The Senate of the United States on Thursday September 28, 2006 committed an act of Treason against the Citizens of The United States of America. The offenders are:
The entire Republican Senate minus one,
Democrats in favor (12) – Carper (Del.), Johnson (S.D.), Landrieu (La.), Lautenberg (N.J.), Lieberman (Conn.), Menendez (N.J), Pryor (Ark.), Rockefeller (W. Va.), Salazar (Co.), Stabenow (Mich.), Nelson (Fla.), Nelson (Neb.)
Republicans against (1) – Chafee (R.I.).
Jeffords voted against.
If the list of 12 doesn't make you ill, you are not a Democrat, you are not a Patriot, leave your comment with a full name and address so the New Gestapo will leave you alone. "Oh liberal exaggeration," not on your life, read this piece of crap.
If you really do give a rat's patoot about your country, archive this list and work like a dog to get rid of these scumsuckers when their Primaries come up. As for the Republican delegation, I think you can figure that one out. There isn't a principled person in the bunch, if you want their ilk, just remember what they've got waiting for you if you ever turn against them.
Make noise, don't be polite, don't be circumspect, kick these bastards' asses. Make them pay in public. As for George II and his cronies, at some point they'll face the music. Other laws can be retroacted, their misdeeds can be accounted for. If you think the Supremes will deal with this, you've forgotten something, you have to have standing, and if you've got standing, you've been "disappeared." Auguste Pinoche would be proud. That's right, it didn't take the illegal immigration invasion to turn the US into a third world cesspit, all it took was a cowardly child oprivilegege and a bunch of terrorized pussy citizens with actual voting rights. That's right - pansy assed mewling puking cowardly...argh...my head's exploded...
Goddam I cannot understand you scared white lilly livered pukes, how the hell did you get like that? My great (x?) grandfather fought in the Revolution, my great great grandfather fought in the Civil War, my father fought in WWII, my friends fought in Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Iraq and I've fought forest fires on a Hot Shot Crew, so I've had examples of how one faces danger and stays honorable. And so have you, but look how you voted, look how you've polled, look at this mess and tell me how you can look at yourselves. You believe this is for your security? You are an ass. You're much more likely to get hit by lightning and then win the lottery than to be directly harmed by "terrorists" other than the ones you've elected (whether with a vote or inaction). I feel like I've walked off the face of the earth into the Twilight Zone.
I'll bet President Clinton on Faux News seems calm now.
Friday, September 29, 2006
That Archaic, Meaningless Second Ammendment
I got a lot of crap about my ardent support for the Second Ammendment, it was archaic, it was about letting the National Guard have guns, it was pointless machismo, it's dangerous, it could never happen here...
I am not happy to be proven right, I vastly preferred theory and principle. Just so we know what's going on, the US Senate (including 12 Democrats) voted to approve the Detainee Act. Now the President gets to decide which Americans are Enemy Combatants, said Enemies no longer have Habeus Corpus, have no right to an open trial with a jury of their peers, cannot challenge secret information, and can be treated any way the President decides to torture them. That's Americans, folks. It gets a little worse if you're a foreigner.
Simply put Americans can now disappear into the Federal maw, be tortured, and get no trial, or get a kangeroo court. If you don't get your day in court it makes it seem unreasonable to let a Federal Law Enforcement Officer get his hands on you, doesn't it? I think I'd rather not have their job.
For those of you who think gun control is about safety and security, you now have an example of how the Federal Government thinks in terms of safety and security. If you're in the habit of strongly expressing dissenting political thought, I suggest that this might be a good time to go buy a large caliber semi-automatic rifle and a large caliber pistol and enroll in a good safety and usage class, become competetent and efficient. Locking them up might be a bad idea, it would be better to teach your kids than to want one and not have it. Let me be very clear, I am advocating that you avail yourself of your Second Ammendment right to keep and bear arms, to become safe and efficient in their usage, and to know the law regarding firearms and their usage.
What George II and his cronies seem to neglect in their thinking is just how dangerous this makes being arrested, for anything. Here's the kicker, once you're in anyone's custody, the Feds can step in and name you Enemy. They don't have to prove squat, just take you.
Ridenbaugh Press suggests that you "remember who did this to you," I second that, neither forget, nor forgive. War has been declared on the citizens of the United States of America by President Bush, Senate Republicans, and Twelve so-called Democratic Senators.
I am not happy to be proven right, I vastly preferred theory and principle. Just so we know what's going on, the US Senate (including 12 Democrats) voted to approve the Detainee Act. Now the President gets to decide which Americans are Enemy Combatants, said Enemies no longer have Habeus Corpus, have no right to an open trial with a jury of their peers, cannot challenge secret information, and can be treated any way the President decides to torture them. That's Americans, folks. It gets a little worse if you're a foreigner.
