SPANKED! a vote for Bush is a vote for the loser in the first debate...
John Kerry kicked Bush's ass in this debate. No question about it. On style, substance, composure, grasp of the issues, and whatever else you can think of, Kerry won hands down. Any rational person can see that.
From the first moment Bush was on edge--he jerked his hand away from Kerry in the greeting handshake. Bush spoke haltingly and repeated phrases over and over even when they had no relevance to the question asked. He seemed irritated and his face showed it--he frequently furrowed his brow (it reminded me of Michelle Malkin) and his lips and eyes twitched quite a bit. He sputtered through non-answers and sounded nervous throughout the entire ordeal.
By contrast, Kerry was authoritative and calm. He definitely benefitted from the side-by-side comparison the debate gave him. Just as Bush tried to inject his new propaganda phrase "mixed messages" into the public discourse (a cause in which he will be ably abetted by the likes of Chris Matthews), Kerry had some great lines as well, i.e.,
"Don't confuse the war with the warriors"--a great line that dovetails nicely with his experience in Vietnam
"I've had one position on Iraq: Saddam had to be disarmed, and there was a right way and a wrong way to do that. The president chose the wrong way." Very nice--succinct, forceful, presidential.
Spin
So the pundits said before the debate that the winner of the first debate will be the winner of the election. Therefore, Kerry will win the election. But we knew that already. But there could still be spin that we're not expecting, like this Newsmax article that whines that moderator Lehrer favored Kerry with his questions.
However, even if that were true, Bush was very pushy and violated the rules of the debate. When Kerry would finish a point, Bush began to just start trying to refute it. He didn't ask the moderator for permission (OK, the first time or two he did), he just harrumphed and started whining.
Kerry, on the other hand, raised his hand twice attempting to ask for one of Lehrer's extensions and was ignored both times. Kerry was being polite and following the rules, Bush was being pushy.
Bush also seemed to think that if you talk louder, it makes what you say more believable. I must say, Bush didn't come off like a bad person, he just came off like an imbecile who shouldn't be president. And I don't mean that in a bad way--I'm an imbecile who shouldn't be president.
But Kerry is not an imbecile and he should be and will be our next president.
Oh, and one other spin I heard the right wing try to trot out--Bush spoke from the heart and just let people see how he truly is while Kerry brought out facts and figures and was all formal and stuffy. Bullshit--anybody who saw the debate knows that pure bullshit.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Monday, September 27, 2004
I GOT POLLED a vote for Bush is a vote for Satan...
I answered the phone even though the Caller ID said "out of area." Turns out it was a woman from "ICR"--International Communications Research.
I thought it might be a survey about the election once she assured me that she wasn't making a sales call. However, she started off with questions about whether I had a)taken on a lot of debt, b) taken on a little debt, c) paid off a little debt, or d)paid off a lot of debt. And then more debt questions. And then age range questions. Then health insurance questions. Then lifestyle questions.
Then, finally--who would you vote for, Kerry or Bush? I said "Kerry, baby! Now go put that on CNN!"
Then there were a whole bunch of follow-up questions, among them, what is my preference of copying machine in the office in which I work, etc. She asked a few more election/policy-related questions, like did I agree with the abolition of the inheritance tax (no) or what do I see as the biggest problem in the country (job market, health care cost, war in Iraq, etc.)
Anyway, I've never been polled before for an election. And I've never heard of ICR before. Hopefully the survey will serve some good purpose.
My interview with Thomas Frank went well and will hopefully air on Friday...
I answered the phone even though the Caller ID said "out of area." Turns out it was a woman from "ICR"--International Communications Research.
I thought it might be a survey about the election once she assured me that she wasn't making a sales call. However, she started off with questions about whether I had a)taken on a lot of debt, b) taken on a little debt, c) paid off a little debt, or d)paid off a lot of debt. And then more debt questions. And then age range questions. Then health insurance questions. Then lifestyle questions.
Then, finally--who would you vote for, Kerry or Bush? I said "Kerry, baby! Now go put that on CNN!"
Then there were a whole bunch of follow-up questions, among them, what is my preference of copying machine in the office in which I work, etc. She asked a few more election/policy-related questions, like did I agree with the abolition of the inheritance tax (no) or what do I see as the biggest problem in the country (job market, health care cost, war in Iraq, etc.)
Anyway, I've never been polled before for an election. And I've never heard of ICR before. Hopefully the survey will serve some good purpose.
My interview with Thomas Frank went well and will hopefully air on Friday...
Monday, September 20, 2004
CALLING BULLSHIT a vote for Bush is a vote against yourself...
Well well...they made Dan cave...you know the only reason this stupid CBS memo story is getting so much play is due to schadenfreude...
The other networks and news organizations are pissing themselves with glee because at least for this one shining moment they can tell themselves "Hey, at least we're not as bad as CBS!" Then they can have a giant porcine laugh and go back to ignoring important stories...
Like the one that came out on Friday, about the Navy's internal investigation into the issuing of John Kerry's medals. Here's what they found:
Not that anyone ever questioned the validity of Kerry's medals...except creepy liars who want to pretend they're "saving the country" from Kerry when all they're doing is helping to put more young people into the meat grinder of the "war on terror." Don't they fucking get it? These Vietnam veterans are helping a man who has started his own Vietnam--a pointless, misguided, catastrophic miscalculation--for today's kids.
It's almost as if the thoroughly discredited Swift Boat Devils are saying to today's armed forces--"Hey, we had to fight in a war that did nothing but tear our country apart and maim and kill us and our friends--so now it's your turn." What bitter, evil bums these anti-men are...they are soulless sellouts who would rather pay a few dollars less in taxes than let Iraqis and Americans live in peace because these Swift Boat Assholes are fervently working to get Bush a second term...
But I Digress
But I was saying--I didn't hear about the Navy revalidating Kerry's medals until today on Media Matters' website. I even read the fucking news off the AP wire all day today and Friday and never saw a mention of it.
What the hell is going on here that Dan Rather has to eat crow over some faked documents that don't even really add anything to the story about Bush wimping out on his guard service while nobody reports the story about Kerry's medals being for real?
Long Story Short:
Kerry--decorated Vietnam veteran
Bush--AWOL from National Guard
Advantage: Bush?
What the fuck?
Well well...they made Dan cave...you know the only reason this stupid CBS memo story is getting so much play is due to schadenfreude...
The other networks and news organizations are pissing themselves with glee because at least for this one shining moment they can tell themselves "Hey, at least we're not as bad as CBS!" Then they can have a giant porcine laugh and go back to ignoring important stories...
Like the one that came out on Friday, about the Navy's internal investigation into the issuing of John Kerry's medals. Here's what they found:
"Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed," Route wrote in the memo sent Friday to Navy Secretary Gordon England.
Not that anyone ever questioned the validity of Kerry's medals...except creepy liars who want to pretend they're "saving the country" from Kerry when all they're doing is helping to put more young people into the meat grinder of the "war on terror." Don't they fucking get it? These Vietnam veterans are helping a man who has started his own Vietnam--a pointless, misguided, catastrophic miscalculation--for today's kids.
