the CIA

In the news is a report that the CIA has dissolved the special unit set up nearly ten years ago to hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

What with Der Monkey Fuehrer saying -- since 2002(!) -- shit like "I don't really think about him very much", plus the fact that it just has to be personally embarrassing to admit that you can't find a 6 foot 5 inch Saudi hooked up to a dialysis machine, the news doesn't surprise me.

Now that the guy has gone missing for 1760 days, they have probably come to the conclusion that even if they put his face on a milk carton, they aren't going to find him.

But still. If it is true that Bin Laden was responsible for 9-11, then don't you think that it (in the words of the Bush Maladministration) "sends a message to America's enemies" that we are "soft on terror"?

How much hypocrisy is one adminstration capable of? How much hypocrisy are we going to take from this pack of jackals? I thought we'd have reached our limit by now, but I guess you can't underestimate the ability of the Moron-American voting bloc to swallow as much shit as the BFEE can shovel in. I guess it isn't hypocrisy if the president does it.

The 14 Points of Fascism

On this July 4, when we pretend to celebrate American freedom and independence, it is worth taking another look at the 14 points of fascism and see if any of them ring a bell.

Lawrence Britt, writing for The Secular Humanist and its Free Inquiry magazine, outlined in scholarly fashion a few years back what he considered to be the 14 signal -- cardinal -- elements of fascism, based on his study of the regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet.

Here are the 14 points identified by Britt:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.


2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.


3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.


4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.


5. Rampant sexism.


6. A controlled mass media.


7. Obsession with national security.


8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.


9. Power of corporations protected.


10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.


11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.


12. Obsession with crime and punishment.


13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.


14. Fraudulent elections.

See the complete text of Britt's article here, and follow up with a collection of news articles dating from the start of the Bush presidency, divided into topics relating to each of those 14 points, put together by the Project for the Old American Century.

And have a happy Fourth.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 770 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Tracking Terrorists, California Style

Today's LA Times has the story that the Schwarzenegger (R-Dumbfuck) Administration has spent good tax money tracking "potential terrorists" among animal rights groups protesting Canadian seal slaughter, an anti-war demonstration featuring as a guest speaker US Representative George Miller (D-Naturally), and a gathering of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Santa Barbara to protest the arrest of a 56-year-old woman anti-war protestor.

Yeah, those are exactly the events that attract homegrown Al Qaeda sleeper cells, intent on destroying our 'Murrican Way of Life.

This is what happens when we are not paying attention, people.

We need to keep alert and watch the fuckers every minute, because they're watching us.

Veteran Arrested for Thoughtcrime

Vietnam War Navy Corpsman Mike Ferner was arrested the other day for the heinous -- nay, treasonous -- crime of drinking a cup of coffee in the Chicago VA facility while wearing a Veterans for Peace t-shirt.

It's the little things. They just keep piling on, bit by bit, eroding our freedoms inch by inch, and most people can't see that we are sliding into a fascist dictatorship. This is appalling, and it'll be worth watching to see if Mike Ferner ultimately prevails. I don't see where he has a legal defense fund set up yet to help defend himself against this travesty, but it'll be worth contributing a few bucks when he does.

See more on Mike Ferner's activism here and here, and remember, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2500 2513 2532
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1755
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1198
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1158
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 139

It is still 935days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Friday Cat Blogging

Stripsearch Sammy's True Colors

It didn't take long for the BFEE's newest stealth justice to show his true colors. Voting with the minority in a 5-3 decision over the rights to a real trial of "enemy combatants" in the Gitmo case, Scalito sided with -- suprise -- Scalia and Thomas, the two most reliable allies of the BFEE and the forces of repression.

And this was only the boy's first partial session on the court. Wait until next year when the fun really starts. Activist judges? The rightwing has 'em up the yingyang, and they'll slowly raise the temperature of the water until all of us liberal frogs are boiled alive.

Paying for the VA Credit Boondoggle

Baby Doc apparently can just pull money out of his ass to pay for the war illegal occupation of Iraq, but when it comes to the veterans of that war -- and all veterans -- whoops, there just isn't any cash lying around to take care of them.

That's why the assholes in charge are intending to cut funding for food stamps, student loans and youth programs to pay for credit monitoring for those of us victimized by the inept security controls at the VA.

This is the party that ran on a platform of personal responsibility and "compassionate conservatism", if you will recall.

So, Monkey Fuehrer, show a little of both and stand up to the plate. If you don't think there's any money to help America's veterans, maybe you could go, hat in hand, to the next meeting of the Fat Cat Plutocrat Society and ask them for just a tiny fraction of those billions upon billions of dollars that you personally, along with your lap-dog lackeys in the People's Chamber of Deputies congress, handed to them with your reckless and irresponsible tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy.

Fat chance of that ever happening.

Dominican Republic Sex Tourism: I Knew It!

Following up on the Rush Limbaugh Viagra bust post from yesterday, I managed to do a little research on the sex trade in the Dominican Republic. Apparently I've been living under a rock for the last several years (okay, I've been happily married for the last 24 years, which, when it comes to this subject, is just like living under a rock...)

