Looks like Republicans have a lot of work to do and wresting control away from the Bushie/NeoCon/RightWing Theocrats can’t happen soon enough:
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Republican Party has hit a new low.
Just 34 percent of Americans in a Gallup Poll released Thursday say they have a favorable view of the party, down 40 percent from a month ago, before the election.
What’s worse: 61 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party.
According to Gallup , that unfavorable rating is the highest the polling organization has recorded for the GOP since the measure was established in 1992.
The poll of national adults was conducted on November 13-16 with a three percent margin of error.
The numbers are slightly up from a CNN poll released last week that indicated a 54 percent unfavorable rating for Republicans. Only 38 percent of those polled had a favorable rating for the party.
Meanwhile, Democrats continue to bask in the glow of President-elect Barack Obama’s historic victory on November 4. The Gallup poll suggests that 55 percent of Americans hold a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, with 39 percent saying they have an unfavorable view. Those numbers are mostly unchanged from a mid-October survey
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
What Barack will do...
My Bushie friend asked me what Obama will do as President. I responded:
Well, he’ll stop torturing people. He’ll stop arresting people without warrants and locking them away in secret. He’ll stop wire-tapping every phone in America without a warrant. He’ll stop using the justice department as his own political tool. He’ll stop the assault on science and not use his twisted notion of religion to explain the world and how it works. (Hint: Dinosaurs and humans did not co-exist 3000 years ago). He’ll replace name-calling with maturity.
You know this. I know education and intelligence are frowned upon within the GOP these days, but you don’t have to act stupid for us. We know you’re smarter than that, you can stop the act now. You can be smart and educated and STILL be a “REAL” American, despite what the former mayor of the meth capital of Alaska tells you.
Speaking of little Miss Unethical behavior, she went on and on about socialism while she’s the governor of a state that takes money from the oil companies and gives it directly to the citizens of her state…talk about redistribution of wealth (SOCIALIST IDEAS). Thanks to Jon Stewart for making me realize the irony of the governor of a state funded by socialism calling Obama a Socialist…pure comedy. Too bad the Honorable Governor isn’t bright enough to see the irony…after all she doesn’t even know what the Vice President does or the rights afforded by the First Amendment.
Well, he’ll stop torturing people. He’ll stop arresting people without warrants and locking them away in secret. He’ll stop wire-tapping every phone in America without a warrant. He’ll stop using the justice department as his own political tool. He’ll stop the assault on science and not use his twisted notion of religion to explain the world and how it works. (Hint: Dinosaurs and humans did not co-exist 3000 years ago). He’ll replace name-calling with maturity.
You know this. I know education and intelligence are frowned upon within the GOP these days, but you don’t have to act stupid for us. We know you’re smarter than that, you can stop the act now. You can be smart and educated and STILL be a “REAL” American, despite what the former mayor of the meth capital of Alaska tells you.
Speaking of little Miss Unethical behavior, she went on and on about socialism while she’s the governor of a state that takes money from the oil companies and gives it directly to the citizens of her state…talk about redistribution of wealth (SOCIALIST IDEAS). Thanks to Jon Stewart for making me realize the irony of the governor of a state funded by socialism calling Obama a Socialist…pure comedy. Too bad the Honorable Governor isn’t bright enough to see the irony…after all she doesn’t even know what the Vice President does or the rights afforded by the First Amendment.
Hopeful
Like most Americans, apparently, I'm pretty happy with the election results. The long national nightmare is over. Kudos to Obama on a fantastic campaign.
The only sad part is what McCain did to himself in his seemingly endless desire to be President. We all remember the John McCain that we liked back in 2000, then he ate the shit that Karl Rove made for him in South Carolina b/c he wanted it so bad. Then during this campaign the independent minded guy we liked turned into the right wing attack dog that the Bushies won with, but America was tired of that shit.
The McCain that we loved was back in last night's concession speech, but it was too late. He changed, he got bad advice and of course his disasterous selection of the unqualified former mayor were his doom. I seriously doubt that he would have lost EVEN with the shackles of the Bush Presidency if he had ran as the guy he once was.
I hope he goes back to being true to himself.
The only sad part is what McCain did to himself in his seemingly endless desire to be President. We all remember the John McCain that we liked back in 2000, then he ate the shit that Karl Rove made for him in South Carolina b/c he wanted it so bad. Then during this campaign the independent minded guy we liked turned into the right wing attack dog that the Bushies won with, but America was tired of that shit.
The McCain that we loved was back in last night's concession speech, but it was too late. He changed, he got bad advice and of course his disasterous selection of the unqualified former mayor were his doom. I seriously doubt that he would have lost EVEN with the shackles of the Bush Presidency if he had ran as the guy he once was.
I hope he goes back to being true to himself.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Are McCain supporters really this stupid or are they just ignorant of what is going on in the world?
it's Clear Palin is not qualified, she doesn't even know what the Vice President's job is, nor does she understand the first amendment. But McCain supporters new cry of "Socialism" is laughable considering McCain's support of the recent bailouts pushed by our Republican president. The fact that in the past few months the Party of McCain and Bush has federalized banks and insurance companies. Talk about socialism, it's already here.
It's hard to have respect for people so woefully ill-informed, people who just through out buzz words and buy into the GOP fear machine. The fact that they blindly accept this bullshit is exactly how you end up in a fascist state. The dictators always talk about how the state will protect you from enemies seen and unseen, and the first thing they dictators do is attack the intellectuals and the liberals...just like the GOP has done for the past 8 years. They've attempted to make knowledge and learning BAD THINGS. (Ignorance is Knowledge).
I'm sick of being told I'm not a real American because I put myself throught grad school and happen to think for myself instead of listening the non-sensical rantings of the lunatic minds of the GOP.
WAKE UP AMERICA (I'm talking to you McCain supporters).
btw- I won't be surprised if the GOP steals the election with their classic voter suppression efforts in cities and outright fraud by the Diebold Republican Vote Generating machines. After the GOP stole one election, they can do it again.
It's hard to have respect for people so woefully ill-informed, people who just through out buzz words and buy into the GOP fear machine. The fact that they blindly accept this bullshit is exactly how you end up in a fascist state. The dictators always talk about how the state will protect you from enemies seen and unseen, and the first thing they dictators do is attack the intellectuals and the liberals...just like the GOP has done for the past 8 years. They've attempted to make knowledge and learning BAD THINGS. (Ignorance is Knowledge).
I'm sick of being told I'm not a real American because I put myself throught grad school and happen to think for myself instead of listening the non-sensical rantings of the lunatic minds of the GOP.
WAKE UP AMERICA (I'm talking to you McCain supporters).
btw- I won't be surprised if the GOP steals the election with their classic voter suppression efforts in cities and outright fraud by the Diebold Republican Vote Generating machines. After the GOP stole one election, they can do it again.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Palin is the perfect Bushie
The Palin's, like the Bushies, feel they are above the law and don't feel they are accountable for their actions. No wonder the Bushies love her, I'm just surprised the Bush WH didn't find her before and make her secratary of the Navy or something (she's been on a boat). Being unqualifed, having contempt for the law and loving guns and hating abortion are all you need for a Bush appointment and sadly McCain continues that practice with this HORRIBLE choice
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Fiscal Reformer???
Read it quick before the Conservatives who control the media kill the story.
Maybe she should have kept the plane…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26616212/
ANCHORAGE - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
Palin charged the state a per diem for working on Nov. 22, 2007 -- Thanksgiving Day. The reason given, according to the expense report, was the Great Alaska Shootout, an annual NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage (WISH I COULD GET PAID TO GO TO SPORTING Events)
One event was in New York City in October 2007, when Bristol accompanied the governor to Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference, toured the New York Stock Exchange, and met local officials and business executives. The state paid for three nights in a $707-a-day hotel room.
Meanwhile, Todd Palin spent $725 to fly to Edmonton , Alberta , for "information gathering and planning meeting with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology," according to an expense report. During the three-day trip, he charged the state $291 for his per diem. A notation said "costs paid by Dept. of Labor." He also billed the state $1,371 for flight to Washington to attend a National Governors Association meeting with his wife. (I wish my company paid to fly my partner to for my business trips)
The family also charged for flights around the state, including trips to Alaska events such as the start of the Iditarod dog-sled race and the Iron Dog snowmobile race, a contest that Todd Palin won. (Did the state pay his entry fees too?)
In the past, per diem claims by Alaska state officials have carried political risks. In 1988, the head of the state Commerce Department was pilloried for collecting a per diem charge of $50 while staying in his Anchorage home, according to local news accounts. The commissioner, the late Tony Smith, resigned amid a series of controversies.
"It was quite the little scandal," said Tony Knowles, the Democratic governor from 1994 to 2000. "I gave a direction to all my commissioners if they were ever in their house, whether it was Juneau or elsewhere, they were not to get a per diem because, clearly, it is and it looks like a scam -- you pay yourself to live at home," he said.
Maybe she should have kept the plane…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26616212/
ANCHORAGE - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
Palin charged the state a per diem for working on Nov. 22, 2007 -- Thanksgiving Day. The reason given, according to the expense report, was the Great Alaska Shootout, an annual NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage (WISH I COULD GET PAID TO GO TO SPORTING Events)
One event was in New York City in October 2007, when Bristol accompanied the governor to Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference, toured the New York Stock Exchange, and met local officials and business executives. The state paid for three nights in a $707-a-day hotel room.
Meanwhile, Todd Palin spent $725 to fly to Edmonton , Alberta , for "information gathering and planning meeting with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology," according to an expense report. During the three-day trip, he charged the state $291 for his per diem. A notation said "costs paid by Dept. of Labor." He also billed the state $1,371 for flight to Washington to attend a National Governors Association meeting with his wife. (I wish my company paid to fly my partner to for my business trips)
The family also charged for flights around the state, including trips to Alaska events such as the start of the Iditarod dog-sled race and the Iron Dog snowmobile race, a contest that Todd Palin won. (Did the state pay his entry fees too?)
In the past, per diem claims by Alaska state officials have carried political risks. In 1988, the head of the state Commerce Department was pilloried for collecting a per diem charge of $50 while staying in his Anchorage home, according to local news accounts. The commissioner, the late Tony Smith, resigned amid a series of controversies.
"It was quite the little scandal," said Tony Knowles, the Democratic governor from 1994 to 2000. "I gave a direction to all my commissioners if they were ever in their house, whether it was Juneau or elsewhere, they were not to get a per diem because, clearly, it is and it looks like a scam -- you pay yourself to live at home," he said.
I asked for 20 qualifications that Palin has to be VP or Prez...I got one
The one thing I got was she was Governor of a state with 600,000 people for 20 months. And a bunch of crap that Obama has no executive experience (neither does McCain and Newt Gingrich is the only Republican I've heard admit that fact)
So, I thought clarify Obama's experience:
While I wait for the 19 other qualifications she brings to the table.
So, I thought clarify Obama's experience:
While I wait for the 19 other qualifications she brings to the table.
I just wanted to clear up some fallacies you appear to be operating
under.
Obama has EXECUTIVE Experience.
- He was the PRESIDENT of the Harvard Law Review ( I can’t wait to hear how that’s not executive experience)
- He was also the DIRECTOR of Chicago ’s
Developing Communities Project and I know you hate poor people and like to mock
those who actually help out in their communities unless it’s bombing abortion
clinics, but this too is EXECUTIVE Experience.
- He was CHAIRMAN of the Health and Human Services Committee in the Illinois Senate (damn, more leadership experience)
- He is CHAIRMAN of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on European Affairs (Even more leadership and with International Experience).
Now, again I know it’s not raising taxes to build a new hockey rink, but it IS Executive Experience.
I’m glad we can put that to rest now.
But again, we should be comparing McCain’s resume with Obama’s and Biden’s with Palin’s. I know you don’t want to do that b/c Obama’s and McCain’s experience is in the same damn job and Biden’s knowledge of Economics and International Relations is some of the best in America . I can understand why you’d resort to name calling (like when you pretend to care
about experience and your only response to Bill Richardson’s resume is to call
him a buffoon. Funny how you changed the subject from Experience to name-calling
when presented with the most qualified candidate in America…you must be a
racist)
A "maverick" selection...not so much
While the GOP has been breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for putting a woman on the ticket and calling it some radical new idea, I got to thinking that it’s really not all that radical. (Especially when you consider the vitriol they have spewed toward Hilary Clinton for the past two decades)
The Democrats did it 24 years ago. 24 years!