It's almost as if the thoroughly discredited Swift Boat Devils are saying to today's armed forces--"Hey, we had to fight in a war that did nothing but tear our country apart and maim and kill us and our friends--so now it's your turn." What bitter, evil bums these anti-men are...they are soulless sellouts who would rather pay a few dollars less in taxes than let Iraqis and Americans live in peace because these Swift Boat Assholes are fervently working to get Bush a second term...
But I Digress
But I was saying--I didn't hear about the Navy revalidating Kerry's medals until today on Media Matters' website. I even read the fucking news off the AP wire all day today and Friday and never saw a mention of it.
What the hell is going on here that Dan Rather has to eat crow over some faked documents that don't even really add anything to the story about Bush wimping out on his guard service while nobody reports the story about Kerry's medals being for real?
Long Story Short:
Kerry--decorated Vietnam veteran
Bush--AWOL from National Guard
Advantage: Bush?
What the fuck?
Sunday, September 19, 2004
HOW DO THEY DO IT? a vote for Bush is a vote for dope, guns, and fucking in the street...
How do the Rape-ublicans get gays to go along with them? Is it sort of the Michelle Malkin syndrome--have the person pimping against a cause be the kind of person who would be hurt by it?
So David Dreier is gay...I hate to say it, but I had no idea. He really is a slick politician--his confident, party-line-toeing appearances on "Hardball" always annoyed me, but you have to admit the guy comes across as charming, knowledgable, and highly partisan. It's just so great that Mr. California Republican has been outed. But will this make Republicans see how disgraceful their party is? Of course not.
Michelle Malkin Blows
Speaking of disgraceful Republicans, Michelle Malkin's appearance on BookTV today was awesome...protestors outside the building caused quite a stir...the best question from the audience was "In the unlikely event that the U.S. goes to war with the Philippines, would you advocate rounding up and imprisoning Filipino-Americans (which is what Malkin is)?"
She wrinkled her brow in that way that she does quite often that makes her come off as really angry and sarcastically said "Yeah, if the 9/11 hijackers had been short Filipino women, then I'd volunteer..." or something to that effect. As if the question was so outrageous that it isn't even worth considering. Then she continued with a sarcastic, dismissive "PLEASE!! That is so ridiculous!"
Except that that question goes directly to the heart of what is wrong with her argument and what was wrong with the Japanese internment in the first place. And her argument is, OTHER people are bad and should be hounded by the police and locked up and beaten and interrogated. But when she is asked to consider a hypothetical situation in which she would be seen as the "other," it's absurd, impossible, and not worth a moment's consideration.
And what was wrong with the Japanese internment in the first place? Malkin cited the existence of many Japanese double agents working in America, and yada, yada, yada. Were there no German double agents or Italian double agents? We declared war on those countries as well--why didn't we imprison all the German and Italian immigrants?
Well, the obvious answer is because German and Italian immigrants are white (or could pass) while Japanese immigrants are very noticeably different and it allowed the government at the time to say, "Look, we're doing everything to protect you" even though they were rounding up the German and Italian double agents. That's the problem--Malkin's argument is based solely on race/ethnicity. She also blew off a question about Timothy McVeigh and why radical whites weren't rounded up after Oklahoma City.
Malkin and Dowd and "Civil Rights Absolutists"
Anyway, Malkin is also laughable because she wants to be Maureen Dowd so badly that Malkin brought Dowd's name up time after time. Everything bad in Malkin's world seems to come from Maureen Dowd. She's kinda like Jan Brady--it's always "Maureen, Maureen, Maureen!"
Malkin just needs to break down and ask Dowd out. Enough of this stalking Michelle! Just let Maureen know how you really feel...
Oh yeah, and everything bad not spewing forth from Maureen Dowd (which granted, is almost everything) comes from the ACLU. Malkin disparaged "civil rights absolutists" a few times during her talk, with her commentary adopting a leftist feel--talking about how kids aren't taught the real truth in school (about Japanese internment) and how she has "unpopular ideas" and how you'd think at Berkeley they'd understand what a "liberal education" was all about.
But isn't America founded on "civil rights absolutism?" I mean rhetorically, of course, given that the poor, women, slaves, etc. didn't have the same civil rights as rich white men for hundreds of years. But in principle--"all men are created equal," "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, etc.--aren't those indicative of a strong commitment to civil liberties? The right to be free from unreasonable searches, the right to a speedy trial, the right to not have to testify against yourself, the right to not have to endure cruel and unusual punishment--don't these all suggest "absolutes" of civil liberties?
And people like Malkin and crazy right-wingers who suggest that in "this post-September 11 world" we'll all have to sacrifice some of our civil liberties are the real enemy. They would rather that this country go on intimidating the world, pre-emptively starting wars at our whim, and taking what we want when we want it from anyone in the world. These policies are why Sept. 11 happened in the first place, and don't let anyone tell you any different.
But rather than address these root causes (which are but a few), she'd rather deny U.S. citizens their rights to allow the corporatists to ravage the rest of the world when maybe a better thing for everybody would be to change our foreign policy so that people in other countries have no motivation to attack us, and then no one would have to try to curtail anyone's civil rights.
How do the Rape-ublicans get gays to go along with them? Is it sort of the Michelle Malkin syndrome--have the person pimping against a cause be the kind of person who would be hurt by it?
So David Dreier is gay...I hate to say it, but I had no idea. He really is a slick politician--his confident, party-line-toeing appearances on "Hardball" always annoyed me, but you have to admit the guy comes across as charming, knowledgable, and highly partisan. It's just so great that Mr. California Republican has been outed. But will this make Republicans see how disgraceful their party is? Of course not.
Michelle Malkin Blows
Speaking of disgraceful Republicans, Michelle Malkin's appearance on BookTV today was awesome...protestors outside the building caused quite a stir...the best question from the audience was "In the unlikely event that the U.S. goes to war with the Philippines, would you advocate rounding up and imprisoning Filipino-Americans (which is what Malkin is)?"
She wrinkled her brow in that way that she does quite often that makes her come off as really angry and sarcastically said "Yeah, if the 9/11 hijackers had been short Filipino women, then I'd volunteer..." or something to that effect. As if the question was so outrageous that it isn't even worth considering. Then she continued with a sarcastic, dismissive "PLEASE!! That is so ridiculous!"
Except that that question goes directly to the heart of what is wrong with her argument and what was wrong with the Japanese internment in the first place. And her argument is, OTHER people are bad and should be hounded by the police and locked up and beaten and interrogated. But when she is asked to consider a hypothetical situation in which she would be seen as the "other," it's absurd, impossible, and not worth a moment's consideration.
And what was wrong with the Japanese internment in the first place? Malkin cited the existence of many Japanese double agents working in America, and yada, yada, yada. Were there no German double agents or Italian double agents? We declared war on those countries as well--why didn't we imprison all the German and Italian immigrants?
Well, the obvious answer is because German and Italian immigrants are white (or could pass) while Japanese immigrants are very noticeably different and it allowed the government at the time to say, "Look, we're doing everything to protect you" even though they were rounding up the German and Italian double agents. That's the problem--Malkin's argument is based solely on race/ethnicity. She also blew off a question about Timothy McVeigh and why radical whites weren't rounded up after Oklahoma City.