It turns out, to my surprise, that the Dominican Republic, of all places, is ground zero for the sex trade in the Western Hemisphere, as this Google search illustrates: There are over 542,000 hits for the words "dominican republic sex tourism" -- and many of those sites refer specifically to child prostitution, such as this one and this one.

Not that I am in any way accusing -- or even suggesting -- that Rusty "Limpdick" Limbaugh has been anything but an honorable and law-abiding Republican* in his consorting with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. But it really makes you wonder why he felt the need to go all the way to the DR for sex when it's so readily available for a reasonable price all over South Florida, and especially in Miami and nearby Miami Beach, both of which are right down the shore from where he lives. Plus he's a media celebrity, for chrissake, and despite the fact that he's a fatassed flabby limp-dick slob, even he must have an adequate number of rightwing groupies to nail right here in the good old USA.

So why did he go all the way to the Dominican Republic?

* Surely an oxymoron, but never mind...

More on the Death Penalty

No, I am not talking about the so-called "Death Tax". What I talking about is the real old-fashioned death penalty, wherein the state takes it on itself to commit a murder. And don't talk to me about that "eye for an eye" crap, or about how it's a deterrent blah blah blah(demonstrably it isn't). I've argued before on this blog about the death penalty, for example here and here, and nothing has happened in the meantime to change my mind.

Now our newest Supreme, Stripsearch Sammy Scalito, has sided with his other BFEE surrogates in a 5-4 decision upholding the Kansas death penalty, even though many people will inevitably be put to death in cases where the "aggravated" requirement of the Kansas death penalty law has not been proved to the jury. See the confusing details in this story in a Seattle paper outlining the case.

Anna Quindlen, writing in Newsweek, says that "last year only four countries accounted for nearly all executions worldwide: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Are we really proud of being in that company?

Too Good to be True: Limbaugh Busted -- Again

This just in: America's favorite fatassed blowhard radio voice was just busted coming back into the country with an apparently illegal prescription for ... Viagra!

"It's all Clinton's fault," Limbaugh did not say. "I wanted a blow job, too, and the only way I can get it up any more is by using this commonly-prescribed prescription. Which is available in every pharmacy, even those who won't dispense the morning-after pill."

How's that, you "family-values-focus-on-the-fetus" crowd out there? Your loudmouthed spokesman, the thrice-divorced addict to "prescription pain killers" (which he bought on the street -- or more accurately, sent his maid to score for him on the mean streets of Miami), currently on probation for that little stunt, has yet another prescription med that doesn't belong to him.

I refuse to listen to the pimple-assed bloviator, so I won't get to hear what lame fucking excuse he comes up with for this one, but it has to be good. Stephanie Miller will cover it, I'm sure, on her "right wing world" segment -- be sure to listen on Wednesday for the down and dirty.

Jesus Christ, how many times are his moonie-eyed dittoheads going to let him slide on this kind of crap? Never mind, I already know the answer to that one.

But Rusty, listen to me: You are fucking 55 years old, dude! Isn't it time you grew up a little bit, settled down and got a nice productive job, instead of jetting off to the fucking Dominican Republic, of all places?

Besides, didn't I hear somewhere that the Dominican Republic has turned into a kind of destination resort for old fat guys who want to score some teenage (and I mean early teenage) tail? Has anyone else heard that, and can you provide a source? America wants to know.

Flag Burning Amendment -- A Call to Action

Regular readers of this blog know how I feel about a so-called "flag desecration" amendment.

You also must know that this ugly issue has raised its head once again -- it is an election year, after all -- so the US Senate has scheduled a vote on this piece of shit, a vote which could come as soon as today.

Please contact your senator and tell him or her to vote AGAINST this travesty of a bill -- Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

This is a solution in search of a problem. Lets not amend the constitution to restrict individual liberties. The last time that happened we got Prohibition, and look at the problems that little experiment caused.

BTW, I am proud to be a member of Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights -- see their website for more information on this important issue.

Syriana -- A "Must See" Movie

I watched Syriana this weekend and I highly recommend it to everyone. Not only is it an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but it's also a primer on the oil business in the Middle East, on the despair of Arab youth fed by radical Islamist clerics, on American corporate corruption, and on the ruthlessness of power.

George Clooney is at his masterful best as an amoral CIA agent -- a performance which won for him the Oscar for best actor at this year's Academy Awards.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 763 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Coulter or Hitler?

Here's a fun quiz. See if you can identify which of the 14 quotations on this website came out of either Ann Coulter or Adolph Hitler.

I got 11 out of 14. Can you do better?

Finally, Some Action on VA Security Breach

A Senate panel yesterday approved $160M in spending to pay for credit monitoring for America's veterans whose personal data was stolen early last month when a VA employee's laptop computer was stolen.