The Libertarians did it in 1972 and Toni Nathan was the first women to ever receive an electoral vote.
Then I did some research
The 2008 Green Party has an ALL FEMALE ticket and have had at least one woman on the ticket since 96. The Libertarians did it again in 1992 and 96. Lyndon LaRouche did it, as did Pat Buchanan. All before the Republicans…seems like they are pretty late to the party. Here is a list:
Wikipedia has a list of over 100 women who have been a various parties Tickets going back to 1870
The Democrats did it 24 years ago. 24 years!
The Libertarians did it in 1972 and Toni Nathan was the first women to ever receive an electoral vote.
Then I did some research
The 2008 Green Party has an ALL FEMALE ticket and have had at least one woman on the ticket since 96. The Libertarians did it again in 1992 and 96. Lyndon LaRouche did it, as did Pat Buchanan. All before the Republicans…seems like they are pretty late to the party. Here is a list:
Wikipedia has a list of over 100 women who have been a various parties Tickets going back to 1870
Soliciting sex acts in bathrooms is "free speech"?
I hear Larry Craig, the disgraced Senator from Idaho who hates gay people, except when he's having sex with them, is going to claim that tapping his foot to initiate sex in a public rest room is protected by FREE SPEECH.
How awesome is that? Again the hypocrisy. The Republicans who HATE free speech now are using it to defend the solicitation of bathroom sex...WOW. The next time you get busted for solicitation of prostitution, you should claim it's Free Speech.
You've got to admit that the Republicans do have balls. They can stand in Congress and rail against gays while they still smell of manlove. they try to force their version of "family values" while they hire prostitutes and have affairs.
But the free speech thing is AWESOME. Balls the size of Idaho
How awesome is that? Again the hypocrisy. The Republicans who HATE free speech now are using it to defend the solicitation of bathroom sex...WOW. The next time you get busted for solicitation of prostitution, you should claim it's Free Speech.
You've got to admit that the Republicans do have balls. They can stand in Congress and rail against gays while they still smell of manlove. they try to force their version of "family values" while they hire prostitutes and have affairs.
But the free speech thing is AWESOME. Balls the size of Idaho
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Why does the media not report on Sarah Palin's anti-semetic pastor?
Yes, Sarah Palin sat in a church where this message was given. Two weeks ago. The karma in all this is just amazing:
Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of?
unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity. "Judgment is very real and
we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It's
very real. When [Brickner's son] was in Jerusalem he was there to witness some
of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem
took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of
people. Judgment — you can't miss it."
Palin was in church that day, Kroon said, though he cautioned against
attributing Brickner’s views to her.
How does Hannity deal with this? After what he said about Jeremiah
Wright
Monday, September 08, 2008
Let's get a couple of things straight about John McCain's newest ad and, for that matter, about his running mate. Yes, Sarah Palin was, technically, the person to put the final nail in the coffin of the "Bridge to Nowhere" last fall. Apparently that was a prime reason she got picked for the Republican ticket -- McCain liked that the same Alaska Republicans who are angry at him were also angry at her.
But the implication coming from Palin and McCain is that in doing so, she saved U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere," Palin said at the Republican convention last week. "If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves." McCain's ad says, "She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere" (with some dramatic music behind the narration that makes it sound like McCain and Palin are running for the newest slots in the Legion of Super Heroes, not the White House).
That's not actually how it happened, though. Nearly two years before Palin acted, Congress had already decided the federal government wouldn't pay for the bridge. But Alaska would still get the $229 million that had been earmarked for the project. By the time Palin took office and "killed" the bridge in September 2007, she knew that if she didn't, the state would be on the hook for the whole bill, and Alaska wouldn't get the massive windfall to spend on... well, whatever other transportation boondoggles it wanted to fund. She did officially spike the project, but it was basically already finished. Since the federal government was going to pay for almost the entire cost of the project, once Congress removed the earmark, Palin didn't have much choice. "It wasn't really a bold move when she did it," bridge opponent Lois Epstein, with the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, told PolitiFact. Not to mention, of course, that Palin supported the bridge during her 2006 campaign for governor, and only came around to opposing it and scaling back the state's earmark requests when it became clear the bridge was hurting Alaska 's image in Washington and around the country.
McCain's campaign doesn't even seem to be paying attention to these details. Defending the ad Monday morning, spokesman Brian Rogers sent reporters a memo about the bridge project. "After taking office and examining the project closely, Governor Palin consistently opposed funding the 'Bridge to Nowhere' and ultimately canceled the wasteful project," Rogers wrote, glossing over exactly how long it took for her to examine the project closely. "She stopped it." But the memo cites the PolitiFact articles that make it clear that Palin was just bowing to the reality that the bridge was already dead. Never mind that, though. In John McCain's world, Sarah Palin is a maverick reformer who fought wasteful spending. In the world the rest of us live in, that's not so clear. (Note: Carly Fiorina would probably say this post is sexist, because it criticizes Palin's record, but Salon is willing to live with that risk.)
But the implication coming from Palin and McCain is that in doing so, she saved U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere," Palin said at the Republican convention last week. "If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves." McCain's ad says, "She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere" (with some dramatic music behind the narration that makes it sound like McCain and Palin are running for the newest slots in the Legion of Super Heroes, not the White House).
That's not actually how it happened, though. Nearly two years before Palin acted, Congress had already decided the federal government wouldn't pay for the bridge. But Alaska would still get the $229 million that had been earmarked for the project. By the time Palin took office and "killed" the bridge in September 2007, she knew that if she didn't, the state would be on the hook for the whole bill, and Alaska wouldn't get the massive windfall to spend on... well, whatever other transportation boondoggles it wanted to fund. She did officially spike the project, but it was basically already finished. Since the federal government was going to pay for almost the entire cost of the project, once Congress removed the earmark, Palin didn't have much choice. "It wasn't really a bold move when she did it," bridge opponent Lois Epstein, with the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, told PolitiFact. Not to mention, of course, that Palin supported the bridge during her 2006 campaign for governor, and only came around to opposing it and scaling back the state's earmark requests when it became clear the bridge was hurting Alaska 's image in Washington and around the country.
McCain's campaign doesn't even seem to be paying attention to these details. Defending the ad Monday morning, spokesman Brian Rogers sent reporters a memo about the bridge project. "After taking office and examining the project closely, Governor Palin consistently opposed funding the 'Bridge to Nowhere' and ultimately canceled the wasteful project," Rogers wrote, glossing over exactly how long it took for her to examine the project closely. "She stopped it." But the memo cites the PolitiFact articles that make it clear that Palin was just bowing to the reality that the bridge was already dead. Never mind that, though. In John McCain's world, Sarah Palin is a maverick reformer who fought wasteful spending. In the world the rest of us live in, that's not so clear. (Note: Carly Fiorina would probably say this post is sexist, because it criticizes Palin's record, but Salon is willing to live with that risk.)
Friday, September 05, 2008
In the long Bushie Republican tradition of lying about everything
She DIDN'T sell the Jet on eBay, she DIDN'T make a profit.
and if she craftily didn't say she did sell it on eBay which is what everyone remembers, she manipulated America in her speech to lead us to believe that she did sell it on eBay.
That's the same old Bushie lying.
John McCain ...i really hope selling your soul to the Bushie Republicans pays off for you b/c I used to respect you. I really did, but now you're just as bad as the Bushies, but it's worse b/c you were once a stand up guy but over the past 12 months you changed. George W. Bush never knew better, he had everything handed to him and he got by b/c of who his father was. You used to be your own man...it's really sad to see what you've let them do to you.
and if she craftily didn't say she did sell it on eBay which is what everyone remembers, she manipulated America in her speech to lead us to believe that she did sell it on eBay.
That's the same old Bushie lying.
John McCain ...i really hope selling your soul to the Bushie Republicans pays off for you b/c I used to respect you. I really did, but now you're just as bad as the Bushies, but it's worse b/c you were once a stand up guy but over the past 12 months you changed. George W. Bush never knew better, he had everything handed to him and he got by b/c of who his father was. You used to be your own man...it's really sad to see what you've let them do to you.
Republican distaste for copyright
The GOP really seems to have a problem with this whole playing music inappropriately whether it's in violation of copyright law or when Reagan used "Born in the USA" as a campaign song, ignorant of the song's meaning.
Clowns
Clowns
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Palin is "qualified"? Then so are about 80,000 other people
Pathetic. This might be the most obvious showing of GOPs complete lack of anything resembling principles in the years.
I knew that the would completely change course on tokenism after this. Shameful pandering that is an insult to women b/c this horrible choice is based solely on the idea that Hilary supporters are going to vote for McCain now b/c his VP has a vagina and ignore that she's a right wing hack. But apparently, it's only black women that are tokens, right?
Here is a woman who has been governor of a state with more reindeer than people for all of 20 months. Before that the mayor of a town of 5000...What a joke. If leading a governmental agency of a population of 600,000 for a little over a year and a half makes you qualified to be President that would open it up to about 20,000 mayors, County Executives, governors.
You are honestly telling me that she is the BEST and most qualified member of the GOP to be VP? Really? She's not even the best female candidate, Kay Bailey Hutchinson is infinitely more qualified than her if you must have a woman candidate. Elizabeth Dole?
Please, Executive experience. Her big ethics controversy is so freakin' quaint as to be right out of an Andy Griffith episode. Using her influence to get her sister's ex-husband fired. That is so precious and it shows how small time she is. She's so ill-equipped to be VP that only a few weeks ago she didn't have enough information to form an opinion on The Surge in Iraq.
George Bush had been an executive for years and he let 9/11 happen. So, I'm not sure the Governor card is a strong one.
Finally, can you imagine the the shit spouted by Malkin, Coulter and or any of the other Republican Hypocrites if Obama's 17 year old daughter were pregnant…OMG the double standard. And of course the absolute SILENCE about Cindy McCain. If Michele Obama were a drug addict, that would be all you'd hear about. But nothing about the pretty white girl. I'm not saying that Cindy's past (I love Cindy McCain, I think she's a class act) has any relevance but you can sure as shit bet that if Michelle Obama had the same past that's all that Righty Wing Media fascists would be going on about.
Media Bias toward the GOP in this country is sickening.
I knew that the would completely change course on tokenism after this. Shameful pandering that is an insult to women b/c this horrible choice is based solely on the idea that Hilary supporters are going to vote for McCain now b/c his VP has a vagina and ignore that she's a right wing hack. But apparently, it's only black women that are tokens, right?
Here is a woman who has been governor of a state with more reindeer than people for all of 20 months. Before that the mayor of a town of 5000...What a joke. If leading a governmental agency of a population of 600,000 for a little over a year and a half makes you qualified to be President that would open it up to about 20,000 mayors, County Executives, governors.
You are honestly telling me that she is the BEST and most qualified member of the GOP to be VP? Really? She's not even the best female candidate, Kay Bailey Hutchinson is infinitely more qualified than her if you must have a woman candidate. Elizabeth Dole?
Please, Executive experience. Her big ethics controversy is so freakin' quaint as to be right out of an Andy Griffith episode. Using her influence to get her sister's ex-husband fired. That is so precious and it shows how small time she is. She's so ill-equipped to be VP that only a few weeks ago she didn't have enough information to form an opinion on The Surge in Iraq.
George Bush had been an executive for years and he let 9/11 happen. So, I'm not sure the Governor card is a strong one.
Finally, can you imagine the the shit spouted by Malkin, Coulter and or any of the other Republican Hypocrites if Obama's 17 year old daughter were pregnant…OMG the double standard. And of course the absolute SILENCE about Cindy McCain. If Michele Obama were a drug addict, that would be all you'd hear about. But nothing about the pretty white girl. I'm not saying that Cindy's past (I love Cindy McCain, I think she's a class act) has any relevance but you can sure as shit bet that if Michelle Obama had the same past that's all that Righty Wing Media fascists would be going on about.
Media Bias toward the GOP in this country is sickening.
Not such a Great Reformer this Savior from the Great White North
Not much of a reformer, this “maverick” from the great white north…
"So while Sen. McCain was going after cutting earmarks in Washington ," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, "Gov. Palin was going after getting earmarks."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-na-earmarks3-2008sep03,0,5932587.story
Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.