Malkin and Dowd and "Civil Rights Absolutists"
Anyway, Malkin is also laughable because she wants to be Maureen Dowd so badly that Malkin brought Dowd's name up time after time. Everything bad in Malkin's world seems to come from Maureen Dowd. She's kinda like Jan Brady--it's always "Maureen, Maureen, Maureen!"
Malkin just needs to break down and ask Dowd out. Enough of this stalking Michelle! Just let Maureen know how you really feel...
Oh yeah, and everything bad not spewing forth from Maureen Dowd (which granted, is almost everything) comes from the ACLU. Malkin disparaged "civil rights absolutists" a few times during her talk, with her commentary adopting a leftist feel--talking about how kids aren't taught the real truth in school (about Japanese internment) and how she has "unpopular ideas" and how you'd think at Berkeley they'd understand what a "liberal education" was all about.
But isn't America founded on "civil rights absolutism?" I mean rhetorically, of course, given that the poor, women, slaves, etc. didn't have the same civil rights as rich white men for hundreds of years. But in principle--"all men are created equal," "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, etc.--aren't those indicative of a strong commitment to civil liberties? The right to be free from unreasonable searches, the right to a speedy trial, the right to not have to testify against yourself, the right to not have to endure cruel and unusual punishment--don't these all suggest "absolutes" of civil liberties?
And people like Malkin and crazy right-wingers who suggest that in "this post-September 11 world" we'll all have to sacrifice some of our civil liberties are the real enemy. They would rather that this country go on intimidating the world, pre-emptively starting wars at our whim, and taking what we want when we want it from anyone in the world. These policies are why Sept. 11 happened in the first place, and don't let anyone tell you any different.
But rather than address these root causes (which are but a few), she'd rather deny U.S. citizens their rights to allow the corporatists to ravage the rest of the world when maybe a better thing for everybody would be to change our foreign policy so that people in other countries have no motivation to attack us, and then no one would have to try to curtail anyone's civil rights.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
THANK YOU IVAN a vote for Bush is a vote for the smell of urine (and that's just gross)...
Thank you Ivan, for moving just to the east of Mobile Bay so that we here in South Mississippi missed the brunt of it. But we boarded a few windows...I think with this busy hurricane season we're just going to leave 'em boarded up for the time being.
I watched half of "Hardball" half-heartedly...I hope The Daily Howler does a piece on today's episode...This whole mess about CBS documents and Bill Burkett and all of this is too much. Damn, these Rapepublicans are pros at media manipulation!! They've got everyone talking about "apparent forgeries" and this document expert and that secretary all recanting or acknowledging one thing while denying another and they forget the whole point of it, fake memos or not, which is:
That's from the CBS website. That's the whole point, and no one seems to have the inclination, or the energy, or whatever to even discuss Ben Barnes' admission that he pulled strings to get Bush into the Guard.
Dodging the draft and dodging the truth
All of this reminds me of the Republican woman who called in to "Washington Journal" last week to report that Kerry had "dodged the draft" by enlisting in the Navy and volunteering to go to Vietnam. Say whaaaaa!?!?!
But while all this stupid shit is being dissected down to its infinitesimal protoplasm, I didn't hear word one on any cable news show about Kofi Annan synthesizing all the latest info about pre-war Iraq intelligence into the declaration that the Iraq war was "illegal." But I guess that's because the U.N. is nothing more than a dirty toilet for us to take a piss in whenever we feel like it--or so Bush and his disgraceful followers seem to feel.
Sweet Jesus, come on back and bring your children home...
Thank you Ivan, for moving just to the east of Mobile Bay so that we here in South Mississippi missed the brunt of it. But we boarded a few windows...I think with this busy hurricane season we're just going to leave 'em boarded up for the time being.
I watched half of "Hardball" half-heartedly...I hope The Daily Howler does a piece on today's episode...This whole mess about CBS documents and Bill Burkett and all of this is too much. Damn, these Rapepublicans are pros at media manipulation!! They've got everyone talking about "apparent forgeries" and this document expert and that secretary all recanting or acknowledging one thing while denying another and they forget the whole point of it, fake memos or not, which is:
...Rather said CBS' critics have never attacked the thrust of the network's story: that Mr. Bush received preferential treatment to get into the National Guard and stay stateside during the Vietnam War, and failed to satisfy the requirements of his service.
That's from the CBS website. That's the whole point, and no one seems to have the inclination, or the energy, or whatever to even discuss Ben Barnes' admission that he pulled strings to get Bush into the Guard.
Dodging the draft and dodging the truth
All of this reminds me of the Republican woman who called in to "Washington Journal" last week to report that Kerry had "dodged the draft" by enlisting in the Navy and volunteering to go to Vietnam. Say whaaaaa!?!?!
But while all this stupid shit is being dissected down to its infinitesimal protoplasm, I didn't hear word one on any cable news show about Kofi Annan synthesizing all the latest info about pre-war Iraq intelligence into the declaration that the Iraq war was "illegal." But I guess that's because the U.N. is nothing more than a dirty toilet for us to take a piss in whenever we feel like it--or so Bush and his disgraceful followers seem to feel.
Sweet Jesus, come on back and bring your children home...
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
IVAN THE TERRIBLE a vote for Bush is a vote for the hurricane...
When is this hurricane gonna hurry up and get it over with? It's taking its sweet time and screwing up my week...
Traffic through our town was bumper to bumper on Highway 49...it took a friend of mine an hour to go a couple of miles yesterday...damn...
We've got family here at the house--we're north of Ivan...my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, her two daughters, another niece and her two daughters, and two dogs plus my dogs...
whoo...that's close quarters...
This CBS "forgery" story is out of hand...the Swift Boat Veterans may not have forged anything, but they just made shit up...but one Republican thug puts out the meme that the documents may have been forged, and suddenly Dan Rather can't be trusted...what's the frequency, America?
My band got asked to do a "Rock The Vote" show a week from now...we can't do it because it's while we're at work and one of our guys can't do it...I suggested some other bands to the woman and she wanted to know if the bands I was telling her about were Democrats...I told her I didn't know for sure, but probably so...she knows it's supposed to be a non-partisan organization, but she still didn't want to put Republicans up there...
Republicans already have their own related organization: Rob The Vote...
When is this hurricane gonna hurry up and get it over with? It's taking its sweet time and screwing up my week...
Traffic through our town was bumper to bumper on Highway 49...it took a friend of mine an hour to go a couple of miles yesterday...damn...
We've got family here at the house--we're north of Ivan...my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, her two daughters, another niece and her two daughters, and two dogs plus my dogs...
whoo...that's close quarters...
This CBS "forgery" story is out of hand...the Swift Boat Veterans may not have forged anything, but they just made shit up...but one Republican thug puts out the meme that the documents may have been forged, and suddenly Dan Rather can't be trusted...what's the frequency, America?