Naturally, Repugnicans on the committee wanted to pay for it out of existing VA funds, but my good senator and friend to all veterans, Patty Murray (D-WA), said "I don't think it's acceptable to tell our veterans we lost your personal information, and by the way, we're going to cut your health care to pay for it." Way to go, Patty!

At the same time, according to the NYT story, a House panel was told that credit monitoring alone might not be enough.

However, the money is a welcome gesture, but knowing how slowly the government works, it probably won't be until fall that the money is available to us. And god knows how many strings will be attached, or how many hoops we'll have to jump through to get action on our compromised credit.

In the meantime, we need to keep on top of our own credit scores by watching closely all of our credit card statements, etc. That in itself, of course, won't be enough, since any new credit applications -- which is the major danger here -- we likely won't know about. This is why it's important to review your credit report regularly. You are entitled to one free credit report each year, which you can request at AnnualCreditReport.com (1-877-322-8228). I suggest that you do this ASAP, to establish a base line against which future credit reports can be measured.

See also the Q&A on the firstgov.gov website for information on what happened and what you can do.

Remember, it isn't just veterans discharged after 1975 -- it affects ALL veterans who have ever filed a claim for VA disability compensation, pension, or education benefits, or who have (or had) a VA insurance policy –- no matter when they were discharged, when the claim was filed, or whether the claim was approved or denied.

And that's pretty much all of us.

Friday Cat Blogging

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2500 2513
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1748
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1191
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1151
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 132

It is still 942days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Southern Repugnicans Block Voting Rights for Blacks

In yet another piece of news in the Not Surprising category, a group of southern lawmakers (all of them Repugs, naturally) have held up the extension of the 1964 Voting Rights Act.

Reuter's has the story, as do more than 300 other news sources.

Their complaints center around the usual crap ("It's not fair to MY state," etc etc), but we all know what's behind it: The same fucking mentality that drove the Southern Democrats out of the Democratic Party and into the arms of the so-called Big Tent Republicans way back when, when the Act was first passed.

Lyndon Johnson, whose political antennae were always well attuned to the prevailing wind, said when he signed it that it would cost the Democratic Party the South for "a generation". Turns out it's longer than that, it would appear.

They didn't like uppity black people back then, and they still don't like them. Oh, they are willing to use them when it's politically expedient -- that's why you have that small handful of black Republicans (which ought to be an oxymoron) who have sold their souls to their masters. Remember what Harry Belafonte said about Kindasleazy Rice and Colin Toby-Be-Good Powell? That's pretty much it for all black Republicans.

It's Faux News -- They Just Can't Help It

Weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq! Ricky Man-on-Dog-Sex Santorum (R-Pervert) announced breathlessly on Faux News today that a total of 500 chemical weapon canisters found buried in the ground near the Iranian border.

Buried, that is, sometime prior to 1988. Jesus, this wasn't a big fucking secret. The US already knew about them, found them, in fact, in 2003. And reported that the blister agent used in them had long gone inert. At the time they were found, not even the White House was ready to claim that this pathetic stash constituted the "smoking gun" evidence that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq.

That didn't stop Little Ricky and his sidekick, Peter Hoekstra (R-Shitweasel) from strutting around like they'd found a fucking new-clee-ar warhead. And it didn't stop Faux News from giving them a front and center podium to stand on and squawk to the Moron-American knuckledraggers who actualy watch Faux News.

Must be an election year, and Little Ricky is behind in the polls.

One-Year Anniversary!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of this blog. To be honest, when I started it, I really wondered if I was going to have enough stuff to post day after day after day.

Wow, did I have a surprise coming. There is so much out there, and sometimes it just seems to write itself.

So, in honor of that one-year anniversary, I'm reposting my very first blog entry, wherein I lay a little historical smackdown on my two favorite slackers, Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush. It turned out that these two became a weekly fixture here on OPOVet.

* * * * * *

From June 22, 2005:

Twins in Uniform

Why aren’t Barbara and Jenna Bush in uniform? They have college degrees, and by all indications they would make fine officers.

After all, it would have an incredibly positive effect on the morale of the country, it would no doubt drive up enlistments in all branches of the service, enlistments which are now at a dangerously low level and dropping monthly, and it would shore up W’s rapidly slipping poll numbers.

And, as their father proved so many years ago, it’s not like they’d really have to DO anything. They really wouldn’t even have to show up for most of it.

But I guess they'd rather party down at those tony Georgetown nightspots instead of following the lead of presidential children of earlier generations.

Consider the four sons of Theodore Roosevelt: Quentin, the youngest, was a pilot who died in action in WWI. The remaining three sons, Ted Junior, Kermit and Archie, served with honor and distinction both in World War One AND in World War Two.

Ted Junior, a Medal of Honor winner, was the only general to come ashore at Normandy on D-Day. A week later he was dead at the age of 56, the victim of a heart attack.

Consider the four sons of Franklin Roosevelt. They, along with Robert Lincoln, and the husbands of the daughters of Lyndon Johnson, share the rare distinction of being the only presidential children to serve in a war fought while their father was president.