Steven Silver was a former chief of staff for Stevens. After he was hired, Wasilla obtained funding for several projects in 2002, including an additional $600,000 in transportation funding.
That year, a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which combs federal spending measures to identify projects inserted by congressional members.
"So while Sen. McCain was going after cutting earmarks in Washington ," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, "Gov. Palin was going after getting earmarks."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-na-earmarks3-2008sep03,0,5932587.story
Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.
Steven Silver was a former chief of staff for Stevens. After he was hired, Wasilla obtained funding for several projects in 2002, including an additional $600,000 in transportation funding.
That year, a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which combs federal spending measures to identify projects inserted by congressional members.
McCain's bad decision
From the NYT:
Candidate McCain’s Big Decision
More often than not, the role of a vice president is a minor one, unless some tragedy occurs. But a presidential nominee’s choice of a running mate is vitally important. It is his first executive decision and offers an important insight into how that nominee would lead the nation.
If John McCain wants voters to conclude, as he argues, that he has more independence and experience and better judgment than Barack Obama, he made a bad start by choosing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska .
Mr. McCain’s supporters are valiantly trying to argue that the selection was a bold stroke that shows their candidate is a risk-taking maverick who — we can believe — will change Washington . (Mr. Obama’s call for change — now “the change we need” — has become all the rage in St. Paul .)
To us, it says the opposite. Mr. McCain’s snap choice of Ms. Palin reflects his impulsive streak: a wild play that he made after conservative activists warned him that he would face an all-out revolt in the party if he chose who he really wanted — Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
Why Mr. McCain would want to pander to right-wing activists — who helped George W. Bush kill off his candidacy in the 2000 primaries in a particularly ugly way — is baffling. Frankly, they have no place to go. Mr. McCain would have a lot more success demonstrating his independence, and his courage, if he stood up to them the way he did in 2000.
As far as we can tell, Mr. McCain and his aides did almost no due diligence before choosing Ms. Palin, raising serious questions about his management skills. The fact that Ms. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant is irrelevant to her candidacy. There are, however, very serious questions about her political past and her ideology.
If Mr. McCain wanted to break with his party’s past and choose the Republicans’ first female vice presidential candidate, there are a number of politicians out there with far greater experience and stature than Ms. Palin, who has been in Alaska ’s Statehouse for less than two years.
Before she was elected governor, she was mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb, where her greatest accomplishment was raising the sales tax to build a hockey rink. According to Time magazine, she also sought to have books banned from the local library and threatened to fire the librarian.
MY COMMENT She’s a book burner…no wonder the GOP claims to love her.
For Mr. McCain to go on claiming that Mr. Obama has too little experience to be president after almost four years in the United States Senate is laughable now that he has announced that someone with no national or foreign policy experience is qualified to replace him, if necessary.
Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who has been one of Mr. McCain’s most loyal friends, said Tuesday that he was certain that Ms. Palin would take the right positions on issues like Iraq , Russia ’s invasion of Georgia and Iran ’s nuclear weapons ambitions. That seemed based largely on his repeated assertion that Ms. Palin would be tended by Mr. McCain’s foreign policy advisers. That was not much of an endorsement.
Some of the things Ms. Palin has had to say in the recent past about foreign policy are especially worrisome. In a speech last June to her former church in Wasilla, Ms. Palin said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.” Mr. Bush made similar claims as he rejected all sound mortal advice on how to conduct the war.
Mr. McCain, Mr. Graham and others also claim that Ms. Palin is a fearless reformer who is committed to fighting waste, fraud and earmarks. Ms. Palin did show courage taking on some of the Alaska Republican Party’s most sleazy politicians. But she also was an eager recipient of earmarked money as a mayor and governor.
Mayor Palin gathered up $27 million in subsidies from Washington , $15 million of it for a railroad from her town to the ski resort hometown of Senator Ted Stevens, now under indictment for failing to report gifts.
The Republicans are presenting Ms. Palin as a crusader against Mr. Stevens’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” The record says otherwise; she initially supported Mr. Stevens’s boondoggle, diverting the money to other projects when the bridge became a political disaster. In her speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God in June, Ms. Palin said it was “God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska .
Mr. McCain will make his acceptance speech on Thursday, and Ms. Palin will speak on Wednesday. Those two appearances will go a long way to forming voters’ views of this Republican ticket.
As Senator Graham noted, Mr. McCain has to reach out beyond the party’s loyal base. “We’re going to have to win this thing,” he said. “This is not our race to lose.”
Mr. McCain’s hurdles are substantial. To start, he has to overcome Mr. Bush’s record of failures. (The president addressed the convention Tuesday night and now, McCain strategists fervently hope, will retire quietly to the Rose Garden.) That record includes the disastrous war in Iraq , a ballooning deficit, the mortgage crisis — and the list goes on.
To address those many problems, this country needs a leader with sound judgment and strong leadership skills. Choosing Ms. Palin raises serious questions about Mr. McCain’s qualifications.
Candidate McCain’s Big Decision
More often than not, the role of a vice president is a minor one, unless some tragedy occurs. But a presidential nominee’s choice of a running mate is vitally important. It is his first executive decision and offers an important insight into how that nominee would lead the nation.
If John McCain wants voters to conclude, as he argues, that he has more independence and experience and better judgment than Barack Obama, he made a bad start by choosing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska .
Mr. McCain’s supporters are valiantly trying to argue that the selection was a bold stroke that shows their candidate is a risk-taking maverick who — we can believe — will change Washington . (Mr. Obama’s call for change — now “the change we need” — has become all the rage in St. Paul .)
To us, it says the opposite. Mr. McCain’s snap choice of Ms. Palin reflects his impulsive streak: a wild play that he made after conservative activists warned him that he would face an all-out revolt in the party if he chose who he really wanted — Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
Why Mr. McCain would want to pander to right-wing activists — who helped George W. Bush kill off his candidacy in the 2000 primaries in a particularly ugly way — is baffling. Frankly, they have no place to go. Mr. McCain would have a lot more success demonstrating his independence, and his courage, if he stood up to them the way he did in 2000.
As far as we can tell, Mr. McCain and his aides did almost no due diligence before choosing Ms. Palin, raising serious questions about his management skills. The fact that Ms. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant is irrelevant to her candidacy. There are, however, very serious questions about her political past and her ideology.
If Mr. McCain wanted to break with his party’s past and choose the Republicans’ first female vice presidential candidate, there are a number of politicians out there with far greater experience and stature than Ms. Palin, who has been in Alaska ’s Statehouse for less than two years.
Before she was elected governor, she was mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb, where her greatest accomplishment was raising the sales tax to build a hockey rink. According to Time magazine, she also sought to have books banned from the local library and threatened to fire the librarian.
MY COMMENT She’s a book burner…no wonder the GOP claims to love her.
For Mr. McCain to go on claiming that Mr. Obama has too little experience to be president after almost four years in the United States Senate is laughable now that he has announced that someone with no national or foreign policy experience is qualified to replace him, if necessary.
Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who has been one of Mr. McCain’s most loyal friends, said Tuesday that he was certain that Ms. Palin would take the right positions on issues like Iraq , Russia ’s invasion of Georgia and Iran ’s nuclear weapons ambitions. That seemed based largely on his repeated assertion that Ms. Palin would be tended by Mr. McCain’s foreign policy advisers. That was not much of an endorsement.
Some of the things Ms. Palin has had to say in the recent past about foreign policy are especially worrisome. In a speech last June to her former church in Wasilla, Ms. Palin said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.” Mr. Bush made similar claims as he rejected all sound mortal advice on how to conduct the war.
Mr. McCain, Mr. Graham and others also claim that Ms. Palin is a fearless reformer who is committed to fighting waste, fraud and earmarks. Ms. Palin did show courage taking on some of the Alaska Republican Party’s most sleazy politicians. But she also was an eager recipient of earmarked money as a mayor and governor.
Mayor Palin gathered up $27 million in subsidies from Washington , $15 million of it for a railroad from her town to the ski resort hometown of Senator Ted Stevens, now under indictment for failing to report gifts.
The Republicans are presenting Ms. Palin as a crusader against Mr. Stevens’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” The record says otherwise; she initially supported Mr. Stevens’s boondoggle, diverting the money to other projects when the bridge became a political disaster. In her speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God in June, Ms. Palin said it was “God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska .
Mr. McCain will make his acceptance speech on Thursday, and Ms. Palin will speak on Wednesday. Those two appearances will go a long way to forming voters’ views of this Republican ticket.
As Senator Graham noted, Mr. McCain has to reach out beyond the party’s loyal base. “We’re going to have to win this thing,” he said. “This is not our race to lose.”
Mr. McCain’s hurdles are substantial. To start, he has to overcome Mr. Bush’s record of failures. (The president addressed the convention Tuesday night and now, McCain strategists fervently hope, will retire quietly to the Rose Garden.) That record includes the disastrous war in Iraq , a ballooning deficit, the mortgage crisis — and the list goes on.
To address those many problems, this country needs a leader with sound judgment and strong leadership skills. Choosing Ms. Palin raises serious questions about Mr. McCain’s qualifications.
sounds like a real Republican...trying to game the system and use power to her personal advantage
The woman was obsessed with getting her ex-brother in law fired. Hardly the behavior becoming a governor, a mayor of a town of 5000 maybe, but surely not a governor.
Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but last month she hired a lawyer to fight to move the case to the jurisdiction of the state personnel board, which Palin appoints.
Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but last month she hired a lawyer to fight to move the case to the jurisdiction of the state personnel board, which Palin appoints.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Cynical Pandering
Pathetic. This might be the most obvious showing of the GOP's complete lack of anything resembling principles in the years.
After months of accusing Michelle Obama and Hilary of tokenism now they embrace this unqualified token female. Shameful pandering that is an insult to women b/c this horrible choice is based solely on the idea that Hilary supporters are going to vote for McCain now b/c his VP has a vagina and ignore that she's a right wing hack. But apparently, it's only black women that are "tokens"?
Here is a woman who has been governor of a state with more reindeer than people for all of 20 months. Before that the mayor of a town of 9000...What a joke. If leading a governmental agency of a population of 600,000 for a little over a year and a half makes you qualified to be President that would open it up to about 20,000 mayors, County Executives, governors.
You are honestly telling me that she is the BEST and most qualified member of the GOP to be VP? Really? She's not even the best female candidate, Kay Bailey Hutchinson is infinitely more qualified than her if you must have a woman candidate. Elizabeth Dole?
Please, Executive experience. Her big ethics controversy is so freakin' quaint as to be right out of an Andy Griffith episode. Using her influence to get her sister's ex-husband fired. That is so precious and it shows how small time she is. She's so ill-equipped to be VP that only a few weeks ago she didn't have enough information to form an opinion on The Surge in Iraq.
George Bush had been an executive for years and he let 9/11 happen. So, I'm not sure the Governor card is a strong one.
Finally, can you imagine the firestorm created by Malkin, Coulter and the comments by the Right if Obama's 17 year old daughter were pregnant…OMG the double standard. And of course the absolute SILENCE about Cindy McCain. If Michele Obama were a drug addict, that would be all you'd hear about. (let me be perfectly clear, I don't think someone's family issues disqualify them and I really like Cindy McCain she is a class act and seems to have a very good heart. But the GOP has been making fun of Obama's family for 2 years, so I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy, not condemning Cindy)
Media Bias toward the GOP in this country is sickening.
After months of accusing Michelle Obama and Hilary of tokenism now they embrace this unqualified token female. Shameful pandering that is an insult to women b/c this horrible choice is based solely on the idea that Hilary supporters are going to vote for McCain now b/c his VP has a vagina and ignore that she's a right wing hack. But apparently, it's only black women that are "tokens"?
Here is a woman who has been governor of a state with more reindeer than people for all of 20 months. Before that the mayor of a town of 9000...What a joke. If leading a governmental agency of a population of 600,000 for a little over a year and a half makes you qualified to be President that would open it up to about 20,000 mayors, County Executives, governors.
You are honestly telling me that she is the BEST and most qualified member of the GOP to be VP? Really? She's not even the best female candidate, Kay Bailey Hutchinson is infinitely more qualified than her if you must have a woman candidate. Elizabeth Dole?