My band got asked to do a "Rock The Vote" show a week from now...we can't do it because it's while we're at work and one of our guys can't do it...I suggested some other bands to the woman and she wanted to know if the bands I was telling her about were Democrats...I told her I didn't know for sure, but probably so...she knows it's supposed to be a non-partisan organization, but she still didn't want to put Republicans up there...
Republicans already have their own related organization: Rob The Vote...
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
END THE WAR a vote for Bush is a vote for the terrorists...
Why won't they let anyone on TV who'll say three simple words: "end the war?"
Even the Guardsmen's wives on "Deborah Norville Tonight" wouldn't say it...instead, they talked about pride, not questioning their husbands' deployment, etc.
Why are we allowing this happy talk to continue?
Why are we maintaining a massive standing army?
Why do most mainstream pundits and reporters act like it may or may not be true that America antagonizes the world?
One lesson of the Cold War that is rarely brought up is that perceptions of threats differ. By which I mean, the conventional wisdom here in America is that we had to keep the
Soviets in check because their ideology advocated world domination. But what never seemed to acknowledge much then or now is that the Soviets felt the same way about us.
After all, the only country that has ever used a nuclear device in a war is...uh...us. Is it impossible to see how that might make say, everyone in the world afraid of us. While Bush goes on and on about the nuclear threat that MIGHT ONE DAY materialize and then never does, WE are the ones posing an actual, very real nuclear threat to the entire world.
Colin Powell admits WMD won't be found--he is a jackass.
John McCain says we can't give "sanctuary" to the "insurgents" in Iraq--he is a jackass. Would he rather we just took out the whole civilian population in order to kill a few bad apples?
And why are we letting this happen? What is wrong with us? Why aren't we all yelling and screaming for the end of the war?
Scalia's thugs kinda apologize....
And the hurricane approaches...
Why won't they let anyone on TV who'll say three simple words: "end the war?"
Even the Guardsmen's wives on "Deborah Norville Tonight" wouldn't say it...instead, they talked about pride, not questioning their husbands' deployment, etc.
Why are we allowing this happy talk to continue?
Why are we maintaining a massive standing army?
Why do most mainstream pundits and reporters act like it may or may not be true that America antagonizes the world?
One lesson of the Cold War that is rarely brought up is that perceptions of threats differ. By which I mean, the conventional wisdom here in America is that we had to keep the
Soviets in check because their ideology advocated world domination. But what never seemed to acknowledge much then or now is that the Soviets felt the same way about us.
After all, the only country that has ever used a nuclear device in a war is...uh...us. Is it impossible to see how that might make say, everyone in the world afraid of us. While Bush goes on and on about the nuclear threat that MIGHT ONE DAY materialize and then never does, WE are the ones posing an actual, very real nuclear threat to the entire world.
Colin Powell admits WMD won't be found--he is a jackass.
John McCain says we can't give "sanctuary" to the "insurgents" in Iraq--he is a jackass. Would he rather we just took out the whole civilian population in order to kill a few bad apples?
And why are we letting this happen? What is wrong with us? Why aren't we all yelling and screaming for the end of the war?
Scalia's thugs kinda apologize....
And the hurricane approaches...
Thursday, September 09, 2004
DO EVIL DEAD REPUBLICANS NEVER SLEEP? a vote for Bush is a vote for the end of the world...
"Stolen Honor?" Angry P.O.W.s accusing John Kerry of making life worse for them in prison camps? What will they think of next? Who the fuck knows?
I mean, this just gets more and more ridiculous. First the Swift Boats and now this? And the cable/radio people are gonna give it more free airtime?
When are they gonna run out of ammo? When are they (by which I mean the Re-fuck-licans) gonna feel shame? It looks like never!
They've done Dukakis, Clinton, McCain, Cleland, Gore, and now Kerry...are they trying to provoke open riots in the streets?
Kerry--please take off the gloves and lay into these motherfuckers. No, wait, JFK...we know you've killed men before, but wait. That's what they want...you gotta get some surrogates to do it for you. But get some real surrogates with some real points and some real thirst for blood, not these namby-pamby nicey-mice we've been seeing.
Hard To Get Traction In Mud
Just when I was hoping that the Bush Guard failure was going to get some traction, Chris Matthews does two segments on "Stolen Honor." John Kerry didn't steal these men's honor. John Kerry was trying to END THE WAR SO THEY COULD COME HOME! And he did it (with lots of help of course).
And by the way ONCE AND FOR ALL...Kerry's Senate testimony, his remarks on "Meet The Press," etc. all point to the White House and the Defense Department as the war criminals, not the rank and file. AND, when he talked about atrocities, he specifically said he didn't see them personally, but he merely repeated what other people had already ADMITTED to. Chris Matthews, please understand this now rather than having to write a mea culpa about it after the election...
Shut Up, They Say
And you know what all this stolen honor bullshit is about, don't you? All this talk of how Kerry's service during the war was perfectly honorable and legitimate (they say, trying to pass themselves off as civil and courteous) but it was speaking out against the war afterward that deserves revulsion--what they're collectively saying is--don't question Lord King Bush at all, ever, but particularly not during a war!
And we will be "at war" all the time, so that criticism will be frowned upon, and Kerry will be used as an example of that--like, don't be like John Kerry, who undermined the troops who were still in harm's way. That's the worst, they'll argue...oh, they especially want to use this as an example to soliders returning from Iraq who might be moved to speak out against our current campaign of terrorist recruitment.
It's a not-so-subtle object lesson for the new veterans, i.e., see John Kerry? He thought he was doing something good, but it hurt people and it's never left him, not even when he's trying to run for president. Just think what we can do to you, Mr. and Ms. Iraq Veteran, if you dare to speak out against this war. Do you want to get the Kerry treatment?
This Is Chilling
It's chilling, is what it is. And I don't know what to do about it, except hope that the voting public's better nature will prevail. But it won't, I know...
But even with all of this, I'll say again with utmost confidence--Kerry will get the most votes. We learned this last time with Gore. Kerry will get the most votes. I'm not saying he'll be inaugurated, but he'll get the most votes, despite all of this.
Because Kerry and Vietnam Veterans Against The War did the right thing in working to end the Vietnam War. Everyone knows it, even Karl Rove and George Bush. But the warmongers can't admit that, especially now, when we're embroiled in our own mistaken war. Bush can't afford to have people questioning that--not right when he's trying to get re-elected.
So the Republicans are treating Vietnam and opposition to Vietnam as a symbol for Iraq. Vietnam was necessary and opposition was wrong, they say, knowing that the unwashed will pick up on the signal that that's the way to feel about Iraq, also. And just like Vietnam, Bush isn't doing the right thing in Iraq...He is a disgrace and so are all who vote for him.
"Stolen Honor?" Angry P.O.W.s accusing John Kerry of making life worse for them in prison camps? What will they think of next? Who the fuck knows?
I mean, this just gets more and more ridiculous. First the Swift Boats and now this? And the cable/radio people are gonna give it more free airtime?
When are they gonna run out of ammo? When are they (by which I mean the Re-fuck-licans) gonna feel shame? It looks like never!
They've done Dukakis, Clinton, McCain, Cleland, Gore, and now Kerry...are they trying to provoke open riots in the streets?