James, Elliott, Franklin Jr. and John Roosevelt all served with honor in World War II and they came home decorated heroes.

Both Charles Robb and Patrick Nugent, the Johnson sons-in-laws, served with honor and distinction in Vietnam.

But there it ends.

The husbands of Richard Nixon’s daughters did not serve in Vietnam.

None of the children of Ronald Reagan donned a uniform.

And the offspring of George Bush Senior? Well, we know about that already.

Now we are once again engaged in a war in which there are presidential children of military age.

But, unlike those earlier generations, the Bush twins apparently feel no need to serve in a war over which their father has command.

Unlike those presidential children of earlier generations, they apparently feel no need to show even symbolic support for their father’s war.

Come on, you two. Show your support for the troops and for your father's war. Do the right thing for yourselves and for your country. Enlist today.

Besides, there's something about twins in uniform...

More Dueling Quotes

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda."

-- Baby Doc Bush, November 1, 2002

"The president back then said there's no demonstrated link between Saddam and 9-11, and we're never going to make that argument, and he never has."

-- Presidential Meat Puppet Tony Snow, June 14, 2006

I swear, you just can't make this shit up.

Thanks once more to Bartcop for this one.

19 Republicans Vote For Amnesty for Iraqi Murderers of Americans

Okay, that head is a little misleading. I used to work for a Republican newspaper, so sue me.

What they actually voted on was a "sense of congress" amendment that the government of Iraq should not grant amnesty to Iraqis and other local yokels who are known to have killed American soldiers.

In the large scheme of things, all of this "sense of congress" crap is basically meaningless, but you gotta ask yourself why 19 senators -- all of them Republicans -- voted "nay" on this bill. Including people that you would think ought to know better, like John "Falwell-Ass-Kisser" McCain and Nebraska's Vietnam vet senator, Chuck Hagel.

Read the full text of the amendment, and the full list of who voted for it -- and against it -- on the Americablog website, and then maybe you can tell me why these fuckers voted against it.

Dueling Quotes

"Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free. In other words when you say something as President you better make it clear so everybody understands what you're saying, and you better mean what you say."

Baby Doc Bush 9/27/04

"I think what the Taliban is doing - and it’s predictable - the Taliban fighters have been losing. Now, you can expect there to be pushback by the Taliban."

Tony Snow 6/19/2006

So...what's the deal? I think someone was lying. I wonder who it was...

Yeah, you're right, I do love this shit.

VA Swamped with New Vietnam Vet PTSD Applications

In a development that should come as a surprise to no one, the VA reports a surge in PTSD cases from Vietnam veterans that is a direct result of media images from the war in illegal occupation of Iraq.

So now we have to prepare ourselves for renewed charges of fraud and abuse of the system, charges that are generally leveled by the Sean Hannity/Bill O'Reilly/mAnn Coulter types who would piss their pants if they actually saw anything resembling combat.

Recently, as you know, the VA attempted to launch a full-court-press probe of some 72,000 PTSD claims, but that probe was quietly dropped after a random sample of 2100 claims turned up no instances of fraud. None. As in zero, zilch, bupkis.

A so-called scholar at, of all places, the American Enterprise Institute (a far-right Bushco-enabling wingnut "think tank") even seems to claim that PTSD is a myth. One Sally Satel, allegedly a psychiatrist, claims that the new wave of Vietnam War PTSD claimants have had "deaths in their families, all kind of tragedies" over the years that they've been able to cope with, so what's the big deal.

Well, Sally, if that's really your name, why don't you enlist in the Army, join something like, say, the Transportation Corps (my old battalion, the 6th Transportation, is over there right now and they'd welcome a new driver), run some convoys out of the Green Zone where every single day you will face some death-dealing Iraqi insurgents trying to shoot your lily-white ass, and then come back and talk about PTSD being a myth. You stupid bitch.

In the meantime, I would suggest this to all my fellow Vietnam veterans: If you even think that there's a remote possibility that you are suffering from PTSD, apply for VA disability benefits. Now. Fuck the American Enterprise Institute and its hired gun, Sally "The Bushco Whore" Satel.

Oh, and BTW, the VA says that it's "overwhelmed" by this development and, of course, there's no money to pay for it.

Bullshit!

We're pumping millions of dollars per day into the War on Terra^tm and the Quagmire in the Desert. Part of the cost of going to war is caring for our veterans when they return. Dial back just a tiny amount of those unconscionable tax cuts to the top 1% of the oligarchy and you can pay for the health care of our veterans.

But that ain't gonna happen. As Tom Delay so famously said, "Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes."

Bush Fights Bird Flu

After months of inaction on the bird flu crisis, the president announced today that the US will bomb Turkey and the Canary Islands.

Press Secretary Tony Snowjob also stated that the administration would dissolve the franchises of pro sports teams in Toronto, Phoenix, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 756 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

The NAFTA Superhighway -- WTF?

Chances are you've never heard of the NAFTA Superhighway. Neither had I until yesterday, and the American media is steadfastly ignoring it. Do a Google News search for "NAFTA Superhighway" and you get only FOUR hits. If you think the spelling is wrong, do another one for "NAFTA Super Highway and you get... another four hits.