Simply put Americans can now disappear into the Federal maw, be tortured, and get no trial, or get a kangeroo court. If you don't get your day in court it makes it seem unreasonable to let a Federal Law Enforcement Officer get his hands on you, doesn't it? I think I'd rather not have their job.
For those of you who think gun control is about safety and security, you now have an example of how the Federal Government thinks in terms of safety and security. If you're in the habit of strongly expressing dissenting political thought, I suggest that this might be a good time to go buy a large caliber semi-automatic rifle and a large caliber pistol and enroll in a good safety and usage class, become competetent and efficient. Locking them up might be a bad idea, it would be better to teach your kids than to want one and not have it. Let me be very clear, I am advocating that you avail yourself of your Second Ammendment right to keep and bear arms, to become safe and efficient in their usage, and to know the law regarding firearms and their usage.
What George II and his cronies seem to neglect in their thinking is just how dangerous this makes being arrested, for anything. Here's the kicker, once you're in anyone's custody, the Feds can step in and name you Enemy. They don't have to prove squat, just take you.
Ridenbaugh Press suggests that you "remember who did this to you," I second that, neither forget, nor forgive. War has been declared on the citizens of the United States of America by President Bush, Senate Republicans, and Twelve so-called Democratic Senators.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Christian Terrorist
I like to watch Bill Mahr, sometimes laughing about this stuff is a real alternative to crying. This episode had Sandy Rios as one of his "panelists." I felt like a mouse staring at a cobra.
Sandy Rios, for those who didn't see this, is a self-described Christian. Conservative Christian. Maybe it was Christian Conservative. Christian seemed real important to her, anyhow. Now I make no such claims, but I am quite informed, educated even, about Christianity. There is a part of Christianity that I am quite impressed by, that is the direct quotes of Jesus Christ. As I listened to Sandy defend the Bush administration my memory kept looking at those quotes. It seems that according to her interpretation of Christianity, there's no problem with killing people and torture is all right as long as it's called coercion. She seemed to be right at home with Revelations, that's odd, to me. That book is the most post-Christ one in the Bible, it was included after some real debate, and to the idle reader seems more like the ravings of a hallucinigen ingensting loon than serious Scripture. It seemed noteworthy to her that "Christ would return as a warrior." Funny idea for the guy who advocated "turning the other cheek."
Now the part of this that I take quite seriously is that these people are the same ones who denigrate Islam as a violent religion. Now I'm not non-violent and I also don't claim to be a Christian or a Muslim; nor in fact any "-ism or -ian or -ist," but I'd like it explained to me exactly what the difference is between the terrorists and these people. The terrorists kill innocent people to make a political gain, seems to me the Bushites are doing that, the terrorists torture people, um McCain, et al, just said that's ok to George II, the terrorists aren't bound by the rule of law - ummm...
Other than the fact that she didn't have a bag over her head, I can not see the difference between Sandy Rios and those scumbag terrorists. The same holds true for this Administration, all they lack is the "-al-" in their names, oh maybe there are some alcohol or drug differences...
This might sound pretty cold hearted, we've lost quite a few lives in defence of our freedom, the 3000 lost in September 2001 pales in comparison, and for that paltry number we're losing our freedom and our integrity. Let's get very real about this, 3000 died on that one day, over 20,000 died in one day at Antitem, maybe that one's a bit ancient, how about D-Day? If the fact that they were soldiers bothers you in that equation, how about the toll we exacted in Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki... God and Country is not an excuse to act any damn way you want to, it's supposed to mean something. I'm not going to tell you about God, my hot line has static, but Country doesn't mean "the dirt" it means the intangibles that direct our actions, the outcomes of having a Declaration of Independence, a Constitution, and a Bill of Rights.
So here we are, the Christian terrorists are robbing us of our freedom, they spread fear and loathing through lies and deceits, they kill wantonly and indeterminately detain and torture those who fall into their bloodsoaked hands. Have a nice day :)
Sandy Rios, for those who didn't see this, is a self-described Christian. Conservative Christian. Maybe it was Christian Conservative. Christian seemed real important to her, anyhow. Now I make no such claims, but I am quite informed, educated even, about Christianity. There is a part of Christianity that I am quite impressed by, that is the direct quotes of Jesus Christ. As I listened to Sandy defend the Bush administration my memory kept looking at those quotes. It seems that according to her interpretation of Christianity, there's no problem with killing people and torture is all right as long as it's called coercion. She seemed to be right at home with Revelations, that's odd, to me. That book is the most post-Christ one in the Bible, it was included after some real debate, and to the idle reader seems more like the ravings of a hallucinigen ingensting loon than serious Scripture. It seemed noteworthy to her that "Christ would return as a warrior." Funny idea for the guy who advocated "turning the other cheek."
