May 2004 Archives

George Bush is apparently viewed as a "regular guy" by folks asked who they would rather have a barbecue with. Let's make a point here. Regular guys are not born into riches, go to two Ivy League schools, allowed to shirk military duty without punishment, and have the Supreme Court allow them to be president. Unless, that is, you consider clumsiness, the inability to speak the English language, and the means to buy your way to the presidency things regular guys do. Personally, I see that we have two elitists running for office; I'm just planning to vote for the one not trying to get my family killed.

Other morons. Kids who see vandalism as harmless fun. Also, look at the pic attached to this article and ask yourself if the First Amendment should give either of these clowns the right to be racist pigs. PUT THE SHEET ON YOU PORCINE VIOLATION!

Genius idiot of the week: Donald Rumsfeld, in trying to recover from the prisoner abuse debacle, has banned the use of camera phones amongst our armed forces. Yeah, let's not try to fix the problem; just hide the evidence.

In a related vein, I continue to hear from people who do not want to even acknowledge that some of our troops are fools who could actually sink to such wretched levels. They too just want to pretend and make it go away. Look, the quicker we accept responsibility for the situation and punish those at fault, the less the rest of our troops over there are in danger from those who would otherwise stand on the sidelines. It's called personal responsibility. Take the blame, fix the problem. Try it sometime. For those GOP members, I suggest starting November at your local polling place if not before. I mean, its not like the current resident of the Oval Office is ever going to admit a mistake.

Slate tackles the whole price of gas issue and raises some serious points. One being the fact that we are nominally an OPEC member right now so why not use that to our advantage? Another article addresses how to make voting interesting again.

I've been waiting for this one to get online in full form: Blender brings you the 50 Worst Songs Ever.

Also, we've killed the Irish lifestyle. Plus, your doctor needs to take his necktie off before he kills you.

Lastly, from EvilNed, titled: This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse. Cringe in fear.

I was at work unfortunately and missed it, but I wanted to point out that Randy Johnson pitched a perfect game today. One, its a damn hard thing to do. Two, especially at 40. Three, especially with these stats. You want to know why I like baseball above all other sports? Moments like these. Hopefully I can catch some SportsCenter action to see some highlights.

I just wanted to point out two idiots who continue to walk this world with no shame: JonBenet Ramsey's dad and Kobe Bryant. Seriously, somebody please slap some sense into these fools.

First off, before anything else, crack open a cold one for Tom's 21st birthday. Here's hoping his next one is safe at home.

Some folks on the Galva-Kewanee Armed Services Group (can I just call it GKASG or something from now on?) just plain disappoint me. The latest discussion, as with most people, concerns the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. While most have been shocked and remain fairly level-headed, we have some members who pretty much praise the stupid MPs who did this and assume these are regular interrogation practices. Yeah, but only in Oz.

Let me clear this up. Yes, I doubt most of the guys they captured are nice guys. I also doubt they've been very cooperative. However, humiliating them and getting photo proof of it will: a) not likely get them talking anyway, and b) will now only get our troops - and civilians apparently - into many more life-and-death situations. As much as I lay the blame for the 740+ dead at the feet of our current administration, they are now going to have to share the blame with those shameful MPs from here on out.

More importantly, the very acts alone ensure that our troops over there are more likely to get in harm's way. Sweeping the incidents under the rug and pooh-poohing it all away will increase that danger by another order of magnitude. Yes, it is not pleasant to think our troops - our side even - are capable of such cruel acts. But let's not lie and pretend it did not happen. Acknowledge it, actually apologize for it, try and charge those guilty of the criminal behavior, and do our best to be open and honest about never letting something like this happen again. When half the Arab world thinks that a beheading is a proper response to the way we treat our prisoners, that says a lot more about our practices than the imbecile criminals we're fighting. Let's worry more about regaining the moral high ground than on whether or not we can handle bad news.

I'm not talking about a witch hunt. I'm also not talking about having to see every piece of evidence on display on the evening news. Acknowledge the problem, deal with it fairly, and move on. Could we just do something without going to extremes for once?

And while we are at it, I agree with those naysayers on one thing at least: let us report the good we actually are achieving in Iraq and give us all a reason to be proud of our efforts there. Not for political gain, not to be portrayed as stooges of the government; merely because it should be newsworthy.

From the "Saying everything but what they want to hear" department, Bush went on Arab TV to acknowledge that, yes, some of our MPs are dirtbags, but he's not going to apologize, much less take responsibility, for any of that mess. For all his obvious faults, even Rumsfeld did that. Slate also covers how we are letting the president get away with being stupid.

You don't have to be intelligent to vote Democratic, but it obviously helps. Thanks to Raziel in the UK for bringing that to our attention. Hopefully intelligence will overcome bombast, false patriotism, and a culture of fear this fall.

Speaking of the current administration, GQ covers the sad, sorry fate of Colin Powell. You almost have to feel sorry for the guy, though he should have known what he was getting into.