So what the fuck is it? Well, it's a Bushco plan to build a highway four footballs fields wide from deep in Mexico to Middle America, and eventually into Canada. Mexico will offload shipments from the far east at several of their Pacific ports, load them onto Mexican trucks, and then highball it on this new superhighway to a Midwest "inland port" distribution point in ... Kansas City. All without using either longshoremen or teamsters to do it.

This superhighway will also continue on all the way to Duluth on the Great Lakes, presumably to handle cargo coming in up the St Lawrence, and eventually it will also continue on into Canada.

It's not like they are trying to even hide it. Something called NASCO, the North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition, even has its own website where they are flogging a huge and professionally-illustrated artist's map of the project.

They are even scheduled to break ground early next year on the first phase, down in Texas.

So why haven't we even heard about this? This has to be the biggest news story of the year -- of the decade, really -- that's flown completely under the radar. The American media seems intent on ignoring it. But even Left Blogistan has been caught flat-footed on this one.

Jeez, Mister Whiner. No big deal -- it only spells the beginning of the end for the middle class in this country, with Bushco apparently without opposition continuing the march to oligarchy, using corporate greed to elevate the wealthy even more into a feudal superclass while at the same time pushing the rest of us down into economic serfdom.

This is why Der Monkey Fuehrer has been hemming and hawing and dragging his feet so much on the Mexican border question. When this gets implemented, there will essentially be no Mexican border. Mexican truckers will get a free pass to haul ass across that imaginary line marking the border, without even a perfunctory stop for customs and immigration, and stream northward on a twelve-lane superhighway nonstop to KC. No messy laws, rules and regulations to contend with. No minimum wage laws, no health and welfare benefits, no highway regulations and probably no speed limits.

The wingnuts, however, never ones to be caught out of the loop, have been singing the praises of this fucked up idea. See for example Human Events for some obnoxiously blatant praise of the union-busting aspects of the plan.

And I'm sure that it's just a coincidence that the plan will completely bypass the Pacific Coast ports of the United States, which just happen to be worked by America's strongest and most militant union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). Plus all of those West Coast ports just happen to be in blue states...

Nope, nothing more to see here. Move along.

Friday by the Numbers

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2472 2489 2500!
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1741
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1184
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1144
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 125

It is still 949 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Friday Cat Blogging

2500

I know people will say that it's just a number, and if we didn't have ten fingers, we wouldn't have base-ten arithmetic, but...

Two thousand five hundred dead American troops.

I think that's more than just a number. It's 2500 families torn asunder. It's 2500 people, most of them with their full lives ahead of them, snuffed out, all for what? A fucking business deal?

Bush has to be stopped. The only light at the end of the tunnel is the election of a Democratic congress this fall.

Nancy Pelosi is on record as saying that impeachment is not being considered.

Bullshit. I don't believe her. Vote Democratic. Stop the madness.

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, Even 100 Years Ago

Would you be willing to join an organization that had these principles as its founding prescripts:

• First: To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless from the indignities, wrongs and outrages of the lawless, the violent and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of ... soldiers.


• Second: To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States...


• Third: To aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws, and to protect the people from unlawful seizure, and from trial except by their peers in conformity with the laws of the land.

Sounds okay, right? Who could argue with that? Well, not so fast with that application, buddy. You would be joining, of things, the Ku Klux Klan!

Believe it or not, those were the prescripts for the founding of what is known as The Second Klan, which was born in 1915, following the release of the movie The Birth of a Nation, out of the rubble of the long-disbanded and discredited first incarnation of the Klan.

What this shows is that the racist wingnut faction -- amply represented in today's Repugnican Party -- was capable even nearly 100 years ago of deception, dissembling, and outright lying about its purpose, mission and direction.

The more things change... etc.

If you get a chance, read that Wikipedia article about the Klan -- it's fascinating and scary stuff, especially when you realize that at its high point the Klan controlled, through sympathetic politicians, the governments of not only most of the deep-south (aka "red") states (where you would expect it) but also such states as Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana (where an avowed Klansman was actually elected governor), and ... Oregon!

A Question for the "Focus on the Fetus" Crowd

Next time some smarmy Xian glassy-eyed fundo whack-job starts yapping on about the "rights of the pre-born", ask 'em this question:

You are standing outside a reproductive health clinic when it catches on fire. You have only enough time to save five thousand frozen embyos or one live baby, but not both. Which do you choose?

(Thanks to the always-entertaining Al Franken show on Air America radio for this one.)

Jim Webb Wins Virginia Senatorial Primary!

Read the news stories and exult in victory. And thank you to everyone who pitched in for Jim Webb on my recommendation.

But the battle isn't over. Now it's on to November and victory then. Let's show the Repugnican bastards that Democrats are the true party of national security and support for the troops.