Please, Executive experience. Her big ethics controversy is so freakin' quaint as to be right out of an Andy Griffith episode. Using her influence to get her sister's ex-husband fired. That is so precious and it shows how small time she is. She's so ill-equipped to be VP that only a few weeks ago she didn't have enough information to form an opinion on The Surge in Iraq.
George Bush had been an executive for years and he let 9/11 happen. So, I'm not sure the Governor card is a strong one.
Finally, can you imagine the firestorm created by Malkin, Coulter and the comments by the Right if Obama's 17 year old daughter were pregnant…OMG the double standard. And of course the absolute SILENCE about Cindy McCain. If Michele Obama were a drug addict, that would be all you'd hear about. (let me be perfectly clear, I don't think someone's family issues disqualify them and I really like Cindy McCain she is a class act and seems to have a very good heart. But the GOP has been making fun of Obama's family for 2 years, so I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy, not condemning Cindy)
Media Bias toward the GOP in this country is sickening.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bolt is amazing
I know Phelps is getting all the love, but this guy dominated in a way that Phelps didn’t. Yes, Phelps broke lots of world records (and having 97 swimming events and relays helps) but not by this margin and he didn’t dominate like Bolt did (someone can do the math on the percentage improvement in the records and the percentage of his margin of victory). Phelps may have broken a record by a crazy 4 seconds but that’s in a 2 minute race. Oh yeah, and 2 or 3 other guys also broke the record). Bolt is sick.
Guitar Hero ...saving Rock n Roll?
I was talking with another dad at football practice last night about this very subject. The other day in the car, Iron Maiden came on the Sirius and my 10 year old pointed out that it was indeed Iron Maiden. I asked how he knew that and he said “Guitar Hero” and he recognized his voice. It was a proud moment for me. Mostly b/c, despite my efforts, most of the time he seems to believe that Lil Wayne (and his contemporaries) invented Rap and most music for that matter.
And speaking of ROCK. I bought a 3 disc set of Journey at Costco on Sunday. I’ve been rockin’ it ever since…and if “Feelin that way/Anytime” and “Wheel in the sky” don’t get your heart apumpin…you have no soul.
And speaking of ROCK. I bought a 3 disc set of Journey at Costco on Sunday. I’ve been rockin’ it ever since…and if “Feelin that way/Anytime” and “Wheel in the sky” don’t get your heart apumpin…you have no soul.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
anyone else tired of the phelympics?
I'll give you that Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer ever. Sure. But this bullshit that he is the greatest athlete of all time must come to an end. Phelps does one thing better than anyone, but he swims. Just swims. Bo Jackson played 2 sports at a professional level and was a great track athlete. Dieon Sanders was one of the best football players of his era and a damn fine baseball player. He also ran track in college. Again, Phelps does one thing, yes he does different strokes, but that allows him opportunities to pile up medals. If track had four different racing styles, I'm sure Michael Johnson or Carl Lewis could have had another 10 or so. Imagine if there was a backwards 200M, or a sideways event. Additionally, many of Phelps medals were in relays. Again, track doesn't have so many events at such close distances.
This doesn't even bring up athletes with crazy diverse skills like Jim Thorpe or even Babe Didrickson. Jim Brown who was the greatest running back in NFL history and was supposed to be the greatest Lacrosse player of his era. So, as NBC is forced to talk about someone besides Phelps, lets restore some integrity to this discussion of ATHLETES. Phelps is the greatest swimmer, maybe the greatest Olympian, but once the hysteria subsides we'll all realize he is NOT the greatest athlete of all time.
This doesn't even bring up athletes with crazy diverse skills like Jim Thorpe or even Babe Didrickson. Jim Brown who was the greatest running back in NFL history and was supposed to be the greatest Lacrosse player of his era. So, as NBC is forced to talk about someone besides Phelps, lets restore some integrity to this discussion of ATHLETES. Phelps is the greatest swimmer, maybe the greatest Olympian, but once the hysteria subsides we'll all realize he is NOT the greatest athlete of all time.
Friday, August 15, 2008
and from Darkness...light shown again
Maybe, JUST MAYBE, rule of law is shining it’s head again after years of darkness…(I think it might have been under the drapery that Ashcroft put over the statue of Justice).
No man, no matter how much Divine Authority he believes he has, is above the law in America .
No man, no matter how much Divine Authority he believes he has, is above the law in America .
Federal judge rules Bush's aides can be subpoenaed
A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush's contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress' power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.
WASHINGTON —
A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush's contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress' power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.
More American media hypocrisy
i read this and it seems like another case of media hypocrisy. America choses beauty over talent every day, but we're supposed to be outraged when China does it? Paris Hilton anyone?
Why do we condemn the Chinese and spin it that they replaced the "ugly girl", when isn't it just as much the case that the girl that was to perform couldn't sing well enough and someone else with talent was used instead.
Does that make it better or worse? Not sure.
As for the "controversy" over the digital fireworks...are you freaking kidding me? it was a performance, did you realize that the ships on that screen and all the other images were not real...GASP. They were actually digital images, OMG the horror.
American media is a bunch of tools.
Why do we condemn the Chinese and spin it that they replaced the "ugly girl", when isn't it just as much the case that the girl that was to perform couldn't sing well enough and someone else with talent was used instead.
Does that make it better or worse? Not sure.
As for the "controversy" over the digital fireworks...are you freaking kidding me? it was a performance, did you realize that the ships on that screen and all the other images were not real...GASP. They were actually digital images, OMG the horror.
American media is a bunch of tools.
Where is the Bush name calling now? or Is this Bush's "Chamberlin Moment"?
Is this Bush’s “peace in our time” moment? Is bush going to defend our friends in Georgia or is he just going to say “ Russia is a bully”?
Sanctions? US Troops in Georgia ? Why doesn’t Georgia deserve half as much as Iraq , after all they are being invaded by another nation? Or does Bush still believe that Putin still has a pure soul?
I’m ask for the neo-con take on this, I don’t know that I have the answers, but consdiering all the chest thumping about freedom by the Bushies I would figure you’d have some pretty strong positions on defending our allies from Russian agression.
After all, Bush called Obama an appeaser while he stood in the Knessett, but isn't he doing just as Chamberlin did with Hitler? Again, the Neocons are the experts on that b/c they love to trot out Chamberlin about once a week to prove how tough they are about freedom (even if NONE of them ever saw a minute of combat)
Sanctions? US Troops in Georgia ? Why doesn’t Georgia deserve half as much as Iraq , after all they are being invaded by another nation? Or does Bush still believe that Putin still has a pure soul?
I’m ask for the neo-con take on this, I don’t know that I have the answers, but consdiering all the chest thumping about freedom by the Bushies I would figure you’d have some pretty strong positions on defending our allies from Russian agression.
After all, Bush called Obama an appeaser while he stood in the Knessett, but isn't he doing just as Chamberlin did with Hitler? Again, the Neocons are the experts on that b/c they love to trot out Chamberlin about once a week to prove how tough they are about freedom (even if NONE of them ever saw a minute of combat)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
what a joke
I've read this twice now:
Seriously? That book's presence is some sort of proof of guilt? Any well read person might have that book, does that make everyone a terrorist? I have a book infectious diseases too, LEVEL 4 is the title, should I toss that? I also own 5 bibles, the Communist Manifesto, Milton Friedman, and dozens more. I wonder what case could be made of me (OR ANYONE) if the FBI pulled one book from me bookshelf.
Idiots
As probable bioterrorists go, Bruce Ivins was a near perfect suspect. Among the hundreds of pages of evidence that the FBI had mounted against him (which were released last week), there were electronic records documenting Ivins' late-night sojourns in the lab, e-mails revealing a mind wracked by paranoia and an inventory of a November 2007 FBI search of his home, which turned up a paperback copy of Albert Camus's novel The Plague.
Seriously? That book's presence is some sort of proof of guilt? Any well read person might have that book, does that make everyone a terrorist? I have a book infectious diseases too, LEVEL 4 is the title, should I toss that? I also own 5 bibles, the Communist Manifesto, Milton Friedman, and dozens more. I wonder what case could be made of me (OR ANYONE) if the FBI pulled one book from me bookshelf.
Idiots
Sunday, August 10, 2008
American Media's hypocrisy re: Olympic athletes
The other day MSNBC.com had a story about Chinese gymnasts and the implication was the state forced kids and families to make all kinds of sacrafices and that that it was just horrible. Forgetting of course that American kids do the exact same thing. But as I'm watching this evenings Synchronized Diving, NBC plays one of those vingettes they love to produce. In it, this America girl explains how she left home at the age of 16 to train full time in Indianapolis, how she has NO friends, how she didn't go to high school, about how her whole life is diving. NBC presented this as some noble cause for her to give up her childhood.
Yet last week, when the Chinese kids did it it was sad. Hypocrites.
Yet last week, when the Chinese kids did it it was sad. Hypocrites.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
More of the GOP lawlessness
I can't wait to hear the "law and order" Republicans (who believe the most pressing problems in the world are that two men might obtain a marriage license or that the guy washing dishes or mowing a lawn doesn't have a visa) tell us how it's really ok to LIE about the BRIBES you've been taking.
How more indictments you think will happen after the Bush administration leaves office, unless of course he just pardons the entire cabal for all their crimes as he leaves office. Can he do that? Well, he has proven his disregard for the Constitution, US law and international treaties (not to mention any sense of morality) so why wouldn't he just do it anyway...
Shameful.
How more indictments you think will happen after the Bush administration leaves office, unless of course he just pardons the entire cabal for all their crimes as he leaves office. Can he do that? Well, he has proven his disregard for the Constitution, US law and international treaties (not to mention any sense of morality) so why wouldn't he just do it anyway...
Shameful.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Only a Bushie agency could believe a monopoly is in the public interest
Forgetting for a moment that when the Satellite services were established they were forbidden explicitly by law from merging, but how in God's name can the Federal Government claim that when the only two companies in a market merge into one that is GOOD for the public. They even claimed it will lead to more choices and lower prices, when has that ever happened?
What a horrible decision?
Someone on the government even claimed that Sirius and XM don't even compete against each other b/c their customers are loyal...WOW.
yet this is the same government who is going after Intel depsite numerous competitors in every market...
ONLY THE BUSHIES
What a horrible decision?
Someone on the government even claimed that Sirius and XM don't even compete against each other b/c their customers are loyal...WOW.
yet this is the same government who is going after Intel depsite numerous competitors in every market...
ONLY THE BUSHIES
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bush is now an appeaser like Chamberlin?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/16/us.iran/index.html
Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
George W. Bush May 15, 2008
I find it interesting that 2 months ago, when Obama suggested the US talk to Iran it was like letting Hitler loose on the Jews, now it's a good idea. Shameful pandering, especially that Bush made this attack while standing in the Knesset.
I'm glad he's decided to at least talk to Iran, after all diplomacy worked with N. Korea and Iraq hasn't turned out so well now has it? So, maybe the grown ups have told the little boys to put their little willies away and act like adults and talk to them. It don't cost nothing to talk and it often provides better results for a hell of a lot cheaper (see N Korea).
I wonder if Bush will be apologizing to Obama for his ridiculous slam or if he will be apologizing to the Bushie faithful for his "appeasement"?
Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
George W. Bush May 15, 2008
I find it interesting that 2 months ago, when Obama suggested the US talk to Iran it was like letting Hitler loose on the Jews, now it's a good idea. Shameful pandering, especially that Bush made this attack while standing in the Knesset.
I'm glad he's decided to at least talk to Iran, after all diplomacy worked with N. Korea and Iraq hasn't turned out so well now has it? So, maybe the grown ups have told the little boys to put their little willies away and act like adults and talk to them. It don't cost nothing to talk and it often provides better results for a hell of a lot cheaper (see N Korea).
I wonder if Bush will be apologizing to Obama for his ridiculous slam or if he will be apologizing to the Bushie faithful for his "appeasement"?
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Hilary Clinton proves the worst about herself
For years before Hilary officially ran for the Dem nomination, I contended that her negatives were too high with the radical right for her to win a general election. (that is of course before the "other choice" became a black man and the far right GOP and Bushies embraced Clinton b/c apparently she's better than a black man in office). When they hated Hilary they claimed she was power hungry and didn't care about making America better as much as she wanted the power and in her efforts to win the Delegates of Florida and Michigan, this side of her has come out.