Kerry--please take off the gloves and lay into these motherfuckers. No, wait, JFK...we know you've killed men before, but wait. That's what they want...you gotta get some surrogates to do it for you. But get some real surrogates with some real points and some real thirst for blood, not these namby-pamby nicey-mice we've been seeing.
Hard To Get Traction In Mud
Just when I was hoping that the Bush Guard failure was going to get some traction, Chris Matthews does two segments on "Stolen Honor." John Kerry didn't steal these men's honor. John Kerry was trying to END THE WAR SO THEY COULD COME HOME! And he did it (with lots of help of course).
And by the way ONCE AND FOR ALL...Kerry's Senate testimony, his remarks on "Meet The Press," etc. all point to the White House and the Defense Department as the war criminals, not the rank and file. AND, when he talked about atrocities, he specifically said he didn't see them personally, but he merely repeated what other people had already ADMITTED to. Chris Matthews, please understand this now rather than having to write a mea culpa about it after the election...
Shut Up, They Say
And you know what all this stolen honor bullshit is about, don't you? All this talk of how Kerry's service during the war was perfectly honorable and legitimate (they say, trying to pass themselves off as civil and courteous) but it was speaking out against the war afterward that deserves revulsion--what they're collectively saying is--don't question Lord King Bush at all, ever, but particularly not during a war!
And we will be "at war" all the time, so that criticism will be frowned upon, and Kerry will be used as an example of that--like, don't be like John Kerry, who undermined the troops who were still in harm's way. That's the worst, they'll argue...oh, they especially want to use this as an example to soliders returning from Iraq who might be moved to speak out against our current campaign of terrorist recruitment.
It's a not-so-subtle object lesson for the new veterans, i.e., see John Kerry? He thought he was doing something good, but it hurt people and it's never left him, not even when he's trying to run for president. Just think what we can do to you, Mr. and Ms. Iraq Veteran, if you dare to speak out against this war. Do you want to get the Kerry treatment?
This Is Chilling
It's chilling, is what it is. And I don't know what to do about it, except hope that the voting public's better nature will prevail. But it won't, I know...
But even with all of this, I'll say again with utmost confidence--Kerry will get the most votes. We learned this last time with Gore. Kerry will get the most votes. I'm not saying he'll be inaugurated, but he'll get the most votes, despite all of this.
Because Kerry and Vietnam Veterans Against The War did the right thing in working to end the Vietnam War. Everyone knows it, even Karl Rove and George Bush. But the warmongers can't admit that, especially now, when we're embroiled in our own mistaken war. Bush can't afford to have people questioning that--not right when he's trying to get re-elected.
So the Republicans are treating Vietnam and opposition to Vietnam as a symbol for Iraq. Vietnam was necessary and opposition was wrong, they say, knowing that the unwashed will pick up on the signal that that's the way to feel about Iraq, also. And just like Vietnam, Bush isn't doing the right thing in Iraq...He is a disgrace and so are all who vote for him.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
OUTRAGE IS THEIR SPECIALTY a vote for Bush is a vote for Satan himself...
Let's see if this story about Bush's ditching of National Guard service makes it onto "Hardball" or "Hannity & Colmes" or "Crossfire" or any show that would bring it to the public's attention. If not, it should be proof enough that the media are not only not liberal, they are completely
derelict in their duty to be impartial and are out to get Kerry (just like they
were out to get Gore).
After all, all of the above shows have covered, recovered, analyzed and
re-analyzed the Swift Boat "controversy" over and over, when all official
records support Kerry's story. In contrast, none of the official records
support Bush's story. But I bet this story will just be allowed to die.
Although there are plenty of sites devoting a lot of energy to this subject, such as:
The AWOL Project
The AWOL Letters
AWOL Scandal
Watched "Hardball" tonight with the head of Texans For Truth and some smug Republican Congressman from Texas...and what struck me about the Congressman's defense of Bush is that in essence, his argument and the Republican party's argument boils down to this: Bush was given an honorable discharge, so it's all good. End of story.
Why, they say, should we go on and on about whether Bush was in Texas or Alabama during this time or that? Why should we take the word of a few people who were in either place about whether or not he served with honor over 30 years ago? After all, Mr. Bush got an honorable discharge. That's the essence of the Republican defense of Bush's piss-poor Guard service.
If it's good enough for the goose...
Well, John Fuckin' Kerry also received an honorable discharge and in fact received a medal for each of Demonic Dick Cheney's deferments. So why do the Republicans insist that we should go on and on about whether Kerry was in Cambodia or not? Why do they insist that we should listen to 250 soldiers (the vast majority of whom weren't around to witness Kerry's medal-winning incidents) about whether or not Kerry served honorably over 30 years ago? Why is Kerry's honorable discharge not allowed to cover any sins he may or may not have committed?
Well, for one thing, it's because Republicans are evil. The standards they apply to everyone else don't apply to them. And all of this will come out after the election. There'll be some buried stories in all the major newspapers about how, yes, Kerry really did serve honorably and deserved all his medals and Bush was a shirker. But, hey, you know, Bush just ran the better cover-up operation and shrewdly attacked the Democrat on his strong points. It may have been dirty, the stories will say, but hey, that's our political culture.
Yes, I said Republicans are evil
And they don't care about the average person, you, me, our mommies, our babies, or anything. They care about one thing and one thing only: profit. They know Kerry and the Democrats will raise their taxes, thereby eating into their precious profits. Not that the Democrats don't also suckle at the corporate teat, they just think a fat and happy middle class helps keep the system more orderly. If the Republicans want to keep going ahead with their master plan to impoverish everyone but the top 1% of the population, then so be it, but they'll soon find themselves at the business end of the pitchforks of the poor revolutionaries they will have created and of the devil himself.
And I was gonna say some more stuff about some other things, but that'll do for now... except for, when Dreadfully Dangerous and Demonically Disastrous Dick said that we should "make the right choice" in November, I took it to mean that he was encouraging us to vote for Kerry.
Because who was in office when "the worst tragedy in American history" occurred? George W. (for Wimpy, Wasted, Washed-up, We-tarded, Waffler, Womanly, Wfucked-up-motherfucker) Bush!! He already let us "get hit" once! Does he think that the "American people" want to give him the chance to ignore more intelligence that he may get in the future that spells out a terrorist's intentions along the lines of "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In U.S."?
Hey America! 9/11 happened on George Bush's watch! Don't be a dumbass! Don't vote for this guy! He thought Iraq had WMD (or at least told us he thought they did)! Don't let them tell you "everybody thought he had WMD!" Scott Ritter didn't! Hans Blix didn't, and he was the one on the fuckin' ground in fuckin' Iraq looking for them!
I mean, for a guy whose father was head of the CIA, George W. (Wuss, Wanker, Whore) Bush cannot get the intelligence thing right. That's two instances of bungled intelligence--9/11 and Iraq. And those are just two of the ones we know about.
This is what the fuckin' Republicans do--they take their weaknesses and not only don't cop to them, they claim them as strengths! And we (and our press corps) let them!