Now the part of this that I take quite seriously is that these people are the same ones who denigrate Islam as a violent religion. Now I'm not non-violent and I also don't claim to be a Christian or a Muslim; nor in fact any "-ism or -ian or -ist," but I'd like it explained to me exactly what the difference is between the terrorists and these people. The terrorists kill innocent people to make a political gain, seems to me the Bushites are doing that, the terrorists torture people, um McCain, et al, just said that's ok to George II, the terrorists aren't bound by the rule of law - ummm...
Other than the fact that she didn't have a bag over her head, I can not see the difference between Sandy Rios and those scumbag terrorists. The same holds true for this Administration, all they lack is the "-al-" in their names, oh maybe there are some alcohol or drug differences...
This might sound pretty cold hearted, we've lost quite a few lives in defence of our freedom, the 3000 lost in September 2001 pales in comparison, and for that paltry number we're losing our freedom and our integrity. Let's get very real about this, 3000 died on that one day, over 20,000 died in one day at Antitem, maybe that one's a bit ancient, how about D-Day? If the fact that they were soldiers bothers you in that equation, how about the toll we exacted in Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki... God and Country is not an excuse to act any damn way you want to, it's supposed to mean something. I'm not going to tell you about God, my hot line has static, but Country doesn't mean "the dirt" it means the intangibles that direct our actions, the outcomes of having a Declaration of Independence, a Constitution, and a Bill of Rights.
So here we are, the Christian terrorists are robbing us of our freedom, they spread fear and loathing through lies and deceits, they kill wantonly and indeterminately detain and torture those who fall into their bloodsoaked hands. Have a nice day :)
Friday, September 22, 2006
The 9/11 Card - Again - Stupidity Redux
September 11, planes crashed into buildings and a field and three thousand died, a genuine tragedy occurred. It was followed almost immediately by another one, the abject stupidity of a nation. The freest nation on earth began to cede its heritage, purchased with blood and treasure to liars. "Wait a minute, Iraq happened later..." Nope that's not the lie. The lie was much larger and with broader and more enduring consequences. Are you guessing yet? Ok
The lie goes like this, we need broader police powers to keep you safe from terrorists. You're entirely too gullible. The carnage and property damage on US roads each year exceeds 9/11. Your fear is based on image and perception, not fact. That's only the beginning of the lie. It goes much deeper. Prior to the call for broad powers 9/11 happened, prior to 9/11 standard police powers were what was available, prior to 9/11 those standard investigative procedures had uncovered enough information to roll up the conspiracy. That's not guess work or conspiracy theory, it's fact. Still, 9/11 happened.
Here's where the President's logic get really tortured, the failure to stop 9/11 was entirely the fault of the Federal Government's police and intelligence agencies. It was not a failure of law, it was the failure of turf cutting bureaucracies and executive dismissal of field agent work. Because the Federal Government was unable to exercise proper usage of its available tools it must be granted further tools. It must be granted tools that are unprecedented in their violation of the Bill of Rights and Constitutional separation of powers; and the American politicians, media, and public bought in.
Do you feel surrounded by stupidity yet? Let's take this a little further, some time passes and some folks look at this stuff and start asking questions, so... we let it go on. The Patriot Act in all it's magnificent ridiculousness had one saving component - it sunsetted. Well, now it's not sunsetted. Since that didn't scare the pants off the public, how about some warrantless wire tapping. Never mind that a scary secret court makes no bones about approving this kind of spying on Americans, it needs to be dodged. Your head hasn't exploded yet? Well how about some torture to help that along. No kidding, no shit sherlock, the United States of America needs to torture people because our govenment is inept. How inept? How about renditioning an innocent to be tortured by a foreign government, an innocent citizen of a close ally.
Why preach to the choir? If you're not foaming at the mouth and doing something activist to kick these scum out of power you ain't the choir, you're, at best, a whiner. Are you donating time and money to a political campaign to oust them? Have you registered with an actual national Party to dig in and help? You think Iraq is a mess? Look a ways into our future, then. You are facing two choices in how to deal with this kind of crap, at the polls...or at the point of a gun. You are loosing your freedom. What the **** do you propose to do about it? You don't like my language? Well, I don't like whining and sloth. If you think you can question what I've tried to do about it or what I'm doing about it, you ain't paying attention. I have earned a right to call you out.
Oh, I almost forgot. If you're looking Uncle Fed, that's exactly right, I've accused your leaders of high crimes and misdemeanors and stated publicly that the choice is ballots or bullets. **** you too. You now have an open invitation to try out George II's bullshit on me, it would be a bad idea, though.
No, my head has not exploded, that's exactly the kind of country we live in now. If you don't think so, I guess you're ...