So, we still make cars here right? After the news from Oldsmobile and Ford, I'm beginning to wonder.

On a vaguely current culture aspect, I picked up Smile Empty Soul's CD the other day and was struck by the lyrics of "This is War." If I get enough calls for it, I may even put up an .mp3 of it, though I doubt the RIAA would be very pleased if I did. Maybe I can get the band's permission.

The Bush clan has decided to not attend the graduations of the First Drinkers (Jenna and Barbara to the rest of ya) "in order to avoid disruptions for families of the other graduates." So wait a minute...we are going to let them get away with ignoring a chance to praise education and family values in an actual non-politicized setting on the premise of respecting families when there are 700+ families dealing with the deaths of their loved ones because W didn't give one iota of concern for them? That's straight hypocrisy folks. Vote accordingly.

Speaking of quality education, let's try to make sure these kinds of idiots are not allowed to develop our youth.

Not that I really give a damn what he thinks, but Michael Moore is being censored by Disney. I figure that every crackpot, be it morons like Limbaugh or not-quite-truthful propagandists like Moore, has a constitutional right to their opinions. Too bad corporations and our government feel differently.

Oh, continuing with fascist pigs, the RIAA types conveniently forgot how to find musicians like David Bowie and Dolly Parton to send them checks they earned. Maybe they were too busy suing grandmas. Happy Mother's Day. In other law and order type news, Oregon inmates get to have flat screen TVs in their cells. Seriously, isn't jail supposed to be punishment?

A few last notes concerning a miracle survival, a glimpse at Olympic concerns, and - via EvilNed - how to find a Singapore bathroom.

First off, Moreover is probably killing the newsfeed access in the near future. They want to move everyone over to an ad-based service. I have no clue if an ad-free alternative is available, but I'll try to find it. Too bad as I've mostly enjoyed the experience with Moreover; but I am not about to insult your intelligence - or mine - by hocking goods for some corporate stooges for free.

A few anti-GOP rants to pass along. First off, that idiot O'Reilly at FOXNews is trying to start a culture war with Canada. Only he could piss off everyone he's trying to make a viewer of. Another useless pile of dung, Michael Savage, managed to motivate this guy (article is obscene but worth reading for poignant points plus humor value). Want to know why conservatives are dangerous to the rest of us? Read that article. My favorite part? The "thug liberal" tag. Wear it proud folks.

Good lord, what else? Oh yeah, if you are one of those misbegotten souls who dared oppose our invasion of Iraq, you may already know you have been labelled a "traitor", are "unpatriotic" and "not behind our troops." Did you also know you are a racist? That's what the president thinks anyway. Not sure where they cook this stuff up.

Salon carries the story of Joseph Wilson (you may have to endure an ad via the Free Day Pass to read it). Best quote?

"Q: What's the difference in the GOP from when you were growing up?

A: If you're fiscally responsible, this is not your party. If you believe in a moderate foreign policy characterized by alliances, free trade and the ability to operate in an international environment, this is not your party. If you believe in limited federal government, this is not your party. If you believe that the government should stay out of your bedroom, this is very definitely not your party. In fact, I would argue that unless you believe in the American imperium, imposed on the world by force, or unless you believe in the literal interpretation of the Book of Revelations, this is not your party."

You may have missed Sen. Frank Lautenberg's statement last week. I provide you a quick synopsis, a link to the full text and that wonderful Chickenhawk graphic. Seriously, take the time to read the whole statement. Also, a timely Mark Fiore cartoon for ya.

Bible quiz for ya. One thing I learned from taking it: liberal is mentioned in the Bible; conservative is not. Go chew on that one for awhile. Natch.

Hmm, that's it for this entry.

The big news is about prisoner mistreatment in Iraq, as detailed here and in many, many other news venues. While I agree that surrendering troops need to be treated well and those responsible for abuses need to be probably court martialed, stripped of rank, and likely flogged themselves; let's take a step back here for a second. I find it ironic that many of the same regional news agencies screaming for blood on this issue were the same ones gleefully showing mobs killing, kicking, then hanging corpses from a bridge in Fallujah and presenting that as a good thing. Wrong is wrong and you need to show it all across the board. That goes for our media too.

By way of comparison , here's a prisoner I have little but contempt for. I figure any child abuser, much less one that sexually assaults children, has a very narrow scope in which they can appeal to society's feelings. Not even a crocodile tear for this situation.

This kid needs a medal or something. I don't even know what I'd do in that situation.

For comedic purposes only (hopefully): a look at the secret Bush campaign strategy. From Maxim, just so you know what you're getting into.

You want to know what's wrong with the legal system in this country? Read this guy's sad story.

ESPN has hired John Kruk to do an article for them, mostly focusing on baseball I presume. I was real skeptical going into this but he writes really well. Take a look at his latest comment and go back through his past couple articles as well.