It's a brilliant strategy, but only as long as people say, "Well, we have to trust our President and be faithful" or whatever the fuck Britney Spears said. They just deny, deny, deny. They tell the big lie and get people who are on the radio and TV every minute of every day to deny, deny, deny for them and suddenly it somehow becomes the truth.
OK, I'm almost done
But the truth is this--Bush was warned about terrorists wanting to hit America at least a month before it happened. And then he sat in a Florida classroom for seven minutes after he was informed that it was happening. And then he claimed a country that the rest of the world knew to be a complete weakling was the gravest threat to us. And that he could prove it--he knew where the WMD were. And then he's WASTED hundreds of billions of dollars of your money and my money and thousands of lives on it--and, whoops, come to find out, no WMD, no links to Al Qaeda, just a lot of sand and Iraqi prisoners for us to torture.
And then his people imply that they're the right choice for keeping us safe from anything? Who the fuck is gonna keep us safe from them? I swear, if Bush wins, it means that this country will have been given over to the idiots, the perverts, the unschooled, and most of all, the predatory rich...
Except for this one other point
And why does everybody keep saying Bush is so "likable?" And why does anyone care if the president is likable? Supposedly the "American people" care deeply about whether or not their politicians are likable.
I would rather the president was the most intelligent being on earth. I couldn't give a fuck about his personality. As long as he knows what's best for the country and gets it done, I couldn't give two shits about whether the president is "likable." Yes, it would be nice if the president could be both super-intelligent AND likable, but if it has to be one or the other, I will take the super-intelligence.
That's why I'm voting for Kerry, by the way. Compared to Bush, Kerry is super-intelligent. And supposedly Bush is so very, very likable and normal and just like us--he can't talk right, and his sentences are all jumbled and he misspeaks all the time and doesn't read newspapers and can't pronounce words right and doesn't understand concepts very well and has a potty mouth and plays at religion and comes across as normal as your next-door neighbor, etc.
Well, would any of us want our next-door neighbor running the country? I think the vast majority of the country shudders at that thought. That's why people like John Kerry exist--accomplished, well-spoken, brave, degreed, published, fair, and in every way superior to George W. Bush.
On paper, it's no comparison. Kerry kicks Bush's ass. But then you get Bush's little "heh, heh aw shucks" routine and everybody talks about how likable he is while Kerry towers over his every achievement. I mean, Kerry's never been elected President, but then neither has Bush...
And with that crude blow, I bid you adieu...yeah, that's French, motherfucker...
Let's see if this story about Bush's ditching of National Guard service makes it onto "Hardball" or "Hannity & Colmes" or "Crossfire" or any show that would bring it to the public's attention. If not, it should be proof enough that the media are not only not liberal, they are completely
derelict in their duty to be impartial and are out to get Kerry (just like they
were out to get Gore).
After all, all of the above shows have covered, recovered, analyzed and
re-analyzed the Swift Boat "controversy" over and over, when all official
records support Kerry's story. In contrast, none of the official records
support Bush's story. But I bet this story will just be allowed to die.
Although there are plenty of sites devoting a lot of energy to this subject, such as:
The AWOL Project
The AWOL Letters
AWOL Scandal
Watched "Hardball" tonight with the head of Texans For Truth and some smug Republican Congressman from Texas...and what struck me about the Congressman's defense of Bush is that in essence, his argument and the Republican party's argument boils down to this: Bush was given an honorable discharge, so it's all good. End of story.
Why, they say, should we go on and on about whether Bush was in Texas or Alabama during this time or that? Why should we take the word of a few people who were in either place about whether or not he served with honor over 30 years ago? After all, Mr. Bush got an honorable discharge. That's the essence of the Republican defense of Bush's piss-poor Guard service.
If it's good enough for the goose...
Well, John Fuckin' Kerry also received an honorable discharge and in fact received a medal for each of Demonic Dick Cheney's deferments. So why do the Republicans insist that we should go on and on about whether Kerry was in Cambodia or not? Why do they insist that we should listen to 250 soldiers (the vast majority of whom weren't around to witness Kerry's medal-winning incidents) about whether or not Kerry served honorably over 30 years ago? Why is Kerry's honorable discharge not allowed to cover any sins he may or may not have committed?
Well, for one thing, it's because Republicans are evil. The standards they apply to everyone else don't apply to them. And all of this will come out after the election. There'll be some buried stories in all the major newspapers about how, yes, Kerry really did serve honorably and deserved all his medals and Bush was a shirker. But, hey, you know, Bush just ran the better cover-up operation and shrewdly attacked the Democrat on his strong points. It may have been dirty, the stories will say, but hey, that's our political culture.
Yes, I said Republicans are evil
And they don't care about the average person, you, me, our mommies, our babies, or anything. They care about one thing and one thing only: profit. They know Kerry and the Democrats will raise their taxes, thereby eating into their precious profits. Not that the Democrats don't also suckle at the corporate teat, they just think a fat and happy middle class helps keep the system more orderly. If the Republicans want to keep going ahead with their master plan to impoverish everyone but the top 1% of the population, then so be it, but they'll soon find themselves at the business end of the pitchforks of the poor revolutionaries they will have created and of the devil himself.
And I was gonna say some more stuff about some other things, but that'll do for now... except for, when Dreadfully Dangerous and Demonically Disastrous Dick said that we should "make the right choice" in November, I took it to mean that he was encouraging us to vote for Kerry.
Because who was in office when "the worst tragedy in American history" occurred? George W. (for Wimpy, Wasted, Washed-up, We-tarded, Waffler, Womanly, Wfucked-up-motherfucker) Bush!! He already let us "get hit" once! Does he think that the "American people" want to give him the chance to ignore more intelligence that he may get in the future that spells out a terrorist's intentions along the lines of "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In U.S."?
Hey America! 9/11 happened on George Bush's watch! Don't be a dumbass! Don't vote for this guy! He thought Iraq had WMD (or at least told us he thought they did)! Don't let them tell you "everybody thought he had WMD!" Scott Ritter didn't! Hans Blix didn't, and he was the one on the fuckin' ground in fuckin' Iraq looking for them!
I mean, for a guy whose father was head of the CIA, George W. (Wuss, Wanker, Whore) Bush cannot get the intelligence thing right. That's two instances of bungled intelligence--9/11 and Iraq. And those are just two of the ones we know about.
This is what the fuckin' Republicans do--they take their weaknesses and not only don't cop to them, they claim them as strengths! And we (and our press corps) let them!
It's a brilliant strategy, but only as long as people say, "Well, we have to trust our President and be faithful" or whatever the fuck Britney Spears said. They just deny, deny, deny. They tell the big lie and get people who are on the radio and TV every minute of every day to deny, deny, deny for them and suddenly it somehow becomes the truth.
OK, I'm almost done
But the truth is this--Bush was warned about terrorists wanting to hit America at least a month before it happened. And then he sat in a Florida classroom for seven minutes after he was informed that it was happening. And then he claimed a country that the rest of the world knew to be a complete weakling was the gravest threat to us. And that he could prove it--he knew where the WMD were. And then he's WASTED hundreds of billions of dollars of your money and my money and thousands of lives on it--and, whoops, come to find out, no WMD, no links to Al Qaeda, just a lot of sand and Iraqi prisoners for us to torture.