She and the other candidates agreed not to campaign in Mich/Fla b/c they knowingly broke the rules of the DNC and were warned of the consequences. By not running there, she agreed that they broke the rules, so she can't claim ignorance. The fact that she didn't remove her name from the ballot while others did, is now used by her to claim she has some right to all the delegates and that is extremely distasteful and shows a lack of principle on her part.
She is shouting about disenfranchisement, when she knew in January that this was going to happen when the states violated party rules. Now, that she is losing she has decided that the rules should be changed now to benefit her, even though she agreed to them when she looked like the winner and that is very sad and shows a thirst for power over principle.
I've always liked Hilary, but in this campaign she has reinforced to me what the Clinton-haters used to say...she is power hungry. It appears that she will pander(shots anyone?) and change her principles when it's politically expedient. We've had 8 years of abandoning principle for the sake of securing power, we don't need that any longer.
Michigan and Florida Dem Parties "disenfranchised" their states, not the DNC, not Obama. And lets not forget this isn't "an election", the selection of a nominee is a party matter. The use of Super Delegates, Caucuses and various backroom deals through the years in all parties should make it clear that this is not "an election", it's a party matter. Directly electing the nominee is probably a good thing for the party, but they don't even do that today. The winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the nomination, which is why there are delegates and super delegates. No one is "disenfranchised" in Florida or Michigan and if Hilary had class and principle she would stop claiming that is happening.
Frankly the DNC should stick to their guns and not seat a single delegate from either state. That is what was threatened, that is what was agreed to and the rules of the game shouldn't change because your team is losing.
She and the other candidates agreed not to campaign in Mich/Fla b/c they knowingly broke the rules of the DNC and were warned of the consequences. By not running there, she agreed that they broke the rules, so she can't claim ignorance. The fact that she didn't remove her name from the ballot while others did, is now used by her to claim she has some right to all the delegates and that is extremely distasteful and shows a lack of principle on her part.
She is shouting about disenfranchisement, when she knew in January that this was going to happen when the states violated party rules. Now, that she is losing she has decided that the rules should be changed now to benefit her, even though she agreed to them when she looked like the winner and that is very sad and shows a thirst for power over principle.
I've always liked Hilary, but in this campaign she has reinforced to me what the Clinton-haters used to say...she is power hungry. It appears that she will pander(shots anyone?) and change her principles when it's politically expedient. We've had 8 years of abandoning principle for the sake of securing power, we don't need that any longer.
Michigan and Florida Dem Parties "disenfranchised" their states, not the DNC, not Obama. And lets not forget this isn't "an election", the selection of a nominee is a party matter. The use of Super Delegates, Caucuses and various backroom deals through the years in all parties should make it clear that this is not "an election", it's a party matter. Directly electing the nominee is probably a good thing for the party, but they don't even do that today. The winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the nomination, which is why there are delegates and super delegates. No one is "disenfranchised" in Florida or Michigan and if Hilary had class and principle she would stop claiming that is happening.
Frankly the DNC should stick to their guns and not seat a single delegate from either state. That is what was threatened, that is what was agreed to and the rules of the game shouldn't change because your team is losing.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
America is great IN SPITE of fundementalism and fear of change
This was sent in response to an email about some guy who wishes he lived in the 1950's. Specifically about the California same sex marriage decision.
Everything great that America ever achieved happened by the force of will of free-thinkers challenging the status quo. The Bushies would have you believe in these supposed "American values" of hating change and social evolution (as well as being educated). Fortunately this desire to preserve the status quo has been overridden by those willing to make change happen.
It's those Intelligent open-minded challengers of the status quo that have made America great, while the GOP wants to claim that "real Americans" are those that embrace stasis and hate education. Again, fortunately it's the stupid, lazy and closed-minded that are cast to the dustbin of history.
In a word, "Progress".
Everything great that America ever achieved happened by the force of will of free-thinkers challenging the status quo. The Bushies would have you believe in these supposed "American values" of hating change and social evolution (as well as being educated). Fortunately this desire to preserve the status quo has been overridden by those willing to make change happen.
It's those Intelligent open-minded challengers of the status quo that have made America great, while the GOP wants to claim that "real Americans" are those that embrace stasis and hate education. Again, fortunately it's the stupid, lazy and closed-minded that are cast to the dustbin of history.
In a word, "Progress".
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Myth of Voter Fraud
The whole political philosophy of the Bushies is based on these myths. The myth of illegal immigrants voting en masse, the welfare mother who has 8 kids so she can get more money, Mexicans stealing jobs from hard working Americans (doing the jobs you wouldn’t do when you lose your job), gay people “recruiting”, suppression of a vast Christian majority in America…on and on it goes.
Just because you continually claim “everybody knows” to make yourself feel less detached from reality, doesn’t make it real. Saying that “people are smarter than this” is another of your rhetorical ticks. “Most people” don’t read newspapers, most people don’t know where Canada is on a map. Most people don’t know shit about voter fraud. But they believe the lies spread by politicians.
They are the imagined bogeymen of the fear mongers and you eat it up. I guess it makes sense b/c the Bushies have spent nearly 8 years trying to scare you into every single thing they want to have happen. Living is fear is a hell of way to live, especially when the fears are not based on the real world.
Just because you continually claim “everybody knows” to make yourself feel less detached from reality, doesn’t make it real. Saying that “people are smarter than this” is another of your rhetorical ticks. “Most people” don’t read newspapers, most people don’t know where Canada is on a map. Most people don’t know shit about voter fraud. But they believe the lies spread by politicians.
They are the imagined bogeymen of the fear mongers and you eat it up. I guess it makes sense b/c the Bushies have spent nearly 8 years trying to scare you into every single thing they want to have happen. Living is fear is a hell of way to live, especially when the fears are not based on the real world.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Chad Johnson is a tool
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23782681/
I hate these prima donna’s who bitch and moan for a long term deal then they complain a year later they want to renegotiate or want to be traded. Let them all rot on the bench. Or better yet, tear up the contract AFTER the player returns all the money under the contract and then the team can pay them at the league minimum for those seasons. Then let them go wherever they want.
I hate these prima donna’s who bitch and moan for a long term deal then they complain a year later they want to renegotiate or want to be traded. Let them all rot on the bench. Or better yet, tear up the contract AFTER the player returns all the money under the contract and then the team can pay them at the league minimum for those seasons. Then let them go wherever they want.
America...devolution
Last week some folks ("Christians") were bitching about the attention that the Dalai Lama received in Seattle, they made the claim that Christianity was responsible for ALL of the good of Western Civilization and that NO OTHER religion advanced civilization. I think I blogged about that bullshit at the time, but here's the latest.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-04-22-voa57.cfm
I’ve been informed by "Christians" that AMERICA RULES in healthcare and yet large parts of America ’s population is getting WORSE in life expectancy? Especially ironic that the geographic areas mention are those in the most “Christian” parts of the country. I believe last week we were informed how Christianity made people live longer and have better everything. So, this can’t be true. Stupid Facts.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-04-22-voa57.cfm
I’ve been informed by "Christians" that AMERICA RULES in healthcare and yet large parts of America ’s population is getting WORSE in life expectancy? Especially ironic that the geographic areas mention are those in the most “Christian” parts of the country. I believe last week we were informed how Christianity made people live longer and have better everything. So, this can’t be true. Stupid Facts.
Over the last 20 years, life expectancy has either declined or stagnated for one
of out every five women compared with four percent of men. Ezzati finds this a
grim statistic for an industrialized nation. "We don't associate worsening of
health, worsening of life expectancy with something that happens in a developed
high-income country."
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Christianity RULES Part III
Did anyone note the irony of these comments with the Pope’s comments at the same time? Is this the “level of civilization” he spoke of?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080417/ts_nm/pope_usa_dc_27
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080417/ts_nm/pope_usa_dc_27
For the third consecutive day of his trip to the United States , Benedict
mentioned the scandal that rocked the Church in 2002 and cost U.S. dioceses $2
billion in damages, demonstrating his resolve to deal with the issue and make
sure it does not happen again.
"No words of mine can describe the pain and harm inflicted by such
abuse," he said in the sermon of a Mass at Nationals Park , a new stadium
hosting its first non-baseball event.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Christianity RULES Part II
Western society advanced DESPITE Christianity. Christian superstition led to Galileo being imprisoned for defying the “God-given truth” that the earth was the center of the Universe. Yet, science advanced despite those impediments imposed by Christianity (both cultural and legal). Even today, as “Christians” try to stop medical research on religious grounds, science marches on.
Western Civilization didn’t thrive b/c of Christianity, it prospered in spite of it.
I did get a chuckle after work when I thought about how much your disdain for the rest of Western Civilization faded away during this here attack on non-Christian societies. You’re always going on and on about how much Canada , France , Germany , etc. all suck.
And South America ? That’s just about as poverty-stricken as N. Africa and the Middle East . What’s up with that?
I guess that goes to show (considering oil-rich Arab countries incredible wealth and “progress”) that economics drive societal prosperity, not religious doctrine. And a few hundred years of colonialism doesn’t do a society any favors either.
Western Civilization didn’t thrive b/c of Christianity, it prospered in spite of it.
I did get a chuckle after work when I thought about how much your disdain for the rest of Western Civilization faded away during this here attack on non-Christian societies. You’re always going on and on about how much Canada , France , Germany , etc. all suck.
And South America ? That’s just about as poverty-stricken as N. Africa and the Middle East . What’s up with that?
I guess that goes to show (considering oil-rich Arab countries incredible wealth and “progress”) that economics drive societal prosperity, not religious doctrine. And a few hundred years of colonialism doesn’t do a society any favors either.
Christianity RULES
My Bushie friend hit me with this:
My response:
Saying Western Civilization is Western Civilization b/c it is Christian isn’t an argument.
As for North Africa and Middle East . Have you ever been to Egypt ? Abu Daubi?
How about Gary , Indiana or Detroit , Michigan ? Seems like Christ must hate the Midwest and love UAE.
More eye-rolling at the Dalai Lama from newly merged social-conservative groups...
Given who's on the board, expect to hear more from the newly merged Family Policy Institute of Washington and the Spokane-based Washington Family Foundation.
The two groups will now be known as the Family Policy Institute of Washington, which describes its work as "to introduce and influence Washington state laws and public policy in support of human life and the institutions of marriage and the family." The group will keep its Spokane office and staff, as well as an Eastern Washington Advisory Board.
The group, which is unhappy with the attention the Dalai Lama is getting in Seattle this week, is no stranger to politics. Its board members include:
The group yesterday criticized as "the very height of absurdity" the notion that the visiting Tibetan Dalai Lama should be seen by "liberal Seattle elites, media, politicians and educrats" as a source of spiritual guidance and real-world solutions:
"Never in history has this part of the world achieved a fraction of the sustained level of civilization and prosperity as is commonly found in the Christianized West,"
said the group's executive director, Larry Stickney. He maintains that: "Wherever eastern religions have taken hold, superstition, backwardness, abject poverty and misery has been a common denominator of its practitioners and peoples."
North Africa and the Middle East were part of the Greco-Roman world
and yet did not develop with the rest of Western Civilization.
Explain.
My response:
Saying Western Civilization is Western Civilization b/c it is Christian isn’t an argument.
As for North Africa and Middle East . Have you ever been to Egypt ? Abu Daubi?
How about Gary , Indiana or Detroit , Michigan ? Seems like Christ must hate the Midwest and love UAE.
More eye-rolling at the Dalai Lama from newly merged social-conservative groups...
Given who's on the board, expect to hear more from the newly merged Family Policy Institute of Washington and the Spokane-based Washington Family Foundation.
The two groups will now be known as the Family Policy Institute of Washington, which describes its work as "to introduce and influence Washington state laws and public policy in support of human life and the institutions of marriage and the family." The group will keep its Spokane office and staff, as well as an Eastern Washington Advisory Board.
The group, which is unhappy with the attention the Dalai Lama is getting in Seattle this week, is no stranger to politics. Its board members include:
The group yesterday criticized as "the very height of absurdity" the notion that the visiting Tibetan Dalai Lama should be seen by "liberal Seattle elites, media, politicians and educrats" as a source of spiritual guidance and real-world solutions:
"Never in history has this part of the world achieved a fraction of the sustained level of civilization and prosperity as is commonly found in the Christianized West,"
said the group's executive director, Larry Stickney. He maintains that: "Wherever eastern religions have taken hold, superstition, backwardness, abject poverty and misery has been a common denominator of its practitioners and peoples."