Please bookmark the Jim Webb for Senate page, and think serioulsy about throwing some cash his way. He is exactly the kind of Democrat that we need in the Senate: A smart, involved, and dedicated anti-war veteran.

Kind of like (ahem) me.

And, Finally, Some Good News

In two unrelated stories, we finally get some good news. First, pizza and beer contain ingredients that actively fight to prevent prostate cancer. The tomato sauce on the pizza has long been believed to act as an anti-oxidant that is good for you, and now it turns out that a substance called xanthohumol, found in hops, the main ingredient of beer, seems to thwart the development of prostate cancer. However, researchers say, you'd have to drink 17 beers to get a medically-effective dose.

So ... what's the down side?

In the second story, a recent study has shown that drinking coffee can help to prevent cirrhosis of the liver.

Jeez, it doesn't get any better than this: Who knew that my two major vices would actually turn out to be good for me? On my way home tomorrow, I'll stop at my local watering hole, the Fish Bowl Brew Pub for a nice growler of India Pale Ale, swing over to my favorite coffee merchant, Batdorf and Bronson for some whole-bean Dancing Goats^tm blend and drink both of them until I'm the picture of health.

Like I say, it doesn't get any better than this.

Just Trust Us

In a weird circular-reasoning logic, he White House won't -- can't -- defend itself from the charges of illegal wiretapping because to do so would mean that the details of that wiretapping would have to be revealed.

"The president has decided that the program is necessary to protect and defend the United States," according to DOJ lawyer Anthony Coppolino "And that's all you need to worry your pretty little head about, judge," he did not add.

Privacy advocates and constitutional scholars alike have been decrying the domestic spying wiretap abuse since it became known, but this is the first time that's it has made it into court.

Trust us, the government says. We're only doing what it best for you.

It's really beyond me why this whole wiretapping thing was even considered to be necessary. It has never once caught a terrorist, suspected terrorist, or even a street-level vandalizing thug.

And here is why: Go into any convenience story anywhere in the country and you will see a rack of phone cards, for sale to anyone without their having to show any identification. And the way these work is that any calls made on them will not show up as coming from your telephone number. Instead, you use a phone booth to dial a toll-free number, key in your code, and the call looks like it's originating from wherever that long distance provider's server is. No muss, no fuss and no way to trace the originating number.

Drug dealers figured this one out years ago. But I guess the evil lurkers in all of those terrorist sleeper cells in this country are just too fucking stupid to figure it out for themselves.

Jesus, give me a break.

The Big Empty Gesture

When you're plummeting in the polls to the point where even members of your own party look the other way when you enter a room, trying to pretend that they don't know you, it's time for something dramatic. Something that's going to make you look like a leader again. Hmmm, what to do? Gay marriage? Naw, dead issue. Flag burning? It has possibilities, but it will probably take a real flag being burned somewhere to get the drums beating on that one.

I got it. A trip to Baghdad! Easy to do, no airline reservations, and with just a little advance planning the eyes of the world are back on you. The Moron-American voting bloc sees you once more as the rough and tough "bring 'em on" hero you always longed to be, laughing in the face of Fate, fearless in the gaze of death, and suddenly you're back on top again, ridin' high and livin' large.

Now let's all watch the poll numbers rise as though by magic.

(BTW, I'm sure that it's just a coincidence that the very minute Air Force One cleared the US border the stock market staged a dramatic rally.)

Books for New Orleans

I just heard about this. If you have a few good books sitting around just gathering dust, consider sending them to New Orleans so they can restock their library. Sadly, most of their books were destroyed in the Katrina flooding.

So if you do have a few, please send them to:

Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112-2007

Send them "media mail" at the Post Office and the postage won't cost you much. According to The Democratic Party story, the PO might even give you a break on the already-cheap cost to mail them.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 749 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Friday Cat Blogging

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2472 2489
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1734
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1177
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1137
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 118

It is still 956 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards. Vote Democratic this fall!

Is Ann Coulter Insane?

It certainly looks that way, after she called a group of New Jersey 9-11 widows "witches" and "harpies" in her new book and on the Today Show, among many other venues. If a dog exhibited similar dissociative behavior, he would be shot and his head would be removed for a diagnosis of potential rabies, a/k/a "mad dog" syndrome.

"Mann" Coulter (next time she's on one of those talking head shows, check out that Adam's apple and those man-hands -- yikes!) has made her own cottage industry out of being a stridently weird wingnut, but this time the consensus is that she's gone too far. Even Faux News pundits Bill O'Reilly and Mike Straka are trying to distance themselves from her after her frothing rant about the 9-11 widows who are now professional victims enjoying a little too much the fruits of their husbands' deaths.

So, in honor of Crazy Ann Coulter, here's another rehash of a song parody from last year, this one to the tune of Springsteen's Spirit in the Night:

Fear it in the Night
© 2005 Dennis Mansker

Ann "Thrax" Coulter held her steely dan
Clutched in the fingers of her strong right hand.
She has to use it 'cause she can't get a man,
Even drunk on Saturday night.