The lie goes like this, we need broader police powers to keep you safe from terrorists. You're entirely too gullible. The carnage and property damage on US roads each year exceeds 9/11. Your fear is based on image and perception, not fact. That's only the beginning of the lie. It goes much deeper. Prior to the call for broad powers 9/11 happened, prior to 9/11 standard police powers were what was available, prior to 9/11 those standard investigative procedures had uncovered enough information to roll up the conspiracy. That's not guess work or conspiracy theory, it's fact. Still, 9/11 happened.
Here's where the President's logic get really tortured, the failure to stop 9/11 was entirely the fault of the Federal Government's police and intelligence agencies. It was not a failure of law, it was the failure of turf cutting bureaucracies and executive dismissal of field agent work. Because the Federal Government was unable to exercise proper usage of its available tools it must be granted further tools. It must be granted tools that are unprecedented in their violation of the Bill of Rights and Constitutional separation of powers; and the American politicians, media, and public bought in.
Do you feel surrounded by stupidity yet? Let's take this a little further, some time passes and some folks look at this stuff and start asking questions, so... we let it go on. The Patriot Act in all it's magnificent ridiculousness had one saving component - it sunsetted. Well, now it's not sunsetted. Since that didn't scare the pants off the public, how about some warrantless wire tapping. Never mind that a scary secret court makes no bones about approving this kind of spying on Americans, it needs to be dodged. Your head hasn't exploded yet? Well how about some torture to help that along. No kidding, no shit sherlock, the United States of America needs to torture people because our govenment is inept. How inept? How about renditioning an innocent to be tortured by a foreign government, an innocent citizen of a close ally.
Why preach to the choir? If you're not foaming at the mouth and doing something activist to kick these scum out of power you ain't the choir, you're, at best, a whiner. Are you donating time and money to a political campaign to oust them? Have you registered with an actual national Party to dig in and help? You think Iraq is a mess? Look a ways into our future, then. You are facing two choices in how to deal with this kind of crap, at the polls...or at the point of a gun. You are loosing your freedom. What the **** do you propose to do about it? You don't like my language? Well, I don't like whining and sloth. If you think you can question what I've tried to do about it or what I'm doing about it, you ain't paying attention. I have earned a right to call you out.
Oh, I almost forgot. If you're looking Uncle Fed, that's exactly right, I've accused your leaders of high crimes and misdemeanors and stated publicly that the choice is ballots or bullets. **** you too. You now have an open invitation to try out George II's bullshit on me, it would be a bad idea, though.
No, my head has not exploded, that's exactly the kind of country we live in now. If you don't think so, I guess you're ...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Hey, Ya Ole Goat
I’ve known my pal Curt for over fifteen years; he’s been my gun nail supplier, nail gun repair mechanic, and nail gun seller. I’ve traded guns in, gotten loaners, and in general done quite a bit of business with him. He’s competitive with nails, but he sells me guns for a very good price and is quite reasonable with repair costs; in fact, if I have a gun in the shop he gives me a free loaner if I need it. So, it is pretty good in general terms doing business with Curt. But then it starts to get way beyond simple business, if I need nails after closing or on weekends he goes to the shop and opens up, if a gun repair is pressing, he’ll do it in his off time. He takes exceptional care of this customer, not for the dollar, for the pride of the doing.
Curt has been in a wheelchair considerably longer than I’ve known him, since he was a young man, and he’s in his later seventies now. At the time the doctors told him he probably didn’t have long to live. He’s made them liars, though one thing or the other has had to be fixed through that time. I have never known of Curt to feel sorry for him self or take it easy. He’s always been a hardworking cheerful guy. Beyond the nail gun business, he makes wood parts, survey stakes, window packing parts, and so on. The shop is set up for his chair but it is still hard work, and he’s kept on smiling through the day. It is one of my favorite parts of my work to stop and get something from Curt. There’s always good conversation and good humored banter. Me, “Hey, ya ole goat!” Him, “Oh, you whipper-snapper!” (right, I’m 53) It never does get accomplished quickly…
A couple weeks ago the other shoe dropped, it’s cancer and it’s inoperable and it’s not long to go. I was one of the first to know and my heart was broken. Yes, it has been a good long run, but he wasn’t tired of it yet and I sure wasn’t tired of him. He told me with that crooked smile of his, the one that lets you know there’s a punch line somewhere, only the punch line was, “Oh well…” I didn’t quite cry, but my throat sure was locked up and my eyes felt pretty wet. That bothered him a little, but he perked right back up. I’d known before hand about this, but it was his place to tell me, so I hadn’t let on, but it surely hurt hearing it from his mouth.
I visit a bit more than I did before and other than that he’s a bit weaker you’d never know. There’s so much talk about heroes anymore, I won’t use the word, but his quiet bravery through all these years and especially now makes the kind of impact on me that all sorts of tales of derring-do might on others. I share this with you as a sort of monument to my friend’s achievements and to honor our friendship. Boy, I’m going to miss you, ya ole goat, thanks.