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
McCain and Clinton call Obama "elitist"
I especially love it when multi-millionaires are calling Obama an “elitist”. McCain sits in his $4 million dollar house (one of 4 they own) and calls Obama elitist. His wife is one of the richest women in Arizona …you can’t buy those kinda balls.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
That Bush Magic
My Bushie friend likes to say that “Everyone knows” that things are better now, and we all know that for them “everybody” means those who lives in his house, but apparently America (and the individuals who comprise America that he has little use for) disagree:
Stories below are hyperlinked for your viewing convenience:
We’re worse off than 4 years ago, voters say
WASHINGTON - Are you better off now than you were four years ago?
This has become a fundamental question in presidential elections. And for the first time since 1992, a plurality of voters heading into November’s election answer that question with a resounding no, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Forty-three percent say that they and their families are worse off, compared with 34 percent who say they’re better off; 21 percent respond that their status is the same. By contrast, strong pluralities or majorities answered that they were better off before entering the general elections in 1996, 2000 and 2004 — when, with the exception of the extremely close 2000 race, the incumbent party held onto the presidency
.
February retail sales worse than expected
Feb. foreclosures up 60 percent over year before
Oil prices touch a new high of $111 a barrel
Stocks tumble as commodity prices soar
Stories below are hyperlinked for your viewing convenience:
We’re worse off than 4 years ago, voters say
WASHINGTON - Are you better off now than you were four years ago?
This has become a fundamental question in presidential elections. And for the first time since 1992, a plurality of voters heading into November’s election answer that question with a resounding no, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Forty-three percent say that they and their families are worse off, compared with 34 percent who say they’re better off; 21 percent respond that their status is the same. By contrast, strong pluralities or majorities answered that they were better off before entering the general elections in 1996, 2000 and 2004 — when, with the exception of the extremely close 2000 race, the incumbent party held onto the presidency
.
February retail sales worse than expected
Feb. foreclosures up 60 percent over year before
Oil prices touch a new high of $111 a barrel
Stocks tumble as commodity prices soar
Friday, March 07, 2008
Vile
The Bush extortion of American continues.
Bush appears to be saying that the Army’s behavior “could cost American lives”. How’s that for supporting the troops? It should be horrifying that while the Military of America refuses to engage in torture, the civilian executive believes that he should be able to torture. WOW.
Bush appears to be saying that the Army’s behavior “could cost American lives”. How’s that for supporting the troops? It should be horrifying that while the Military of America refuses to engage in torture, the civilian executive believes that he should be able to torture. WOW.
Bush: Limiting CIA Interrogations "Could Cost American Lives"
By Paul Kiel - March 8, 2008, 10:33AMFrom President Bush's radio address today, where he announced that he'd
vetoed the Senate authorization bill, which would have effectively outlawed
waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques for the CIA by
limiting the CIA to the Army's guide for interrogations, the Army Field
Manual:
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Interesting discussion of "experience"
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/17/Worldandnation/Presidential_experien.shtml
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1717926,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
"there's no such thing as presidential experience outside of the office itself."
James A. Baker III
Wouldn't it be nice if time on the job and tickets punched translated neatly into superior performance? Then finding great Presidents would be a simple matter of weighing résumés. Take a Democrat like Bill Richardson — experienced in Congress, in the Cabinet, as a diplomat and governor — and have him run against Republican Tom Ridge, a former soldier, governor and Director of Homeland Security, with the winner chosen by a blue-ribbon commission of all-purpose elders. The Danforth-Mitchell commission, perhaps, or O'Connor-Albright. But it has never worked that way, which is why Lincoln 's statue occupies a marble temple on the Mall in Washington , while his far more experienced rival William Seward has a little seat on a pedestal in New York City .
…
Richard Nixon served as a Congressman, Senator and Vice President; he watched from the front row as Eisenhower assembled one of the best-organized administrations in history. When Nixon's turn came, though, his core character — insecure, insincere, conspiratorial — led him to create a White House doomed by its own dysfunction.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1717926,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
"there's no such thing as presidential experience outside of the office itself."
James A. Baker III
Wouldn't it be nice if time on the job and tickets punched translated neatly into superior performance? Then finding great Presidents would be a simple matter of weighing résumés. Take a Democrat like Bill Richardson — experienced in Congress, in the Cabinet, as a diplomat and governor — and have him run against Republican Tom Ridge, a former soldier, governor and Director of Homeland Security, with the winner chosen by a blue-ribbon commission of all-purpose elders. The Danforth-Mitchell commission, perhaps, or O'Connor-Albright. But it has never worked that way, which is why Lincoln 's statue occupies a marble temple on the Mall in Washington , while his far more experienced rival William Seward has a little seat on a pedestal in New York City .
…
Richard Nixon served as a Congressman, Senator and Vice President; he watched from the front row as Eisenhower assembled one of the best-organized administrations in history. When Nixon's turn came, though, his core character — insecure, insincere, conspiratorial — led him to create a White House doomed by its own dysfunction.
Lawless
Yeah, but our secret police, spying on our own citizens and general disregard for the law is better than when China, Cuba, and Russia, etc use their secret police, spy on their citizens and have a general disregard for the law. We’re George W. Bush’s America . When our leader says he must violate these laws to protect our country, who are we to argue? After all, when has a leader claiming the violation of laws and the abuse of civil rights is justified by “protecting the state” ever gone wrong? If laws are in place to specifically guard against these types of abuses, what is a leader to do, but ignore them? That behavior has never had bad consequences in the history of the world.
George Bush was elected our leader by nearly a majority of Americans, how can he be expected to be bound by laws established by Congress or a Constitution created by the mental midgets of the 18th Century? It’s not like they knew anything about threats to our nation. They only fought a war for independence and then watched a foreign country burn down the Nation’s capital, what would they knew about threats to the homeland?
More FBI Privacy Violations Confirmed
By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer
George Bush was elected our leader by nearly a majority of Americans, how can he be expected to be bound by laws established by Congress or a Constitution created by the mental midgets of the 18th Century? It’s not like they knew anything about threats to our nation. They only fought a war for independence and then watched a foreign country burn down the Nation’s capital, what would they knew about threats to the homeland?
More FBI Privacy Violations Confirmed
By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer
The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans' telephone
records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year
of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and
spies.
The breach occurred before the FBI enacted broad new reforms in March
2007 to prevent future lapses, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. And it was
caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private
businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested.
Testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Mueller raised the
issue of the FBI's controversial use of so-called national security letters in
reference to an upcoming report on the topic by the Justice Department's
inspector general.
An audit by the inspector general last year found the FBI demanded
personal records without official authorization or otherwise collected more data
than allowed in dozens of cases between 2003 and 2005. Additionally, last year's
audit found that the FBI had underreported to Congress how many national
security letters were requested by more than 4,600.
The new audit, which
examines use of national security letters issued in 2006, "will identify issues
similar to those in the report issued last March," Mueller told senators. The
privacy abuse "predates the reforms we now have in place," he said.
"We are committed to ensuring that we not only get this right, but
maintain the vital trust of the American people," Mueller said. He offered no
additional details about the upcoming audit.
Senators Clinton and Obama
Senators C and O:
GROW UP!. You’re running for the highest office in the land, show some dignity. We’ve had 7 years of partisan bickering and name-calling and the Democrats have the best opportunity to win the WH in decades and you two are going to ruin it with your petty sniping and bickering over little irrelevant junk. Senator Clinton, tell me why I should vote for you instead of Senator Obama because you call him a plagiarist. Honestly, do you think that is the kind of stuff that is going to win you the election? If so, it tells me you don’t deserve it.
Stop the negative name-calling and focus on WHY WE SHOULD VOTE FOR YOU. I ask Senator McCain to do the same.
And as for you, the “media” you too could serve America well but not taking these comments and blowing them out of proportion. Look at the headlines you write, why do you sensationalize these comments. Those of you running and those of you reporting owe it to America to grow up. Try to return civility and dignity to American politics. You’re the only ones that can do it, so why don’t you step up and serve America and it’s citizens.
GROW UP!. You’re running for the highest office in the land, show some dignity. We’ve had 7 years of partisan bickering and name-calling and the Democrats have the best opportunity to win the WH in decades and you two are going to ruin it with your petty sniping and bickering over little irrelevant junk. Senator Clinton, tell me why I should vote for you instead of Senator Obama because you call him a plagiarist. Honestly, do you think that is the kind of stuff that is going to win you the election? If so, it tells me you don’t deserve it.
Stop the negative name-calling and focus on WHY WE SHOULD VOTE FOR YOU. I ask Senator McCain to do the same.
And as for you, the “media” you too could serve America well but not taking these comments and blowing them out of proportion. Look at the headlines you write, why do you sensationalize these comments. Those of you running and those of you reporting owe it to America to grow up. Try to return civility and dignity to American politics. You’re the only ones that can do it, so why don’t you step up and serve America and it’s citizens.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Congress and steroids in sports
Is it any wonder that America holds Congress in such low esteem? Steroids and HGH in baseball? Is this even in the top 100 most pressing issues in America? The Bushies will soon be leaving an intractable war, huge deficits, mortgage "crisis" and the specter of stagflation, does whether Roger Clemens took HGH impact anyone's life? Or what Roger Godell did with the tapes the Patriots created?
No one cared when 80% of MLB was taking speed in the 70's. Steve Howe was a walking drug cartel, but reinstated 6 or 7 times after getting busted for coke.
What a waste of time and resources…
Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS ASKED THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO
INVESTIGATE WHETHER BASEBALL STAR ROGER CLEMENS LIED DURING HIS
TESTIMONY TO CONGRESS ABOUT PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS
No one cared when 80% of MLB was taking speed in the 70's. Steve Howe was a walking drug cartel, but reinstated 6 or 7 times after getting busted for coke.
What a waste of time and resources…
Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS ASKED THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO
INVESTIGATE WHETHER BASEBALL STAR ROGER CLEMENS LIED DURING HIS
TESTIMONY TO CONGRESS ABOUT PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS
Monday, February 25, 2008
STOP SAYING that a BILLION PEOPLE Watch the Oscars (or any American Television Event)
So, about 30 million people watched the Oscars last night about 1 in 10 Americans. This is America's award show (even if all the awards went to people from other countries) and CONTINUALLY people on the show talked about the "HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS" or even "a BILLION" people watching the telecast.
So, 1 in 7 people in the world watched the Oscars, but only 1 in 10 Americans did and IT WAS ON IN AMERICAN PRIME TIME. Forget that it was middle of the night in Europe and during the work day in Asia, yet somehow everyone with a television in the rest of the world watched our movie award show...JAYSUS I'm so sick of that lie.
How many televisions are out there? Do you really think that half of China and half of India watched our award show?
I am so sick of that lie every single year...THERE SHOULD BE A LAW
So, 1 in 7 people in the world watched the Oscars, but only 1 in 10 Americans did and IT WAS ON IN AMERICAN PRIME TIME. Forget that it was middle of the night in Europe and during the work day in Asia, yet somehow everyone with a television in the rest of the world watched our movie award show...JAYSUS I'm so sick of that lie.
How many televisions are out there? Do you really think that half of China and half of India watched our award show?
I am so sick of that lie every single year...THERE SHOULD BE A LAW
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Movies about "injustice"
My brother sent me a note from Netflix about "Rules of Engagement". A doc about Waco and the Brand Davidians. His note was somewhat sympathetic to the Davidians, I responded.
I think i may have seen this, but I have seen a bunch of stuff on this and the thing that is often downplayed is the Koresh and his followers killed 4 Federal agents weeks before the government moved in and burned the place. Koresh was a nut job, pedophile and murderer who did EVERYTHING he could to ensure that he and his followers died martyrs (even if it meant shooting them himself or making sure they didn't leave). this wasn't about religion or even about guns. Once you kill multiple federal agents ...I'd say all bets are off. He was given a month and a half to surrender.
If you want to really see a true abuse of Federal Power, check out the Randy Weaver case in idaho.
Everyone groups these two incidents together, but in my mind they are vastly different. They get grouped in the same way Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal get grouped. The Davidians and Weaver grouped by groups who try to prove that the government hates religion and guns, the militia types. And Mumia and Peltier get grouped by the far left who try to prove the government hates minorities.
Peltier, I think is innocent. Well at least not guilty of what he's been accused of. I've seen the research and there is definetly reasonable doubt there. As for Mumia, and I know you're a fan, all the evidence supporting his "innocence" is that the cops, judge, the world is racist. No shit, but I don't know that I've ever heard him or his followers show that he was somewhere else or actually innocent. Only that the trial was racist. Just like Mark Furman being a racist doesn't mean that OJ is innocent, a racist system doesn't prove you didn't kill someone.
I think i may have seen this, but I have seen a bunch of stuff on this and the thing that is often downplayed is the Koresh and his followers killed 4 Federal agents weeks before the government moved in and burned the place. Koresh was a nut job, pedophile and murderer who did EVERYTHING he could to ensure that he and his followers died martyrs (even if it meant shooting them himself or making sure they didn't leave). this wasn't about religion or even about guns. Once you kill multiple federal agents ...I'd say all bets are off. He was given a month and a half to surrender.
If you want to really see a true abuse of Federal Power, check out the Randy Weaver case in idaho.
Everyone groups these two incidents together, but in my mind they are vastly different. They get grouped in the same way Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal get grouped. The Davidians and Weaver grouped by groups who try to prove that the government hates religion and guns, the militia types. And Mumia and Peltier get grouped by the far left who try to prove the government hates minorities.
Peltier, I think is innocent. Well at least not guilty of what he's been accused of. I've seen the research and there is definetly reasonable doubt there. As for Mumia, and I know you're a fan, all the evidence supporting his "innocence" is that the cops, judge, the world is racist. No shit, but I don't know that I've ever heard him or his followers show that he was somewhere else or actually innocent. Only that the trial was racist. Just like Mark Furman being a racist doesn't mean that OJ is innocent, a racist system doesn't prove you didn't kill someone.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Iraqi's think things were better before
I didn’t ask, but the BBC did: And once again, the Bushie's are wrong:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6451841.stm
MOST IMPORTANTLY read the first set of Charts on the top, specifically the one on the right.
In 2007 about 63% of Iraqis said things were about the same or worse than they were under Saddam. Less than 40% of Iraqis feel that things are somewhat or much better than they were before the war. That is NOT even close to MOST. (about 60% said their own lives were about the same or worse)
Since the end of the war in Iraq , thousands of civilians have died in violence on the streets. Support for the coalition forces based in Iraq is low - with 82% expressing a lack of confidence in them and 69% thinking they had made the security situation worse.
Security remains a key concern. Asked whether they felt safe in their own neighbourhoods, 40% said yes in 2004, 63% in 2005 but only 26% in 2007.
A strong leader is more popular than democracy to 58% of the Sunni population, although most accept Iraq will be a democracy in five years' time. Shia respondents were split 41% to 40% in favour of democracy over an Islamic state, but 52% think Iraq will be a democracy in five years' time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6451841.stm
MOST IMPORTANTLY read the first set of Charts on the top, specifically the one on the right.
In 2007 about 63% of Iraqis said things were about the same or worse than they were under Saddam. Less than 40% of Iraqis feel that things are somewhat or much better than they were before the war. That is NOT even close to MOST. (about 60% said their own lives were about the same or worse)
Since the end of the war in Iraq , thousands of civilians have died in violence on the streets. Support for the coalition forces based in Iraq is low - with 82% expressing a lack of confidence in them and 69% thinking they had made the security situation worse.
Security remains a key concern. Asked whether they felt safe in their own neighbourhoods, 40% said yes in 2004, 63% in 2005 but only 26% in 2007.
A strong leader is more popular than democracy to 58% of the Sunni population, although most accept Iraq will be a democracy in five years' time. Shia respondents were split 41% to 40% in favour of democracy over an Islamic state, but 52% think Iraq will be a democracy in five years' time.
Why do the Republicans get credit for "keeping America safe"???
It never fails to amaze that Bush allowed 2 terrorists attacks, didn’t bring anyone to justice for either and he’s some superhero. And now that terrorists are only killing American’s overseas that is some vindication of a horrible foreign policy. Since there is no way of knowing if bin Laden (who is still alive remember) had any intention of attacking again, how can the Bushie's say he "kept us safe"? It’s like saying that Bush stopped car theft in America because my car hasn’t been stolen in the past 7 years.
I suppose by Bushie logic Bush has also prevented Tsunami’s from hitting America and kept America safe from Asteroids.
I suppose by Bushie logic Bush has also prevented Tsunami’s from hitting America and kept America safe from Asteroids.
This has got to piss off all those dudes still "fighting" the cold war
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/19/castro/index.html
The fact that he’s leaving on his own terms must have Jesse Helms rolling over in his grave …wait, he’s not dead.
I sent this to my Bushie friend. He responded with some mumbo jumbo as expected. I responded:
That’s funny coming from the guy who feels that a couple hundred thousand dead Iraqi’s (or a million Sudanese) is no big deal. Now you get all righteous despite the fact that the US is holding people in Cuba without trial, without lawyers, without charges, in a made up “legal” status b/c they are “enemies of the state”. (which seems to be the same stuff we hate Castro for doing)
Castro could have been ousted 30 years ago, if we had sold Cuba Levi’s and Fords. The far Right’s (led by pissed off Cubans in Miami who liked their dictator better) irrational fear of Castro empowered him for decades. (for an example of how to stay in power using a common enemy of the state, look at Bush’s more subtle efforts to subvert the Constitution over the past 7 years).
Also ironic since Castro came to America for help when first in power before he ever went to Russia, but because he was a socialist all those lives were lost in a senseless pissing contest.
The fact that he’s leaving on his own terms must have Jesse Helms rolling over in his grave …wait, he’s not dead.
I sent this to my Bushie friend. He responded with some mumbo jumbo as expected. I responded:
That’s funny coming from the guy who feels that a couple hundred thousand dead Iraqi’s (or a million Sudanese) is no big deal. Now you get all righteous despite the fact that the US is holding people in Cuba without trial, without lawyers, without charges, in a made up “legal” status b/c they are “enemies of the state”. (which seems to be the same stuff we hate Castro for doing)
Castro could have been ousted 30 years ago, if we had sold Cuba Levi’s and Fords. The far Right’s (led by pissed off Cubans in Miami who liked their dictator better) irrational fear of Castro empowered him for decades. (for an example of how to stay in power using a common enemy of the state, look at Bush’s more subtle efforts to subvert the Constitution over the past 7 years).
Also ironic since Castro came to America for help when first in power before he ever went to Russia, but because he was a socialist all those lives were lost in a senseless pissing contest.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Vista blows or why Microsoft Developers are like Jazz Musicians
So, I bought a Vista laptop 4 months ago and I think I finally have all the patches installed to make it work most of the time. Although I've come to expect a routine editing of the registry that is requried to make Vista recognized that this computer does actually have a CD/DVD drive.
I'm not a supergeek, but I know enough about PCs and MSFTs products, after all I've been using Windows and MS Office daily for 15 years or so. But Vista has been pretty much the worst transition ever and I didn't even upgrade...I bought this PC with Vista on it.
Office 2007 has been a chore. In their infinite wisdom of changing the UI every god-damn time Bill Gates donates another million dollars, the tool bars are completely foreign. I still use Word and Excel (and Visio and PowerPoint and Project and SharePoint) daily at work, but at home I've got this new UI for WOrd and Excel and I can never find anything. (Where the hell is the button to center text? Save As...what the F, where is it?...don't worry i found them).
I just realized that Word now saves files (by default) in a format that is unusable to anyone without Office 2007. That's a neat trick. It doesn't even really make this .docx clear when you save. Look, as I mentioned I use Word daily, so I can't imagine the hassles that my parents would have using this, trying to learn the new UI.
I have a good friend at MS, he's a developer and he will inevitably tell me these are improvements that people want or NEED. And I understand security issues and the need to makes changes for that, but changing the UI serves no purpose other than to say "look how cool we are". Although, it is quite tedious to have to give my computer permission 4 times to open up the progam I clicked to run. I get the reason for that.
I've told my friend that every time MS comes out with new crap, they simply add bloat and features that 98% of users will never use. macros are great, but I'll bet you 95% of Excel users have never heard of a macro let alone written one.
I've heard it said, and belive it to be true that Jazz Musicians are just playing for each other. it's a very self-indulgent music. I think Microsoft Developers are at the same point. They don't develop for their customers. They develop for each other so they can show off how big their programming skills are. in the meantime, you and I have to learn where the damn "Delete Table" button while Vista and Office take up 20 gigs of Harddrive.
And much like Jazz fans (and I like some of it, much like I enjoy the basics of MS's products) I will be told "I just don't get it". Maybe not, but I don't want to. I want to write a party invitation (thanks for the new templates) I don't want to relearn how to use Office every 3 years anymore than I want to hear a 25 minute free-form jazz exploration.
I'm not a supergeek, but I know enough about PCs and MSFTs products, after all I've been using Windows and MS Office daily for 15 years or so. But Vista has been pretty much the worst transition ever and I didn't even upgrade...I bought this PC with Vista on it.
Office 2007 has been a chore. In their infinite wisdom of changing the UI every god-damn time Bill Gates donates another million dollars, the tool bars are completely foreign. I still use Word and Excel (and Visio and PowerPoint and Project and SharePoint) daily at work, but at home I've got this new UI for WOrd and Excel and I can never find anything. (Where the hell is the button to center text? Save As...what the F, where is it?...don't worry i found them).
I just realized that Word now saves files (by default) in a format that is unusable to anyone without Office 2007. That's a neat trick. It doesn't even really make this .docx clear when you save. Look, as I mentioned I use Word daily, so I can't imagine the hassles that my parents would have using this, trying to learn the new UI.
I have a good friend at MS, he's a developer and he will inevitably tell me these are improvements that people want or NEED. And I understand security issues and the need to makes changes for that, but changing the UI serves no purpose other than to say "look how cool we are". Although, it is quite tedious to have to give my computer permission 4 times to open up the progam I clicked to run. I get the reason for that.
I've told my friend that every time MS comes out with new crap, they simply add bloat and features that 98% of users will never use. macros are great, but I'll bet you 95% of Excel users have never heard of a macro let alone written one.
I've heard it said, and belive it to be true that Jazz Musicians are just playing for each other. it's a very self-indulgent music. I think Microsoft Developers are at the same point. They don't develop for their customers. They develop for each other so they can show off how big their programming skills are. in the meantime, you and I have to learn where the damn "Delete Table" button while Vista and Office take up 20 gigs of Harddrive.
And much like Jazz fans (and I like some of it, much like I enjoy the basics of MS's products) I will be told "I just don't get it". Maybe not, but I don't want to. I want to write a party invitation (thanks for the new templates) I don't want to relearn how to use Office every 3 years anymore than I want to hear a 25 minute free-form jazz exploration.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Saudi's kill "witches"...is this what Huckabee has in mind?
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2008/02/15/verjee.saudi.witchcraft.cnn
These are our "best" friends in the middle east?
Is this what we'd see in Mike Huckabee's America? after all he did say that we should change the Constitution to agree with his version of the Christian Bible (just saying there are many versions of the "sacred Word of God" out there). There are lots of "crimes" in the bible that are also punishable by death like eating shellfish and working on the sabbath. Would Huckabee's vision also include beheading witches?
Just askin'
These are our "best" friends in the middle east?
Is this what we'd see in Mike Huckabee's America? after all he did say that we should change the Constitution to agree with his version of the Christian Bible (just saying there are many versions of the "sacred Word of God" out there). There are lots of "crimes" in the bible that are also punishable by death like eating shellfish and working on the sabbath. Would Huckabee's vision also include beheading witches?
Just askin'
People who can't speak should get punched Vol 1
2 All time pet peeves:
1)People who say
"Samwich"...there is NO M in Sandwich.
2) People who say "literally" when they mean the exact opposite. No asshole, your head did NOT "literally explode". Anyone who does this should get a punch.
Also,
People who say "Pitcher" when the are talking about a Photograph.
I hate "It is what it is". What a lame statement. It means nothing. Generally said when the speaker has nothing intellegent to say. It's the ultimate verbal punt. You might as well say "blah blah blah".
The use of the word "Surreal" is WAYYYY out of hand. Not everything new is surreal. "I went to the DMV and i went to the front of the line, it was so surreal" NO IT WASN'T dumbass. It was unusual, but it wasn't surreal. Meeting a famous person is not surreal, neither are thousands of other things claim are surreal that are no where near it.
There are more, I'm sure.
1)People who say
"Samwich"...there is NO M in Sandwich.
2) People who say "literally" when they mean the exact opposite. No asshole, your head did NOT "literally explode". Anyone who does this should get a punch.
Also,
People who say "Pitcher" when the are talking about a Photograph.
I hate "It is what it is". What a lame statement. It means nothing. Generally said when the speaker has nothing intellegent to say. It's the ultimate verbal punt. You might as well say "blah blah blah".
The use of the word "Surreal" is WAYYYY out of hand. Not everything new is surreal. "I went to the DMV and i went to the front of the line, it was so surreal" NO IT WASN'T dumbass. It was unusual, but it wasn't surreal. Meeting a famous person is not surreal, neither are thousands of other things claim are surreal that are no where near it.
There are more, I'm sure.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Jeb more like George than I thought
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/11/prison.boss/index.html
I always thought Jeb was the more competent one, but considering his regime’s oversight of Florida ’s Child Welfare system and the Prison system, it’s clear that it’s a genetic pre-disposition toward lawlessness, corruption and incompetence. I don’t remember hearing about how the former head of the Prison system is in Federal Prison for 8 years, but that’s seems appropriate for the Bush family no? Especially after I go back and read the Jeb defended Crosby repeatedly and claimed the initial claims of his improprieties were politically motivated attacks.
I always thought Jeb was the more competent one, but considering his regime’s oversight of Florida ’s Child Welfare system and the Prison system, it’s clear that it’s a genetic pre-disposition toward lawlessness, corruption and incompetence. I don’t remember hearing about how the former head of the Prison system is in Federal Prison for 8 years, but that’s seems appropriate for the Bush family no? Especially after I go back and read the Jeb defended Crosby repeatedly and claimed the initial claims of his improprieties were politically motivated attacks.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Refuting a Bushie or why "experience" doesn't necessarily matter too much
Recently my Bushie friend claimed that "no white candidate with as little experience as Barack Obama had ever been remotely considered" for the office of PResident of the USA. I pointed out that Eisenhower had never held an elected office, but obviously had great leadership skills. Also pointed out various other presidents with no political experience. But then I did some serious research and I came up with the follow.
To be clear, I am comparing nothing but EXPERIENCE of these two men PRIOR to their “consideration” for the nomination of President. I’m not making predictions of what type of President Obama might be nor any judgments of either man’s character, I’m basing this SOLELY on experience prior to consideration.
So, I did this comparison because the parallels are so striking.
Enjoy
Facts
To be clear, I am comparing nothing but EXPERIENCE of these two men PRIOR to their “consideration” for the nomination of President. I’m not making predictions of what type of President Obama might be nor any judgments of either man’s character, I’m basing this SOLELY on experience prior to consideration.
So, I did this comparison because the parallels are so striking.
Enjoy
Facts
Lincoln, considered by most historians as one greatest Presidents in US history, never attended college or law school, served two more years that Obama in the Illinois Legislature, but fewer years in the US Congress. Professionally, they are probably a wash considering they both worked as lawyers for about the same amount of time.
So, it’s obviously untrue that “No one with Obama’s experience has been remotely considered” when Lincoln, who has the same level or experience (or LESS), was not only considered, but was elected and then saved America.
I’m going to save you some time now , so don’t respond with “you’re comparing Lincoln to Obama?” response. Just like you did with Eisenhower. You’re claim was about experience, I’ve disproved your claim with 5 Presidents now(a couple of guys were only nominees), and proven to you that Lincoln PRIOR TO BE ELECTED President had the same or less experience than Obama has.
Who to vote for?
So it's the day after SuperTuesday and I'm not sure what I think about out next President. I've always liked McCain, but I lost respect for him after he ate all the shit that the Bushies forced on him in South Carolina 8 years ago. He wanted to be Prez so badly that he didn't defend himself or point out the dirty tricks that the Bushies were guilty of. There is that and that he's getting pretty old...oh yeah and he seems to be campaigning on a dead end issue..."let's stay in iraq". What is that? we have one the war didn't we? Saddam is dead, there is no WMD, they held elections. now we're just in the middle of a civil war, excecpt both sides hate us.
Hilary. Never had much against her, but not a lot of love either. I always said she had too many negatives and that if she were the Dem nominee that she would bring out every redneck, evangelical and anyone who lives in the 1930's and think a woman should know her place. Would the Dems affection for her be able to over come that?
It seems that I'm currently rooting for Obama. I was disappointed that yesterday was such a "draw". I think his ideas are very similar to those of Hilary, but he brings a passion and an eloquence that this country desperately needs.
So...at this point, I've got nothing.
Hilary. Never had much against her, but not a lot of love either. I always said she had too many negatives and that if she were the Dem nominee that she would bring out every redneck, evangelical and anyone who lives in the 1930's and think a woman should know her place. Would the Dems affection for her be able to over come that?
It seems that I'm currently rooting for Obama. I was disappointed that yesterday was such a "draw". I think his ideas are very similar to those of Hilary, but he brings a passion and an eloquence that this country desperately needs.
So...at this point, I've got nothing.
Open Letter to Entertainment Weekly
I don’t write letters to magazines and I’m not sure that my comments are worthy of writing this time, but I just had to write after reading another love letter to “Juno”. Let’s get this out of the way. I LOVED the movie; I loved Ellen Page and every other major character. I loved the soundtrack (I bought it the day after I saw the movie). I loved the screenplay. But I must wonder if EW’s incessant cheerleading for Juno has to do more with validating the hire of Diablo Cody as a “columnist” or the quality of the movie. (Do I have to insert the required allusion to Ms Cody’s past as a stripper and sex phone operator or can we stop doing that now?)
I was pretty shocked when I saw that Ms Cody was going to be a columnist, but again after the near weekly references to her in your pages even before Juno hit screens maybe I should have seen it coming. I was also skeptical after months of reading, what amounts to Stephen King’s blog on your last page. But at least Mr. King has decades of cred and is the most famous and successful master of his genre. Ms. Cody has one credit, but her deal with EW pre-dated the arrival of Juno. Hmmm.
So, I must wonder if the constant cheerleading is to drum up legitimacy for your new columnist. Just because someone can write a screenplay doesn’t necessarily mean they can write a column on culture and entertainment. No more than being the world’s best horror writer makes one an entertainment columnist. There are two legitimate culture and entertainment columnists out there while these two cross professional boundaries. I don’t blame EW for this as in America in recent years we’ve come to believe that the only way a person can be an expert on anything is to be a famous participant in what they comment. Honestly, does anyone think Terry Bradshaw provides better analysis of sports than Bob Costas or Mike Tirico? The same goes for EW columnists. Celebrity has replaced competence/merit in America. And EW is no exception. And maybe that should be expected in an entertainment magazine.
The article I just finished (EW #977) made it sound as if Juno is the first strong female character in the history of film, even while your sidebar points out strong young female characters in recent years. Of course Ms Page couldn’t relate to The Breakfast Club, but neither could I and I was in high school at the time it came out. I went to a tiny semi-rural school in, which was a million miles away from the preps and stoners of Hughesian fantasy.
The point of all this? While Juno is a fantastic movie, it didn’t invite the strong female lead. While Diablo Cody has written a fantastic screenplay, she isn’t Orson Welles (or Walter Winchell) yet. I wish her well; in the meantime EW should exhibit a little critical detachment.
Thanks
I was pretty shocked when I saw that Ms Cody was going to be a columnist, but again after the near weekly references to her in your pages even before Juno hit screens maybe I should have seen it coming. I was also skeptical after months of reading, what amounts to Stephen King’s blog on your last page. But at least Mr. King has decades of cred and is the most famous and successful master of his genre. Ms. Cody has one credit, but her deal with EW pre-dated the arrival of Juno. Hmmm.
So, I must wonder if the constant cheerleading is to drum up legitimacy for your new columnist. Just because someone can write a screenplay doesn’t necessarily mean they can write a column on culture and entertainment. No more than being the world’s best horror writer makes one an entertainment columnist. There are two legitimate culture and entertainment columnists out there while these two cross professional boundaries. I don’t blame EW for this as in America in recent years we’ve come to believe that the only way a person can be an expert on anything is to be a famous participant in what they comment. Honestly, does anyone think Terry Bradshaw provides better analysis of sports than Bob Costas or Mike Tirico? The same goes for EW columnists. Celebrity has replaced competence/merit in America. And EW is no exception. And maybe that should be expected in an entertainment magazine.
The article I just finished (EW #977) made it sound as if Juno is the first strong female character in the history of film, even while your sidebar points out strong young female characters in recent years. Of course Ms Page couldn’t relate to The Breakfast Club, but neither could I and I was in high school at the time it came out. I went to a tiny semi-rural school in, which was a million miles away from the preps and stoners of Hughesian fantasy.
The point of all this? While Juno is a fantastic movie, it didn’t invite the strong female lead. While Diablo Cody has written a fantastic screenplay, she isn’t Orson Welles (or Walter Winchell) yet. I wish her well; in the meantime EW should exhibit a little critical detachment.
Thanks
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Movie Review: Devil and Daniel Johnston
Ok, I watched this last night. A good documentary, not great. But I think Mr. Johnston is an example of when self-important hipsters deem someone as the greatest thing ever and that momentum just carries on strictly by word of mouth and legend. If this documentary was supposed to show me his genius…it didn’t. I would assume his finest music was featured but the comparisons to him and Dylan or that he was better than Dylan were laughable. His music is incredibly basic and his lyrics are childish in their simplicity. The rhymes were so often forced, but reminded me of the lyrics of an awkward teen. There was no genius in the words. Sorry. Musically he doesn’t hold Dylan’s jock (listen to Dylan’s guitar instead of the words some time)
I’ve said this before but the guy from DiG (Brian Jonestown Massacre) was a genius. A very similar documentary on the descent into madness that creates great art, but just b/c you’re crazy doesn’t make you great. When the claims that Johnston ’s work are better than “Pet Sounds” are made people lose credibility. Daniel Johnston ain’t Brian Wilson.
At one point, his manager compared his early work to that of Dylan’s first five albums. That’s where they lost me. Dylan’s early work is possibly the greatest streak of music in rock history. (this conversation came about with a former co-work as we tried to come up with a string of albums by any artist that was better than the Stones streak of Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street . Other than Dylan, the Beatles, there really wasn’t anyone else in that neighborhood). Sorry, songs about Casper the Friendly ghost just don’t approach “Highway 61 Revisited” or a “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”.
I’ve said this before but the guy from DiG (Brian Jonestown Massacre) was a genius. A very similar documentary on the descent into madness that creates great art, but just b/c you’re crazy doesn’t make you great. When the claims that Johnston ’s work are better than “Pet Sounds” are made people lose credibility. Daniel Johnston ain’t Brian Wilson.
At one point, his manager compared his early work to that of Dylan’s first five albums. That’s where they lost me. Dylan’s early work is possibly the greatest streak of music in rock history. (this conversation came about with a former co-work as we tried to come up with a string of albums by any artist that was better than the Stones streak of Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street . Other than Dylan, the Beatles, there really wasn’t anyone else in that neighborhood). Sorry, songs about Casper the Friendly ghost just don’t approach “Highway 61 Revisited” or a “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sharpton doing his best to fan the flames, not finding solutions
Reason 213 why Sharpton’s an idiot:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22556443/
If the guy she said it about is ok, then Sharpton should shut the hell up. Apparently, not enough people were paying attention to Al, so he’s got to make sure he gets in the news. I would think he would serve his constituency better by working at the local Rescue Mission as opposed to getting “outraged” over a poorly chosen phrase about a multi-millionaire. Obviously real racism exists in this country, but every time he makes up these “issues” it diminishes instances of real racism. It does a disservice to his cause for the sake of his vanity.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22556443/
If the guy she said it about is ok, then Sharpton should shut the hell up. Apparently, not enough people were paying attention to Al, so he’s got to make sure he gets in the news. I would think he would serve his constituency better by working at the local Rescue Mission as opposed to getting “outraged” over a poorly chosen phrase about a multi-millionaire. Obviously real racism exists in this country, but every time he makes up these “issues” it diminishes instances of real racism. It does a disservice to his cause for the sake of his vanity.
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