Well, Annie likes to slam the Democrats,
She calls 'em traitors and then she calls 'em rats,
She looks like a vampire hangin' out with the bats
Lookin' for a neck to bite.

Along with Mushy Rushie and Shammity,
They'll strip away our freedoms and take our liberty,
We have to fight, but we better fear it in the night (all night),
In the night (all night),
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you.
Fear it in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
If you're a liberal Annie will shoot you.

Ann Coulter is a crazy bitch,
If you're not Republican and you're not rich,
She'll kick you in the head and knock you in the ditch,
Leaving you alone to die there.

Annie wrote "Slander" and it was a lie,
Fox News sang her praises and never asked her why,
Then she wrote "Treason" and they gave her another bye,
And liberals aren't supposed to care?

Crazy Annie would be dancin' on our graves,
There wouldn't be a liberal that she would want to save,
She's such a fright, and you'd better fear it in the night (all night),
In the night (all night),
Oh, you don't know what she can do to you.
Fear it in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Stand up for the left she'll shoot you.

Ann "Voter Fraud" Coulter

After spouting her unforgiving brand of Xian philosophy for years about how the rule of law is supreme, criminals ought to receive the maximum penalties blah blah blah, it is with such a delicious feeling of schadenfreude that I read the news that she is apparently guilty of felony vote fraud in Florida.

Her only response so far is that the liberal elections board in Palm Beach County is suffering from brain damage due to syphilis.

Read the whole story and then follow up with Steven Leser's commentary on it.

Like Leser says, try counting the ironies. Dee-licious.

So all she needs to do now, to be consistent with her own beliefs and statements, is to plead guilty and demand that she be given the maximum prison term for her crime.

Uh huh. That's gonna happen right after blowhard neofascist gasbag Rush "Just-one-more-oxycontin" Limbaugh asks for jail time for HIS felony.

Hypocritical assholes.

The CIA-Nazi Connection

Here's news that, sadly, does not come as a suprise. The CIA was instrumental in concealing the identities and the whereabouts of top Nazis following WWII in a desperate and cynical attempt to use those Nazis as double agents against the Soviets.

Even Adolph Eichmann was a beneficiary of this misguided largesse. The CIA knew as early as 1958 where Eichmann was hiding, and even what name he was using. But they sat on this knowledge because they were afraid that Eichmann, if he were captured and brought to justsice, would blow the whistle on his buddy, Hans Globke, who was working for the US in Germany coordinating anti-communist activities.

Never mind the fact that Eichmann was the commandant of Auschwitz, personally responsible for the deaths of millions of people. That fact evidently paled in comparison to keeping Globke's skirts looking clean. Even when Eichmann was finally discovered and apprehended by agents from Israel, the US was able to exercise its considerable influence on Israel to keep Globke's name out of the proceedings.

Jeez, doesn't it seem like they could have done that anyway and given up Eichmann to Israel when they first knew his location?

No, I guess that makes too much sense. After all, we're dealing with that 1950s CIA mindset that dicated that the communists in the Soviet Union were so much worse than the German Nazis, who were apparently just "misunderstood".

After all, as we now know, even Prescott Bush, Baby Doc's own grandfather and the founder of the BFEE, made his fortune from his business dealings with the fascist corporatists in the Third Reich. He apparently didn't have any qualms about any untidy and unprofitable concepts such as human rights.

Back to Somalia?

Tromp tromp tromp, the boots of The Empire keep marching. Now it's back to Somalia, but not for revenge (after all, the Black Hawk Down events happened under Clinton's watch -- even though it was Poppy Bush who first sent troops there, another inconvenient fact forgotten by the Repugs when they were howling for Clinton's head over the incident) but to prevent the new government, the Islamic Militia, from creating a "safe haven" for Al Qaeda.

Baby Doc said as much yesterday, if you read between the lines, in a thinly-veiled threat to the new leaders of the country.

Naturally Baby Doc and his minions and handlers in the BFEE weren't at all happy that an Islamic force overthrew the warlords and ended years of lawless slaughter in that benighted nation. And that kind of puts us in the awkward position of supporting the very criminals who were in charge of Mogadishu when the body one of our own soldiers was dragged through the streets for the benefit of international television.

It's a funny world, isn't it? Black is white, up is down, war is peace, and freedom is slavery.

Jim Webb for Senate, Virginia

On Friday I received a telephone call from my good friend Tom Keefe, who was the National Field Director for Veterans for Kerry. Tom lives in the state of Virginia and is now active in the US Senate campaign of James Webb (www.webbforsenate.com). Jim Webb is a fellow Vietnam veteran, fellow Vietnam author and former Secretary of the Navy who is running against a guy named Harris Miller, a professional lobbyist, in the Virginia primary election, which is coming up just next week, on June 13th.

If any of you live in Virginia please help Jim win the primary; if you have friends or relatives living in Virginia, you might want to give them a call or send them an email to urge them to vote for Jim Webb.