Curt has been in a wheelchair considerably longer than I’ve known him, since he was a young man, and he’s in his later seventies now. At the time the doctors told him he probably didn’t have long to live. He’s made them liars, though one thing or the other has had to be fixed through that time. I have never known of Curt to feel sorry for him self or take it easy. He’s always been a hardworking cheerful guy. Beyond the nail gun business, he makes wood parts, survey stakes, window packing parts, and so on. The shop is set up for his chair but it is still hard work, and he’s kept on smiling through the day. It is one of my favorite parts of my work to stop and get something from Curt. There’s always good conversation and good humored banter. Me, “Hey, ya ole goat!” Him, “Oh, you whipper-snapper!” (right, I’m 53) It never does get accomplished quickly…
A couple weeks ago the other shoe dropped, it’s cancer and it’s inoperable and it’s not long to go. I was one of the first to know and my heart was broken. Yes, it has been a good long run, but he wasn’t tired of it yet and I sure wasn’t tired of him. He told me with that crooked smile of his, the one that lets you know there’s a punch line somewhere, only the punch line was, “Oh well…” I didn’t quite cry, but my throat sure was locked up and my eyes felt pretty wet. That bothered him a little, but he perked right back up. I’d known before hand about this, but it was his place to tell me, so I hadn’t let on, but it surely hurt hearing it from his mouth.
I visit a bit more than I did before and other than that he’s a bit weaker you’d never know. There’s so much talk about heroes anymore, I won’t use the word, but his quiet bravery through all these years and especially now makes the kind of impact on me that all sorts of tales of derring-do might on others. I share this with you as a sort of monument to my friend’s achievements and to honor our friendship. Boy, I’m going to miss you, ya ole goat, thanks.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
I'm a Terrorist Supporter
Wowser!!! How the heck do you like that, I've graduated to the big time and I've done it publicly. (see Archives) I'd like to thank the Administration and in particular Mr Tony Snow for the nomination and award, taa daa.
"There have been some in the Democratic Party who have argued against the Patriot Act, against the terror surveillance program, against Guantanamo. In other words, there are some people who say that we shouldn't fight the war, we should not detain -- we shouldn't apprehend al Qaeda, we shouldn't detain al Qaeda, we shouldn't question al Qaeda, and we shouldn't listen to al Qaeda. In other words, they're all for winning the war on terror, but they're all against -- they're against providing the tools for winning that war. "
There you are - that's me. Yessiree, I have this outmoded eccentric belief that the Bill of Rights to the US Constitution applies to me and that the "Decider in Chief" swore an oath to support and uphold that document. His pissant Faux News Press Secretary can kiss my Democratic ass, and since he's nothing but a mouth piece, his handler can do the same.
Somehow becoming the thing that you're opposing strikes these people as a strategy. Somehow it seems to have escaped them and a sizable chunk of the USA that their dumbass selves using quaint ole standard police work had sufficient information to rollup the 9/11 bunch before they acted. OH YEAH, plain old LEGAL methods were sufficient, what wasn't suffiecient and what they have not addressed was the turf cutting and plain ole beaurocratic thumb twiddling that left the information hang until too late.
It also seems to have escaped their notice that the people they're objecting to didn't suggest that it was a good idea to ignore Afghanistan and Al Queda and go kick Iraq around. And those same people keep suggesting that maybe Iraq still isn't a good idea. The Greeks had a term, hubris, and the idea was that acting like a god was a good way to have the gods make it very plain to you that you aren't. Exactly how many times do these (explitive deleted) think they get to re-write history?
"Finally, one other point, which is, there is a reiteration of a call to replace or have Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stand down. The President strongly supports the Defense Secretary. It's not going to happen. Creating Don Rumsfeld as a boogeyman may make for good politics, but would make for a lousy strategy at this time. And, furthermore, if you listen to the speech that Secretary Rumsfeld gave last week, it was not only thoughtful, but comprehensive about trying to frame the ongoing war against terror, and also the war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Mostly what the Boogeyman did was to call people who point out his failures "appeasers" and link them to Hitler. Ummm, Donnyboy, there is still a picture in existence that shows you nearly kissing Saddam Hussein a while back, and he was then, what he was when you all decided to kick his butt. I know, history and facts are awkward things, they should be dispensed with whenever possible.
Maybe it would pay these cretins to study the period from 1760-1789, some interesting things were happening and some interesting characters were in action. I'm pretty sure George II would be using some of his "tools" to deal with those who later became icons if they were around today, because they'd surely be figuring out a way to deal with him, and it wouldn't be over tea and bicuits. Come to think of it, since I seem to agree with the Founders and whole heartedly back their play, I am a terrorist supporter.
Now, let me be clear, capture or kill Ossama Bin Laden, capture or kill his organization and I really don't care if they use any weapon other than nukes. I really don't care if they have collateral damage amongst their allies, and for you nice people, don't look, I give a rat's patoot if women, children and old people get vaporized along with them. If you can't pay the ticket, don't come to the game. If you harbor and support those who would attack us, your lives are forfeit, we can try not to include you, but you screwed up. But plainly and simply, do it within the framework of the USA and our heritage, quit making up the rules as you go along. The Bill of Rights is explicitly about the relationship of the government to its citizens, every word of every Ammendment addresses that relationship, there are 10 of them.
"There have been some in the Democratic Party who have argued against the Patriot Act, against the terror surveillance program, against Guantanamo. In other words, there are some people who say that we shouldn't fight the war, we should not detain -- we shouldn't apprehend al Qaeda, we shouldn't detain al Qaeda, we shouldn't question al Qaeda, and we shouldn't listen to al Qaeda. In other words, they're all for winning the war on terror, but they're all against -- they're against providing the tools for winning that war. "
There you are - that's me. Yessiree, I have this outmoded eccentric belief that the Bill of Rights to the US Constitution applies to me and that the "Decider in Chief" swore an oath to support and uphold that document. His pissant Faux News Press Secretary can kiss my Democratic ass, and since he's nothing but a mouth piece, his handler can do the same.
Somehow becoming the thing that you're opposing strikes these people as a strategy. Somehow it seems to have escaped them and a sizable chunk of the USA that their dumbass selves using quaint ole standard police work had sufficient information to rollup the 9/11 bunch before they acted. OH YEAH, plain old LEGAL methods were sufficient, what wasn't suffiecient and what they have not addressed was the turf cutting and plain ole beaurocratic thumb twiddling that left the information hang until too late.
It also seems to have escaped their notice that the people they're objecting to didn't suggest that it was a good idea to ignore Afghanistan and Al Queda and go kick Iraq around. And those same people keep suggesting that maybe Iraq still isn't a good idea. The Greeks had a term, hubris, and the idea was that acting like a god was a good way to have the gods make it very plain to you that you aren't. Exactly how many times do these (explitive deleted) think they get to re-write history?
"Finally, one other point, which is, there is a reiteration of a call to replace or have Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stand down. The President strongly supports the Defense Secretary. It's not going to happen. Creating Don Rumsfeld as a boogeyman may make for good politics, but would make for a lousy strategy at this time. And, furthermore, if you listen to the speech that Secretary Rumsfeld gave last week, it was not only thoughtful, but comprehensive about trying to frame the ongoing war against terror, and also the war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Mostly what the Boogeyman did was to call people who point out his failures "appeasers" and link them to Hitler. Ummm, Donnyboy, there is still a picture in existence that shows you nearly kissing Saddam Hussein a while back, and he was then, what he was when you all decided to kick his butt. I know, history and facts are awkward things, they should be dispensed with whenever possible.
Maybe it would pay these cretins to study the period from 1760-1789, some interesting things were happening and some interesting characters were in action. I'm pretty sure George II would be using some of his "tools" to deal with those who later became icons if they were around today, because they'd surely be figuring out a way to deal with him, and it wouldn't be over tea and bicuits. Come to think of it, since I seem to agree with the Founders and whole heartedly back their play, I am a terrorist supporter.
Now, let me be clear, capture or kill Ossama Bin Laden, capture or kill his organization and I really don't care if they use any weapon other than nukes. I really don't care if they have collateral damage amongst their allies, and for you nice people, don't look, I give a rat's patoot if women, children and old people get vaporized along with them. If you can't pay the ticket, don't come to the game. If you harbor and support those who would attack us, your lives are forfeit, we can try not to include you, but you screwed up. But plainly and simply, do it within the framework of the USA and our heritage, quit making up the rules as you go along. The Bill of Rights is explicitly about the relationship of the government to its citizens, every word of every Ammendment addresses that relationship, there are 10 of them.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Words and More Words
Words are such wonderful things, there's so much information included in them and in some usages so much music. They contain not only information and music but also feelings. Ah, words, I suppose it's obvious as a Blogger that I love words.
Well, mostly I do. The misuse of words infuriates me, the misappropriation of words can bring me to frothing fury.
Hero. What a great word, short, almost musical in itself, magical in its connotation, magnificent in its fact. What crap to apply it to people doing their ordinary job. Calling a supply seargent sitting at his desk a Hero devalues the word and hence the soldier risking his life by rescuing a comrade under heavy fire or holding a position at all odds. I watched a dashboard camera recording of a cop climbing onto the hood of a fully engulfed burning automobile to smash out the windshield and pull an unconscious woman out and get hit by the explosion within feet of the car while carrying that woman, now I can say the word hero and have a feeling in my eyes and throat and gut and know exactly what I meant and I didn't mean a cop writing a speeding ticket.
George Bush has brought up the Freedom Agenda, agenda is pretty non-commital but there's that word Freedom. Hey, 1776, the Emancipation Proclamation, VE Day, boy have we got some some background stuff for freedom. What the heck does freedom have to do with George Bush's oil and war profiteering inspired adventure in Iraq? And since he's linked it to terrorism, exactly how does the restriction of our civil libeties and abridgement of the Bill of Rights and violation of the Constitution have anything whatever to do with the word freedom? And he uses it to the American Legion? And they bought it?
Security is one of those double edged words, little kids have their security blanket, a warm soft concept and then there's the other side. The FBI sneak and peek, you know, Federal Agents breaking into your house without a warrant to get something to get a warrant. Then there's the comforting thought that the President of the United States says he can listen to your calls without court approval, because he says so. Now if you're fond of secure vacations from work, security means that if George Bush calls you an enemy combatant and you just disappear into the Federal Penal system, you don't get a trial. Now don't you have a warm soft feeling?
Cut and Run, there's a set of cold words. These are good for debasing someone. Cut and Run, oooh, cowardice all over it. We all remember those bang bang shoot 'em up westerns, the weasly shop owner cuts and runs while the brave cowpoke stands up to the desparadoes. Has anybody made a comparison to Vietnam and the draft and getting to fly jets in Texas and deferments out the kazooo for people now "running the show" and "staying the course"? Maybe I exaggerate, it has been proven dangerous to shoot caged pigeons. For other people.
Clean Air Act, Forest Preservation Act, Patriot Act, there's some nice sounding stuff. There was a near miss with Homeland Security, that one evokes swastikas. What the hell are these people doing to our words? Joseph Goebbles mangled German to abuse people and justify atrocities, is this where we're headed? Even if these people's politics didn't stink, for what they're doing to our language they've got to go.
Well, mostly I do. The misuse of words infuriates me, the misappropriation of words can bring me to frothing fury.
Hero. What a great word, short, almost musical in itself, magical in its connotation, magnificent in its fact. What crap to apply it to people doing their ordinary job. Calling a supply seargent sitting at his desk a Hero devalues the word and hence the soldier risking his life by rescuing a comrade under heavy fire or holding a position at all odds. I watched a dashboard camera recording of a cop climbing onto the hood of a fully engulfed burning automobile to smash out the windshield and pull an unconscious woman out and get hit by the explosion within feet of the car while carrying that woman, now I can say the word hero and have a feeling in my eyes and throat and gut and know exactly what I meant and I didn't mean a cop writing a speeding ticket.
George Bush has brought up the Freedom Agenda, agenda is pretty non-commital but there's that word Freedom. Hey, 1776, the Emancipation Proclamation, VE Day, boy have we got some some background stuff for freedom. What the heck does freedom have to do with George Bush's oil and war profiteering inspired adventure in Iraq? And since he's linked it to terrorism, exactly how does the restriction of our civil libeties and abridgement of the Bill of Rights and violation of the Constitution have anything whatever to do with the word freedom? And he uses it to the American Legion? And they bought it?
Security is one of those double edged words, little kids have their security blanket, a warm soft concept and then there's the other side. The FBI sneak and peek, you know, Federal Agents breaking into your house without a warrant to get something to get a warrant. Then there's the comforting thought that the President of the United States says he can listen to your calls without court approval, because he says so. Now if you're fond of secure vacations from work, security means that if George Bush calls you an enemy combatant and you just disappear into the Federal Penal system, you don't get a trial. Now don't you have a warm soft feeling?
Cut and Run, there's a set of cold words. These are good for debasing someone. Cut and Run, oooh, cowardice all over it. We all remember those bang bang shoot 'em up westerns, the weasly shop owner cuts and runs while the brave cowpoke stands up to the desparadoes. Has anybody made a comparison to Vietnam and the draft and getting to fly jets in Texas and deferments out the kazooo for people now "running the show" and "staying the course"? Maybe I exaggerate, it has been proven dangerous to shoot caged pigeons. For other people.
Clean Air Act, Forest Preservation Act, Patriot Act, there's some nice sounding stuff. There was a near miss with Homeland Security, that one evokes swastikas. What the hell are these people doing to our words? Joseph Goebbles mangled German to abuse people and justify atrocities, is this where we're headed? Even if these people's politics didn't stink, for what they're doing to our language they've got to go.
George W Bush is not an idiot ???
Rep Issen R-CA on Bill Mahr's "Real Time" said that "this President is not an idiot" ... paraphrase - 'he listens to the wrong people.' Ok, Rep Issen is running for Congress as a Republican so saying GWB is an idiot might not be politic.
Now I say the guy (ok, the President) is of moderate intelligence, but that he is seriously challenged in the intellect department. Look, he didn't quite fail at an Ivy League College and he didn't manage to fly a fighter jet into the dirt, so he's not retarded. Apparently he can manage the words in books I read in 9th Grade so the neurons are connected and every once in awhile full sentences don't challenge him, especially if they hearken to an old western. So we can quit calling him a moron.
Seriously challenged in the intellect is a different matter, this involves critical thinking and synergizing information into decisions. A critical thinker will look at information and ideas and take them apart into their relevant pieces and look at the pieces. Information and ideas are a great deal like jigsaw puzzles, they come to you as a pretty picture on the box but they're made up of many odd shapes and colors that have meaning. It is your job to make sense of those pieces, even though somebody has already given you the picture. I don't care if people have been paid to analyze something, you still need to pay enough attention to it to be sure you understand how the analysis was arrived at and that you've considered opposing analysis. This does mean that you need outside sources of information if you're inside an organization or "point of view."
Synergy is hugely important, nothing that is given as an argument for an idea contains the elements of other points of view and those view points may contain important information and ideas whether you are in agreement with their conclusions or not. No serious argument undertaken by an opposing view point can come from "thin air." It must be founded on something and that something could easily be of import to your decision. Consideration of those elements and their inclusion or modification for inclusion into a decision can be a make or break proposition for successful implementation of a decision process.
GWB is a failure as a President not because he's a moron, he's a failure because he's ignorant, and what's worse, proud of it. The man has surrounded himself with ideologues and pays no attention to anything else, while they pay no attention to anything except their inflated egos. Any particular piece of stupidity can have backers for it, there are plenty of people who will state quite seriously that the moon landings were faked, no evidence will convince them otherwise, they listen to each other and that's it. The President was surrounded by people who quite seriously believed that you could impose democracy at the point of a gun on people with no experience of it. Yes, we did that to Japan. We did it after we showed them in very simple terms that extermination was their alternative. Now this is important, the one time it has been accomplished was under the umbrella of two mushroom clouds, fire bombings and the near total destruction of infrastructure didn't do it, battlefield slaughter didn't do it, none of the usual accoutrements of warfare accomplished that end. The clear prospect of annihilation did.
Now I say the guy (ok, the President) is of moderate intelligence, but that he is seriously challenged in the intellect department. Look, he didn't quite fail at an Ivy League College and he didn't manage to fly a fighter jet into the dirt, so he's not retarded. Apparently he can manage the words in books I read in 9th Grade so the neurons are connected and every once in awhile full sentences don't challenge him, especially if they hearken to an old western. So we can quit calling him a moron.
Seriously challenged in the intellect is a different matter, this involves critical thinking and synergizing information into decisions. A critical thinker will look at information and ideas and take them apart into their relevant pieces and look at the pieces. Information and ideas are a great deal like jigsaw puzzles, they come to you as a pretty picture on the box but they're made up of many odd shapes and colors that have meaning. It is your job to make sense of those pieces, even though somebody has already given you the picture. I don't care if people have been paid to analyze something, you still need to pay enough attention to it to be sure you understand how the analysis was arrived at and that you've considered opposing analysis. This does mean that you need outside sources of information if you're inside an organization or "point of view."
Synergy is hugely important, nothing that is given as an argument for an idea contains the elements of other points of view and those view points may contain important information and ideas whether you are in agreement with their conclusions or not. No serious argument undertaken by an opposing view point can come from "thin air." It must be founded on something and that something could easily be of import to your decision. Consideration of those elements and their inclusion or modification for inclusion into a decision can be a make or break proposition for successful implementation of a decision process.
GWB is a failure as a President not because he's a moron, he's a failure because he's ignorant, and what's worse, proud of it. The man has surrounded himself with ideologues and pays no attention to anything else, while they pay no attention to anything except their inflated egos. Any particular piece of stupidity can have backers for it, there are plenty of people who will state quite seriously that the moon landings were faked, no evidence will convince them otherwise, they listen to each other and that's it. The President was surrounded by people who quite seriously believed that you could impose democracy at the point of a gun on people with no experience of it. Yes, we did that to Japan. We did it after we showed them in very simple terms that extermination was their alternative. Now this is important, the one time it has been accomplished was under the umbrella of two mushroom clouds, fire bombings and the near total destruction of infrastructure didn't do it, battlefield slaughter didn't do it, none of the usual accoutrements of warfare accomplished that end. The clear prospect of annihilation did.
Who wasn't paying attention?
You can run the list of Bush failures and find a commonality in every one, closed mindedness. No, this is not a sign of retardation, but idiotic...hmmm.
Fellow lefties, there's something here to pay attention to in regard to ourselves.
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