And then his people imply that they're the right choice for keeping us safe from anything? Who the fuck is gonna keep us safe from them? I swear, if Bush wins, it means that this country will have been given over to the idiots, the perverts, the unschooled, and most of all, the predatory rich...
Except for this one other point
And why does everybody keep saying Bush is so "likable?" And why does anyone care if the president is likable? Supposedly the "American people" care deeply about whether or not their politicians are likable.
I would rather the president was the most intelligent being on earth. I couldn't give a fuck about his personality. As long as he knows what's best for the country and gets it done, I couldn't give two shits about whether the president is "likable." Yes, it would be nice if the president could be both super-intelligent AND likable, but if it has to be one or the other, I will take the super-intelligence.
That's why I'm voting for Kerry, by the way. Compared to Bush, Kerry is super-intelligent. And supposedly Bush is so very, very likable and normal and just like us--he can't talk right, and his sentences are all jumbled and he misspeaks all the time and doesn't read newspapers and can't pronounce words right and doesn't understand concepts very well and has a potty mouth and plays at religion and comes across as normal as your next-door neighbor, etc.
Well, would any of us want our next-door neighbor running the country? I think the vast majority of the country shudders at that thought. That's why people like John Kerry exist--accomplished, well-spoken, brave, degreed, published, fair, and in every way superior to George W. Bush.
On paper, it's no comparison. Kerry kicks Bush's ass. But then you get Bush's little "heh, heh aw shucks" routine and everybody talks about how likable he is while Kerry towers over his every achievement. I mean, Kerry's never been elected President, but then neither has Bush...
And with that crude blow, I bid you adieu...yeah, that's French, motherfucker...
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Monday, September 06, 2004
STICKER THIEVES a vote for Bush is a vote against yourself...
So my band played a gig this weekend at a really swank deer camp in bum-fuck this weekend. After traveling 10 miles (more or less) on perilous muddy red dirt roads that were built up out of the cotton fields they cut through, we arrived at the remote location.
Of course, with the topsy-turvy way things are today, what with 9/11 having ripped a hole in the space-time continuum and what have you, when you go out in the middle of nowhere in Yazoo County, Mississippi (home of big fat "governor" Haley Barbour), you know people are gonna worship three things (besides a lily-white Jesus): 1) guns 2) more guns and 3) the Republican party.
So I pull my muddy van down the muddy hill and leave it there for the duration of the 5.5 hour gig. That's right, five hours and change we played for these moonshine-swillers, who were actually very cordial. To our faces.
Where's John Kerry?
So during a break I had to get something out of the van and notice that my giant John Kerry sticker has been removed. There is also "fuck" written in the filth that I recently acquired from driving through the mud above where the sticker had been, as though some mischievous soul thought it would simply be enough to have people (mainly me, I guess) read my back window as "Fuck John Kerry." But one of the bolder ones probably decided that wasn't enough and then ripped the sticker right off my window.
They also removed my "Bush Lied, Thousands Died: Impeach Bush" sticker, and then later, my "Rock Against Bush" sticker. And then, they drew the Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" logo. Which strikes me as odd--while I don't know of the Dead ever really taking a political stance, I have a feeling they didn't and don't vote Republican.
Well anyway, I didn't really appreciate the removal of the stickers, but I do like the fact that at least these fellow Mississippians aren't illiterate--they knew enough to realize my stickers didn't say "George W. Bush." And it's also a nice thought that the stickers bothered them so much that they couldn't just leave them there, they had to take them off.
What the removal means
If it's true, as everyone seems to be saying now after the Republican convention, that Bush has double-digit leads in the polls and is all but invincible, why bother taking off the stickers?
I mean, if Bush is so kickass and so clearly dominant, why take the trouble to peel off some John Kerry stickers? And that's another thing--the stickers were peeled of very cleanly (except for the "Impeach Bush" one--they left a little corner). Wouldn't it be better to let me drive down the road with a giant loser's name attached to my car? Wouldn't that be more of an insult to me since Bush is going to win without question, and I'm shilling for the obvious loser with my sticker there for everyone to see and therefore I'm a loser by association?
Well, the reason they had to take the stickers off is because none of that is true. Bush is the loser, he's the one with no credentials, he's the one on whose watch 9/11 occurred. He's the one who sat endangering children's lives on that day, "projecting scared-shitlessness" (I mean, "projecting calm"). He's the one who was too chickenshit to shoot out his eardrum or volunteer for service in 'Nam.
Fuck him. And fuck anyone who votes for his sorry ass, because they're the ones who are voting for the downfall of this great country. And I hate to say that, because there are some people in my family who are voting for him, but they have got to wake the fuck up. Bush and the Republicans are jerking them around, taking them for a ride, whispering Bible verses like sweet nothings in their ears while stifling science, redistributing wealth to the rich, letting more people go without health insurance, and slowly but surely erasing our civil liberties.
OK, that's enough...
A great name for a metal band: GRINDSTAFF. Apparently that's someone running for some office in Yazoo or perhaps Madison county.
So my band played a gig this weekend at a really swank deer camp in bum-fuck this weekend. After traveling 10 miles (more or less) on perilous muddy red dirt roads that were built up out of the cotton fields they cut through, we arrived at the remote location.
Of course, with the topsy-turvy way things are today, what with 9/11 having ripped a hole in the space-time continuum and what have you, when you go out in the middle of nowhere in Yazoo County, Mississippi (home of big fat "governor" Haley Barbour), you know people are gonna worship three things (besides a lily-white Jesus): 1) guns 2) more guns and 3) the Republican party.
So I pull my muddy van down the muddy hill and leave it there for the duration of the 5.5 hour gig. That's right, five hours and change we played for these moonshine-swillers, who were actually very cordial. To our faces.
Where's John Kerry?
So during a break I had to get something out of the van and notice that my giant John Kerry sticker has been removed. There is also "fuck" written in the filth that I recently acquired from driving through the mud above where the sticker had been, as though some mischievous soul thought it would simply be enough to have people (mainly me, I guess) read my back window as "Fuck John Kerry." But one of the bolder ones probably decided that wasn't enough and then ripped the sticker right off my window.
They also removed my "Bush Lied, Thousands Died: Impeach Bush" sticker, and then later, my "Rock Against Bush" sticker. And then, they drew the Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" logo. Which strikes me as odd--while I don't know of the Dead ever really taking a political stance, I have a feeling they didn't and don't vote Republican.
Well anyway, I didn't really appreciate the removal of the stickers, but I do like the fact that at least these fellow Mississippians aren't illiterate--they knew enough to realize my stickers didn't say "George W. Bush." And it's also a nice thought that the stickers bothered them so much that they couldn't just leave them there, they had to take them off.
What the removal means
If it's true, as everyone seems to be saying now after the Republican convention, that Bush has double-digit leads in the polls and is all but invincible, why bother taking off the stickers?
I mean, if Bush is so kickass and so clearly dominant, why take the trouble to peel off some John Kerry stickers? And that's another thing--the stickers were peeled of very cleanly (except for the "Impeach Bush" one--they left a little corner). Wouldn't it be better to let me drive down the road with a giant loser's name attached to my car? Wouldn't that be more of an insult to me since Bush is going to win without question, and I'm shilling for the obvious loser with my sticker there for everyone to see and therefore I'm a loser by association?
Well, the reason they had to take the stickers off is because none of that is true. Bush is the loser, he's the one with no credentials, he's the one on whose watch 9/11 occurred. He's the one who sat endangering children's lives on that day, "projecting scared-shitlessness" (I mean, "projecting calm"). He's the one who was too chickenshit to shoot out his eardrum or volunteer for service in 'Nam.
Fuck him. And fuck anyone who votes for his sorry ass, because they're the ones who are voting for the downfall of this great country. And I hate to say that, because there are some people in my family who are voting for him, but they have got to wake the fuck up. Bush and the Republicans are jerking them around, taking them for a ride, whispering Bible verses like sweet nothings in their ears while stifling science, redistributing wealth to the rich, letting more people go without health insurance, and slowly but surely erasing our civil liberties.
OK, that's enough...
A great name for a metal band: GRINDSTAFF. Apparently that's someone running for some office in Yazoo or perhaps Madison county.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
DEAR BABY JESUS... a vote for Bush is a vote against yourself...
As my friend Emily would say, dear baby Jesus is this a cluster-fuck of propaganda and disinformation. And by this I mean the Republican national convention, which I spent with Sam Seder and Janeane Garofalo on Air America's "The Majority Report."
My wife and I participated in the Great American Shoutout...I didn't hear anybody else yelling, but I saw some figures across the street that had to have heard us...
And when I say it's a clusterfuck of propaganda and disinformation, I say that because...
1. No mention of the one that got away--OBL.
2. Claims that economy is stronger because of his tax cuts. I was going to say "economic policy" instead of "tax cuts" but "economic policy" is not very descriptive of Bush's redistribution of wealth to the top.
3. And speaking of how well the economy is not doing, why, just today it was announced that second quarter productivity estimates were too high at 2.9% and had to revised downward to 2.5%.
And so on.
What The Matter With You?
If you haven't yet bought, downloaded, borrowed, checked out, stolen, photocopied, or just sat at the bookstore and read "What's The Matter With Kansas?" by Thomas Frank, you are really missing out. I have just begun to get to the really good part, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you've ever wondered why people who are hurt the most by Republican policies are the ones who seem to be the most dedicated and vocal Republican supporters, this is the book for you.
Basically, Franks' argument (from what I've read so far, anyway) is that the conservative movement, which he refers to as "the backlash" in the book, has drained economics from its critiques of politics and focused only on cultural issues. In other words, by focusing conservative true believers on opposition to say, abortion, gay marriage, etc. and averting their eyes from how tax cuts lead to cuts in social services and large deficits and so forth, backlash leaders allow the creeping corporate fascism in the door a little bit more every year.
Which, now that I read my understanding (again, I haven't finished the whole book) of the basic premise of the book, it doesn't seem that profound, but when you read it, you will experience its profundity.
For me, the money quote (so far) is on p. 121:
Which of course basically renders my appeal to self-interest in my epigram on every entry useless, but I shall soldier on.
Why I'm Voting For Kerry
I don't have time to write this right now, but I intend to go through the reasons I'm going to vote for Kerry and put them in writing in the best way I can. Not necessarily because anyone cares to read why I'll vote for Kerry, but it will help me when I have to defend my preference on an upcoming visit with my parents and when I go out and try to talk to people about why they should vote for Kerry. So hopefully something along those lines will appear here in the near future.
Although I could quickly sum it up right now--Kerry ain't Bush and Nader can't win. But that's oversimplified and the Limbaugh types would try to use that against me to say that I don't really even like Kerry, and that's just how fake and empty "the libs" are--they'll vote for someone they don't even like out of spite. And that's not true, there's plenty to like about Kerry.
And his rebuttal speech to Bush's hogwash was pretty damn hot...it looks he's getting ready to BRING...IT...ON...
As my friend Emily would say, dear baby Jesus is this a cluster-fuck of propaganda and disinformation. And by this I mean the Republican national convention, which I spent with Sam Seder and Janeane Garofalo on Air America's "The Majority Report."
My wife and I participated in the Great American Shoutout...I didn't hear anybody else yelling, but I saw some figures across the street that had to have heard us...
And when I say it's a clusterfuck of propaganda and disinformation, I say that because...
1. No mention of the one that got away--OBL.
2. Claims that economy is stronger because of his tax cuts. I was going to say "economic policy" instead of "tax cuts" but "economic policy" is not very descriptive of Bush's redistribution of wealth to the top.
3. And speaking of how well the economy is not doing, why, just today it was announced that second quarter productivity estimates were too high at 2.9% and had to revised downward to 2.5%.
And so on.
What The Matter With You?
If you haven't yet bought, downloaded, borrowed, checked out, stolen, photocopied, or just sat at the bookstore and read "What's The Matter With Kansas?" by Thomas Frank, you are really missing out. I have just begun to get to the really good part, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you've ever wondered why people who are hurt the most by Republican policies are the ones who seem to be the most dedicated and vocal Republican supporters, this is the book for you.
Basically, Franks' argument (from what I've read so far, anyway) is that the conservative movement, which he refers to as "the backlash" in the book, has drained economics from its critiques of politics and focused only on cultural issues. In other words, by focusing conservative true believers on opposition to say, abortion, gay marriage, etc. and averting their eyes from how tax cuts lead to cuts in social services and large deficits and so forth, backlash leaders allow the creeping corporate fascism in the door a little bit more every year.
Which, now that I read my understanding (again, I haven't finished the whole book) of the basic premise of the book, it doesn't seem that profound, but when you read it, you will experience its profundity.
For me, the money quote (so far) is on p. 121:
"While most of us think of politics as a Machiavellian drama in which actors make alliances and take practical steps to advance their material interests, the backlash is something very different: a crusade in which one's material interests are suspended in favor of vague cultural grievances that are all-important and yet incapable of ever being assuaged.
Which of course basically renders my appeal to self-interest in my epigram on every entry useless, but I shall soldier on.
Why I'm Voting For Kerry
I don't have time to write this right now, but I intend to go through the reasons I'm going to vote for Kerry and put them in writing in the best way I can. Not necessarily because anyone cares to read why I'll vote for Kerry, but it will help me when I have to defend my preference on an upcoming visit with my parents and when I go out and try to talk to people about why they should vote for Kerry. So hopefully something along those lines will appear here in the near future.
Although I could quickly sum it up right now--Kerry ain't Bush and Nader can't win. But that's oversimplified and the Limbaugh types would try to use that against me to say that I don't really even like Kerry, and that's just how fake and empty "the libs" are--they'll vote for someone they don't even like out of spite. And that's not true, there's plenty to like about Kerry.
And his rebuttal speech to Bush's hogwash was pretty damn hot...it looks he's getting ready to BRING...IT...ON...
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