And please consider making a donation to the Webb campaign -- his primary opponent, being a professional lobbyist, has lots of money and Jim Webb doesn't. Even $10 will help. Please do it quickly, since there are only seven days remaining until the election.

Here are some of the reasons why Tom Keefe and I, along with many other veterans, are supporting James Webb:

·He has the courage to stand up and lead.
·He has the unique ability to bring "Reagan Democrats" and others, who have drifted away from the Democratic Party back home, to the party of Wes Clark, Mark Warner, and Tim Kaine.
· He is not a life-long, career politician or lobbyist, like Harris Miller. Instead, Jim Webb is a patriot who cares first about the country for which he almost gave his life in Vietnam. As proof of this, Webb gave up a life he loved in order to run for US Senate, simply because he was deeply concerned over the nation's direction.
·As a former Navy Secretary, Jim Webb has tremendous national security experience and credibility in this post-9/11 world.
·Jim Webb alone had the guts to speak out against the Iraq War before the invasion. This shows character and the type of leadership we can expect from Senator Webb. Contrast this with Harris Miller, who continues to refuse to answer whether he would have voted for the resolution that gave the President a blank check to invade Iraq.

Thank you for any support that you can give to Jim Webb in this crucial race.

God, Guns and Gays

Let's see... An illegal occupation of Iraq that keeps dragging on with no end in sight, no "victory" possible, and an American death toll of over 2400 and counting. Children going to bed hungry. Fifty million people without health care. A Walmart economy that continues to add jobs that don't pay a living wage while at the same time "outsourcing" real jobs to India and China. Record high gas prices coupled with record high profits for Big Oil. A ballooning deficit that should be a firebell in the night for the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. A federal government that is out of control and spying on innocent Americans. A culture of corruption that has taken over Congress and the Executive Branch.

Yep, wo do have some real problems in this country. So what's the GOP's answer to all this? Why, it's simple: Remove the so-called "death tax" (which currently affects only those who die with assets in excess of four million dollars, or 0.5% of the American populace), and of course deal with those old tried-and-true issues of gay marriage and flag burning, to be corrected by passing Constitutional amendments to ban them.

Cynic that I am, I can't help but see all of this is some more of that good ole god, guns and gays posturing by the Repugnicans who are anxious to deflect the attention of the Moron-American voting bloc away from the real problems by getting them to focus on those "values" issues that the GOP is so good at exploiting.

But hey, it's a post-9/11 world out there, and if you're not with us, you're with the terrorists. Yikes, there goes one now! It's a flag-burning faggot out to marry your brother, confiscate all of your guns and tax your death!

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 742 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Friday Cat Blogging

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2463 2472
Total coalition forces dead: 223
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1728
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1170
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1130
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 111

It is still 963 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards. Vote Democratic this fall!

Is Haditha Arabic for My Lai?

The body count is smaller, but the similarities are overwhelming. Unarmed civilians, mostly old people, women and children, slaughtered by a force of American soldiers. A massive coverup by the American brass. When the truth finally emerges, massive denial by everyone in a position of authority.

Like so many other similarities between the quagmire in the jungle and the quagmire in the desert, the massacre of civilians at Haditha has a disconcerting resonance with the infamous My Lai massacre of forty years ago.

A notable difference is that this time the Army brass was not able to cover it up for more than a year before the truth came out. But they didn't have good-soldier Colin Powell to help out this time around (Powell was in the Americal Division and helped to cover up the My Lai Massacre -- an almost-forgotten inconvenient fact that I believe was integral to his decision not to run for higher office).

Predictably the wingnuttery are squawking out about the massacre with their usual "we're at war, shit happens" crap -- and oh by the way it's all the fault of the liberal media for reporting it. And of course, Clinton for...well, just being Clinton, I guess.

Once again some low-level grunts will bear the burden -- as they should, if the reports are accurate, as they seem to be -- but those above them who created the climate of violence and the opportunity for murder will go untouched. Instead, the military is instituting something they call "core values" training.

Baby Doc the other day at West Point presumptuously (and preposterously) compared himself to Harry Truman, but he ought to recall one of the things that Harry Truman was famous for: A desk sign that said "The Buck Stops Here".

Der Monkey Fuehrer and his flying-monkey lackey Rummy Rumsfeld are at the top of the heap in America's military. Bush likes to keep reminding us that he's the commander-in-chief and, as The Decider, is keeping Rummy on the job.

That makes both of them responsible and complicit in the deaths at Haditha. When the news of My Lai finally crept to the surface and saw the light of day, it was a turning point in the minds of most Americans who up to that point had either supported the war, or didn't oppose it (those people who "didn't have a dog in the fight" -- i.e., had no one they knew in uniform and over there), and the anti-war movement picked up both mass and velocity as a direct result of My Lai.

Here's hoping that the complacent attitude on the part of those same uninvolved Americans will change with the continuing revelations about Haditha. Call me cynical, but I'm not counting on it. Not when those same people can be lulled to sleep with the belief that Little Lynndie England, The Tiny Terror of Baghdad, was solely responsible for those highly inventive torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib.