You know - for the kids...

Friday, August 31, 2007

John Warner will not seek a sixth term

I may not have agreed with a lot of his votes but John Warner brought a level of authority and dignity to his time in office. He served the Commonwealth well and I was often proud and never ashamed to say he was my Senator. So here’s to hoping that Virginia will elect another Senator as reasonable, wise, and restrained as he (if a bit more liberal please).

Fear of a gay planet

It has been somewhat comical watching Congressional Republicans bail on Larry Craig. These folks are running from the Idaho Senator as if he were on fire. I mean, no one is standing up for the guy, with the notable exception of Barney Frank (D-MA). John McCain (R-AZ) called the incident “disgraceful”, much like McCain's own kowtowing to the Religious Right. Norm Coleman (R-MN) called Craig’s “conduct unbecoming a senator". Uh-huh. This from the guy that nearly knocked himself out while dumpster diving. Mitt Romney piled on, stating “He's [Craig] disappointed the American people”. When asked what Craig should do, most GOP lawmakers are saying he should resign.

Now contrast all of this with the response when Senator David Vitter (R-LA) was busted for banging prostitutes in New Orleans and D.C. The Republican establishment basically took the line of, “he has stopped screwing hookers and apologized to his wife, so what’s the big deal? Let’s talk about something important”.

The two reactions could not be any more different. Which leads me to ask the question, why? How is trolling for sex (and failing at it) more lascivious than actually having intercourse, repeatedly, with hookers? To put it another way, why were Republicans so much more forgiving to Vitter than they are to Craig? The answer, of course, is they fear homosexuality. Maybe not on a personal level, but these pols certainly fear a constituency backlash if they were to be perceived as something other than overtly hostile to homosexuality. So really, it is not the sex so much as who you want to do it with.

I draw two conclusions from all of this. First, bigotry fuels a good portion of the modern conservative movement. Second, gay is the new black.

Warner Retirement Watch

Senator John Warner has scheduled an afternoon press conference in which he will announce whether he will run for a sixth term. No one knows for sure what he is going to do but he has not been fundraising and that suggests he is going to call it quits. If he does retire, it is better than even money that Mark Warner will be the Commonwealth’s next Senator. And Virginia continues to go blue.

Iowa?!?!

An Iowa district court ruled unconstitutional the state’s same sex marriage ban. While I am sure that the GOP’s candidates are going to fall over themselves denouncing activists judges, etc. I hope like hell someone in the Democratic field, someone other than Dennis Kucinich that is, embraces this decision. I doubt anyone has the stones to do so but a boy can dream.

At any rate, good on you Judge Robert Hanson – you are fabulous!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Moving the goalposts

Having failed so miserably to make progress in Iraq, the Administration is now attempting to redefine success. Predictably, the new success looks a lot like failure.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Bush administration Thursday rejected a bleak draft survey by a government auditor on political and military advances in Iraq, saying it set criteria for judging progress far too high.

The White House and State Department hit back after leaks emerged of a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), saying Iraq had failed to meet all but three of 18 benchmarks laid down by Congress.

[Snip]


White House deputy spokeswoman Dana Perino took pains to differentiate the GAO survey from the president's own report on the 30,000-strong troop hike in Iraq, which he must provide to Congress by September 15.

"The president must report on whether or not the Iraqis are making significant progress towards achieving the benchmarks in Iraq," Perino told reporters.

"The GAO ... is asked by Congress to say whether or not they have met them," she said, adding that the "bar was set so high" it was all but impossible for the Iraqis to meet the standards.

Gosh Dana, I guess you are right. After five years, half a billion dollars, and thousands of lives, we really shouldn’t expect our Iraq policy to have actually accomplished anything. That would be setting the bar too high, especially for this Administration.

Dear Lord, I cannot stand these fucking people.

Innovation and the free market

One of the reliable myths of free market ideology is that regulation always stifles innovation. The argument goes that government regulation increases the cost of doing business, decreases profits, and hence, discourages investment and innovation. Per this line of thinking, the recent deregulation of the telecommunication industry should have unleashed a torrent of new technologies. The market, freed of the yoke of government interference, would blossom a plethora of new products and faster service. Funny thing though, the exact opposite happened because we failed to grant open access the most important wire in the network – the one into our homes.

Yet the story of how Japan outclassed the United States in the provision of better, cheaper Internet service suggests that forceful government regulation can pay substantial dividends.

The opening of Japan's copper phone lines to DSL competition launched a "virtuous cycle" of ever-increasing speed, said Cisco's Pepper. The cycle began shortly after Japanese politicians -- fretting about an Internet system that in 2000 was slower and more expensive than what existed in the United States -- decided to "unbundle" copper lines.

For just $2 a month, upstart broadband companies were allowed to rent bandwidth on an NTT copper wire connected to a Japanese home. Low rent allowed them to charge low prices to consumers -- as little as $22 a month for a DSL connection faster than almost all U.S. broadband services.

In the United States, a similar kind of competitive access to phone company lines was strongly endorsed by Congress in a 1996 telecommunications law. But the federal push fizzled in 2003 and 2004, when the Federal Communications Commission and a federal court ruled that major companies do not have to share phone or fiber lines with competitors. The Bush administration did not appeal the court ruling.

"The Bush administration largely turned its back on the Internet, so we have just drifted downwards," said Thomas Bleha, a former U.S. diplomat who served in Japan and is writing a history of how that country trumped the United States in broadband.


By allowing more provider access to the wires into Japanese homes, the market fostered greater competition and better service. The US needs to follow a similar model if we are to ride the next wave of technological innovation spawned by true high-speed internet service. As someone would pays way too much for broadband, I would love to hear what the Presidential field has to say on this issue.

Today’s required reading

The Richmond Times has a terrific article about Virginia Tech, the Blacksburg community, the tragedy, and why this football season is going to be special.

Drive into downtown Blacksburg on North Main Street, and the first things you see are the 32 flags flying in front of Blacksburg Baptist Church. They represent each victim's home country.
Steer down Main, and the banner in front of Cook's Clean Center screams: WE ARE HOKIES. WE WILL PREVAIL! Similar signs hang in almost every business on Main.


Reminders of April 16 are everywhere around town -- from the old lady wearing the maroon "Hokies United" T-shirt created after the shootings, to the magnetic remembrance ribbons affixed to almost every car. If ever a separation existed between Blacksburg (population: 39,000) and Virginia Tech, it is gone now.

That sense of collectivism surrounds the football program. Around the Merryman Center, its epicenter, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer greets folks in the halls with a "How we doin'?" In the middle of the practice field, a sign hanging from an observation tower bears the same slogan as the Hokies' team T-shirts: "None of us is as good as ALL of us."

It really is an excellent piece. I recommend it as an antidote to the grim and sterile reportage surrounding the commission report on the shooting.

FYI - the season starts Saturday at noon, ECU at Lane.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Just to keep today's Bush bashing theme going

I give you NOFX doing The Idiot Son of an Asshole.

It is a bad time to be a Republican

Not that there is ever a good time to be one, but the plague of scandals swirling around the GOP is really taking a toll on its constituency, as one might imagine. So just how bad is it out there?

Just when Republicans thought things could not get any worse, Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in June in a Minneapolis airport restroom. On Tuesday, Mr. Craig, 62, held a news conference to defend himself, calling the guilty plea “a mistake” and declaring, “I am not gay” — even as the Senate Republican leadership asked for an Ethics Committee review.

It was a bizarre spectacle, and only the latest in a string of accusations of sexual foibles and financial misdeeds that have landed Republicans in the political equivalent of purgatory, the realm of late-night comic television.

Forget Mark Foley of Florida, who quit the House last year after exchanging sexually explicit e-mail messages with under-age male pages, or Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose dealings with the old Republican Congress landed him in prison. They are old news, replaced by a fresh crop of scandal-plagued Republicans, men like Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, whose phone number turned up on the list of the so-called D.C. Madam, or Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, both caught up in F.B.I. corruption investigations. [Ed. note - that is one helluva list, no?]

It is enough to make a self-respecting Republican want to tear his hair out in frustration, especially as the party is trying to defend an unpopular war, contain the power of the new Democratic majority on Capitol Hill and generate some enthusiasm among voters heading toward the presidential election in 2008.


“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said Mr. Reed, sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”

Now I know that it is still way early in the election cycle but whoever wins the Republican nomination will not exactly have the wind at their back in 2008. These scandals will undercut any effort to wrap the Republican Party in their well-worn “family values” mantel. Furthermore, the old Gingrich tactic of vilifying Democrats as a bunch contemptible degenerates is going to ring hollow, what with all of the GOP’s dirty laundry laying about. With Bush and the war to defend, a demoralized base, a tanking real estate market, and monumental hypocrisy amongst their office holders, a conservative politician will find damn few arrows left in his quiver. As Nelson Muntz would say, "ha ha".

Brownie, your doin' a heckuva job

I heard on NPR this morning that Bush is heading to the Gulf Coast to mark the second anniversary of the demise of New Orleans. As I understand it, the President will hold a moment of silence in remembrance. That is typical W; offering an empty gesture instead of the apology that the city so richly deserves.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Americans are armed to the teeth

I knew, as a nation, we pack like no other but the disparity is shocking nonetheless.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.


About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.

"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.

That is a whole lot of firepower.

You cannot make this stuff up

Senator Larry Craig (R – Idaho) claims that his arrest on a charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, a charge to which he plead guilty, was really just a “he said/he said misunderstanding”. I kid you not – he managed to make his arrest for soliciting homosexual sex in an airport men’s room even gayer.

Hat tip to Atrios.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Brilliant

Paul Krugman opines today on conservative opposition to expanding children’s health insurance, a topic I touched on last week. As usual, he is brilliant and succinct.

The truth is that there’s no difference in principle between saying that every American child is entitled to an education and saying that every American child is entitled to adequate health care. It’s just a matter of historical accident that we think of access to free K-12 education as a basic right, but consider having the government pay children’s medical bills “welfare,“ with all the negative connotations that go with that term.

And conservative opposition to giving every child in this country access to health care is, in a fundamental sense, un-American.

Here’s what I mean: The great majority of Americans believe that everyone is entitled to a chance to make the most of his or her life. Even conservatives usually claim to believe that. For example, N. Gregory Mankiw, the former chairman of the Bush Council of Economic Advisers, contrasts the position of liberals, who he says believe in equality of outcomes, with that of conservatives, who he says believe that the goal of policy should be “to give everyone the same shot and not be surprised or concerned when outcomes differ wildly.”

But a child who doesn’t receive adequate health care, like a child who doesn’t receive an adequate education, doesn’t have the same shot — he or she doesn’t have the same chances in life as children who get both these things.

And that is why he has a column in the New York Times and I am just some jerkoff with a blog.

Gonzales resigns (!?!?!?!)

What the fuck? The guy took as severe a public beating as I have ever seen any politician take and now he walks away. It made sense if he was going to go the distance and help the Administration avoid a nasty confirmation process. But to be pilloried and then leave? Why not just resign a year ago? Weird.

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Pity Candidate

If the McCain campaign really believes this, well how the hell do these people get out of bed every morning? Sheesh...

That’s a clause not a sentence

Nicole Richie, sentenced to four days for her DUI conviction, served 82 minutes of hard time. Well, OK then.

Cuba and Obama

Ever since Castro’s Revolution in Cuba, the US has carried forth a policy of sanctions, travel restriction, etc. that has clearly failed. Castro is the longest serving leader in the Western Hemisphere. Despite this obvious lack of success, simply suggesting that we may need a different approach to Cuba risks South Florida exploding into insurrection. That hardcore of support for this foolish policy has been something of a Third Rail in Florida politics for a long time. To win there, you gotta get your Castro hate on in a BIG way.

I have long thought the best way to upset Castro’s applecart would be just the opposite. Think how quickly things would spin out of control there if overnight the US dropped all trade and travel restrictions. Instead of invading Cuba with Marines, we overrun the place with MacDonald’s, Coca-Cola, General Motors and a few million Cuban-Americans. I think in the short run, that strategy would definitely fatten the purse of the regime but over time, the exposure to American openness would create a yearning for American freedoms. Call me a rose-colored optimist but what we have done for the past few decades is not working.

All of which leads me to Obama’s call for easing travel restrictions and the hell he caught for it from the other campaigns, especially Hillary and Multiple Choice Mitt. Predictably, they call him naive and bang the "No talking to dictators" drum. I, however, applaud his courage for taking the smart if politically perilous position (yeah, I can alliterate). I know it is an overused cliché but dammit, we need someone who can think out of the box. More and more, I am thinking Barack Obama may be my guy in 2008.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Public Service Announcement

The new season of Real Time with Bill Maher starts this Friday. Happy viewing.

Don’t call it a comeback

Jim Gilmore, the worst Governor Virginia has had since integration, is thinking of running for John Warner’s seat should the eighty year old Senator retire. Said Gilmore of his chances:

“We’re pretty confident that the message that I have and the record that I have would make me the nominee.”

Gilmore’s record was one of fiscal recklessness that nearly bankrupted the Commonwealth coupled with the relentless flogging of divisive social issues. In all likelihood, he will be running against Mark Warner, the man who righted the ship after Gilmore’s dreadful leadership. Talk about a substantive contrast.

At any rate, Warner must be praying that Gilmore throws his hat into the ring. What a bloodbath that match-up would be…

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Paranoid authoritarians make bad economists

Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe, has proven this rule in spades.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's inflation rate has leapt to a record high, official data showed on Wednesday, raising pressure on President Robert Mugabe to ease an economic crisis that foes hope will weaken the veteran leader.

Zimbabwe's inflation -- already the highest in the world -- hit 7,634.8 percent in July, reminding Zimbabweans there is no relief in sight from daily hardships including chronic food, fuel and foreign currency shortages.

Mugabe has accused some businesses of raising prices without justification as part of a Western plot to oust him.

He launched a blitz on inflation by ordering businesses to freeze prices in late June. But the move exacerbated shortages, leaving shop shelves empty. The government eased some restrictions on Wednesday.

Mugabe continues to pursue policies that will drive this country over the economic cliff. A few years ago, Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of southern Africa. Now, it cannot even feed itself.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

We are ruled by assholes

That’s the only conclusion I can draw when your new health insurance plan is to reduce the number of kids with health insurance.

I swear to God, there are some free market absolutists (see American Enterprise Institute) that will argue and believe the following:

It is better to have kids go without health insurance if the alternative is government-funded insurance. Subsidizing insurance distorts the market and that equates to Socialized medicine.

Or something. In essence, an undisturbed market is more important than reducing the number of sick and/or dead kids (in a relatively inexpensive manner BTW). In Joe’s world, people who believe such things are assholes.

Monday, August 20, 2007

With so many other Amendments, do we really need the Fourth?

Much ink was spilled regarding the Democrats shameless broadening of the Administration’s surveillance power. The Times ran an excellent piece yesterday on the likely consequences of this foolishness.

Some civil rights advocates said they suspected that the administration made the language of the bill intentionally vague to allow it even broader discretion over wiretapping decisions. Whether intentional or not, the end result — according to top Democratic aides and other experts on national security law — is that the legislation may grant the government the right to collect a range of information on American citizens inside the United States without warrants, as long as the administration asserts that the spying concerns the monitoring of a person believed to be overseas.

In effect, they say, the legislation significantly relaxes the restrictions on how the government can conduct spying operations aimed at foreigners at the same time that it allows authorities to sweep up information about Americans.


So why did the Democratic leadership roll over on a law that is both nebulous and rife with potential abuse?

Though many Democratic leaders opposed the final version of the legislation, they did not work forcefully to block its passage, largely out of fear that they would be criticized by President Bush and Republican leaders during the August recess as being soft on terrorism.

Got that? They were scared by George Bush’s mighty 28% approval ratings and thus capitulated (once again). Jesus Christ guys – you are not on the same team so quit acting like it. What the fuck did we elect you for anyway? What is particularly galling about this episode is that the Administration will not even agree to follow these restrictions.

Yet Bush administration officials have already signaled that, in their view, the president retains his constitutional authority to do whatever it takes to protect the country, regardless of any action Congress takes. At a tense meeting last week with lawyers from a range of private groups active in the wiretapping issue, senior Justice Department officials refused to commit the administration to adhering to the limits laid out in the new legislation and left open the possibility that the president could once again use what they have said in other instances is his constitutional authority to act outside the regulations set by Congress.

Basically, the White House is saying it will do whatever it wants when it wants and Congress can suck it. So other than making the Democrats look like a bunch of spineless pansies (once again), the whole exercise was pointless. Well played ladies and gentlemen – well played indeed.

So to sum up: we have a President that believes spies should have all of the authority and discretion of Jack Bauer in crisis mode and a compliant Congress unwilling to reign in these authoritarian impulses, resulting in the further shredding on our Constitutional protections under the chimera that this surrender of rights will make us safer. That is fan-fucking-tastic. We might as well rewrite the Fourth to say:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. That is unless the President wants to – then all bets are off.

Not the way anyone wanted to start the year

These kids can't seem to catch a break.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A Virginia Tech campus still reeling from the deaths of 32 people at the hands of a student gunman last spring began its fall semester Monday amid another tragedy: a carbon monoxide leak at an off-campus apartment left five roommates hospitalized, two in critical condition.

The ham of the Gods

As a true lover of the pig, this sounds like it might almost be worth the money.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Cockeyed's Definitive list of Bad Things

Hilarious.

Burned one to many times

CNN is reporting that their new poll shows a majority of Americans do not trust the upcoming Iraq progress report.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said he doesn't think the mistrust is directed at Petreaus as much as it is what he represents.

Holland said, "I suspect most people are hearing the words 'general' and 'Iraq' and that's what they're basing their opinion on."

He added, "It does seem to indicate that anyone associated with the Bush administration may be a less than credible messenger for the message that there is progress being made in Iraq."

That sums up the situation pretty well I think. Americans, by and large, have had it with these rosy forecasts in the face Baghdad’s chaos and the faltering al-Maliki government. We're just not buying it any more.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Say what?

In an interview with Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove (sidebar: I know, that is a lot of evil for one room) described George Bush as “one of the best-read people I’ve ever met”. Um, OK then. So Rove is either lying like a rug or surrounds himself with troglodyte illiterates.

Even more ridiculous, Rove called the President’s critics “effete snobs” and said of Bush “that he is Middle America”. Let me get this straight: The Yalie son of a President with a family compound in Kennebunkport is Middle America. His critics are snobs. Whatever…

Iraq? Oh, it's going swell.

Once again, the White House is attempting to play Calvinball with the truth.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Sick and shameful

Dinesh D’Souza, neo-con schmuck and Bush sycophant, waxes pathetic today, lamenting the lack of terrorism within the United States, calling it the President’s “political undoing”. Wow. D’Souza and his bloodthirsty brethren would call my opposition to the war unpatriotic. Well I say his pining for mayhem and mass death in service to a President and not his country is treasonous. The American Heritage Dictionary defines treason thusly:

Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.

Sounds pretty close, no? George Bush merely presides over this country; and does it poorly. His political undoing was of his own making, born of arrogance and incompetence. But the flatters cannot say this in public; instead they write twaddle like this:

The real difference, I think, is that during World War 2 there was a national consensus in America that this war will not end until Germany and Japan are totally defeated.

No moron, the real difference was that the US had allies, capable leadership, and a victory five years after the war started. For better or worse, America does not like losers. Bush is a loser and that was his political undoing. Bitching and moaning that because he is so good at his job, no one else is dead plainly overlooks the sacrifice our soldiers make every day. Americans, except for the nuts like yourself, don’t like to see other people killed – whether they be Americans or not, in uniform or not. This Administration is a reckless failure; another terrorist attack on our soil would make it that much more so. Wishing to resurrect it with the blood of more innocents is grotesque; shame on you for suggesting otherwise.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Let’s kill people faster?

I am not a fan of the death penalty. I consider it a necessary evil, to be employed in the rarest of circumstances and after great, even ponderous, deliberation. There are just too many examples where the system, despite numerous safeguards, got it wrong. Witness the case of Earl Washington or the suspension of executions in Illinois. One can always free an innocent man, but one cannot raise the dead.

So I can’t for the life of me figure out why we would want to speed the process up, particularly if we empower an incompetent boob like Alberto Gonzales to make such decisions. That seems to me unwise.

The best healthcare system in the world

Whenever people debate the topic of universal healthcare for Americans, some devotee to free market orthodoxy will trot out that “best system in the world” horseshit slogan. It is a response so Pavlovian with that crowd, I almost want to give the good little conservative a cookie as a reward. And to some extent, that argument is true, if you are rich, or happen to be in Congress. Otherwise, the results are somewhat patchy. One needs only to read the new report ranking the US 42nd in life expectancy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are living longer than ever, but not as long as people in 41 other countries.

For decades, the United States has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and lifestyles.

Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands.

"Something's wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries," said Dr. Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Now, there are several contributing factors to this ranking. Americans are getting ever fatter and lazier, infant mortality is way too high for a nation so wealthy, there are racial issues, etc. It is, however, hard to argue that many, if not most of these problems, would improve with quality, universal healthcare. Above all, this should kill the “best system in the world” dodge. One cannot debate credibly that 42nd equals the best in anything.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Michael Vick to be suspended for the season

Call it a good start.

What the Iowa straw poll tells me

The AP roundup is here.

Brownback and Huckabee are going fight it out for the social conservative vote. The hardcore has not coalesced around one guy yet, and neither Brownback nor Huckabee have a chance without them. I am betting that their Battle for the Wingnuts will become a Death Match.

If Romney can only muster 4500 votes after spending months and millions of dollars on the poll, in a field without McCain or Giuliani, Mitt’s support is not very deep. That he had to come out in defense of his victory and say that it was not hollow means that it was indeed hollow.

The average Iowa Republican who participates in these events is way, way more conservative than you average Republican. The Nutters (Tancredo, Brownback, and Huckabee) outpolled the totals for the now departed, moderate Tommy Thompson, and Romney, who seems to have stood on each side of every issue. The crazies are still the most reliable votes in the state.

There are a third fewer motivated crazies now than in 2000. Nearly 24,000 voted in that year, compared to 14,300 this time around. Many pundits had speculated that Republicans politicians in 2008 would face lower turnout and an unenthusiastic base. This is the first hard evidence that those predictions are correct.

Rove walks

As unbelievable as it is, Karl Rove will resign from the White House at the end of the month. Good riddance (if only for the time being) to one of the dirty-trickingest bastards to ever make it to Washington - that he is not in jail for any number of offenses is a testament to his scheming prowess.

Even more significant, however, we can mark this day as the end of George Bush’s ignoble political career. From here on out, we are clockwatching until January 20, 2009. Then, a Democrat will be inaugurated, and we can finally say to the world, “Hey, sorry about the last guy. We are not all assholes.”

Friday, August 10, 2007

Rudy! demeans the Ground Zero workers

It is one thing for Giuliani to wrap himself in the 9/11 mantel and perform his patented America’s Mayor kabuki but there is a whole other level of egomania at work here.

Speaking to reporters at a Cincinnati Reds ballgame he caught between fund-raisers, the GOP front-runner said he helped 9/11 families and defended himself against critics of how he managed the attack's aftermath.

"This is not a mayor or a governor or a President who's sitting in an ivory tower," Giuliani said. "I was at Ground Zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."

His statement rang false to Queens paramedic Marvin Bethea, who said he suffered a stroke, posttraumatic stress disorder and breathing problems after responding to the attacks.
"I personally find that very, very insulting," he said.


"Standing there doing a photo-op and telling the men, 'You're doing a good job,' I don't consider that to be working," said Bethea, 47.

Ironworker Jonathan Sferazo, 52, who said he spent a month at the site and is now disabled, runs a worker advocacy group with Bethea and called Giuliani's comments "severely" out of line.

"He's not one of us. He never has been and he never will be. He never served in a capacity where he was a responder," Sferazo said.


Rudy! just walked into a political hornet's nest. Pissing on the sacrifice those that worked Ground Zero is a big no-no. The backlash on this thing is going to hurt him badly, as well it should.

UPDATE: Well that didn't take long. Rudy! is already backing away from his incredibly stupid statements but it looks like his damage control is a little too late.

Giuliani's explanation further angered his ground zero critics, prompting several to issue a statement demanding an apology.

"He is such a liar, because the only time he was down there was for photo ops with celebrities, with politicians, with diplomats," said deputy fire chief Jimmy Riches, who spent months digging for his firefighter son.

"On 9/11 all he did was run. He got that soot on him, and I don't think he's taken a shower since." [Emphasis mine]

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some Democrat needs to hire this guy as their spokesman.

Yet another reason to be a Democrat

With the exception of Dodd and Biden, every Democrat appeared at the first ever GLTB-centric debate. Though they were invited, none of the Republican Party cavemen candidates bothered to show up – not even Rudy. That says a lot.

Does Iggy look like he is having fun or what?


Thursday, August 09, 2007

Today’s required reading

Starpower channels her inner rock goddess - awesome.

Funnier

Here is a link of Keith Olbermann gleefully destroying Fox’s John Gibson. Keith looks like he could barely contain himself. Enjoy.

Funny

The Colbert definition of a blogger: someone with a laptop, an ax to grind, and their virginity.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Oh no he didn’t

Mitt Romney is a fucking moron.

In response to a question why none of his five sons joined the military to fight a war he supports, Multiple Choice Mitt had this to say:

“One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

[Snip]

Romney noted that his middle son, 36-year-old Josh, was completing a recreational vehicle tour of all 99 Iowa counties on Wednesday and said, "I respect that and respect all those and the way they serve this great country."

Earth to Mitt: patriotism has nothing to do with getting you elected. Comparing your son’s travels in a fucking RV to soldiers risking their lives in Iraq merely solidifies your first place standing in the Douchebag Primary. Jesus, what a twit…

God doesn't like Fox News either

Apparently, the Fox News studio is flooded. How fitting that the GOP propaganda machine operates from a subterranean facility…

Get out of the closet

The Republicans are certainly having some problems with message discipline, or discipline of any sort really. First, a Florida State Representative, Bob Allen, is busted for agreeing to give a plain-clothes police officer $20 and a blowjob in a park men’s room. Allen’s excuse (and I am not kidding here) was that there were lots of black men around, including the cop, and he was intimidated into offering such services. Well OK then. I guess in his worldview, it is better to be racist than gay – go figure. Besides, everyone knows the best way to avoid a beating is to blow the guy and give him cash.

Then I saw that a Republican County Chairman in Indiana, one Glenn Murphy, is under investigation for engaging in oral sex with a sleeping recipient. The kicker in this story is that this is not the first time Mr. Murphy stands accused of sexually assaulting a sleeping victim. Creepy and weird.

There is some major league repression going on in the GOP.

Asterisk

Barry Bonds, with the help of steroids he “never knowingly took”, finally passed Hank Aaron on the career home run list. Despite all of the hype, this is not a shining moment in the history of baseball.

Monday, August 06, 2007

A great Virginian has passed

Civil rights legend and Richmond native Oliver Hill died yesterday. If Martin Luther King was the leader of the movement, Hill and Thurgood Marshall were its attorneys. This is a man that did much good with his life. May he rest in peace.

The Dems once again cave

Jesus Christ. Would someone please remind the 41 Democrats who just voted to expand the Executive Branch’s wiretapping authority that we did not send them to Washington be lap dogs for the President? How can one think it a good thing to give an Attorney General with zero credibility even more power? And why exactly are the super awesome rhetorical powers of the Commander Guy scarier than shredding the Fourth Amendment? This is a shameful episode and, hopefully, one that these spineless twits will be called to answer for in the Primaries. As many on the Left have been saying, we need more and better Democrats.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Today's required reading

Rand Beers has been around the block and really knows his stuff. Read the whole thing.

A tsunami of déjà vu washed over me recently as administration officials and advocates argued that good things are happening in Iraq while they pressed for more time for success to play out. Haven't we heard since the Iraq War turned badly in late 2003 that the seeds of success were just beginning to sprout, that the military was now moving to the right counterinsurgency strategy, that Iraqi security forces were finally taking the lead, and that a political solution was within sight? And in the last go-round, weren't we promised that another increment of force would solve Iraq's woes and lead to political reconciliation? I feel like we have turned so many corners that we are back where we started.

I served as a Marine rifle company commander in Vietnam, and today's Iraq debate takes me back there. It sadly reminds me of the "light at the end of the tunnel" syndrome that affected policy makers and senior military seeking to defend their policies and argue for more troops and time. Bright, well-intentioned people can believe that they can rescue a failing strategy with a policy shift here and a tactical redirection there, but at some point someone has to ask whether the strategy is, in fact, retrievable. Someone has to be prepared to say "enough."


Exactly.

Paul Krugman gets snarky

From today's New York Times:

Let’s start with the good news: The House bill, which the Congressional Budget Office says would provide coverage to five million children who would otherwise be uninsured.

The bill is so good that it has Republicans spluttering. “The bill uses children as pawns,” declared Representative Pete Sessions of Texas. Yes, the Democrats are exploiting children — by providing them with health care.

The horror, the horror!

In spite of the President's veto threat, the Senate passed a similar bill with a veto proof majority yesterday. Good on them.

What Attaturk said

I am beginning to think Hillary's judgment sucks. Now, I know her advisors must have beaten the “you gotta be tough on terror” meme into her head but to imply that you would even consider using nuclear weapons to kill one person, even if it is Osama Bin Laden, seems to me incredibly reckless. Aside from being a particularly hideous act of war and potentially killing several thousand innocents, nuking Osama would put him in the Martyrdom Hall of Fame. Measured against that outcome, one dead terrorist is hardly worth it.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Profound

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on the Iraqi government, earlier today:

"In some ways we probably all underestimated the depth of the mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation.”

Jesus, you think so? How many seconds did it take to reach that groundbreaking conclusion, Mr. Wizard? Of course, the Administration underestimated how hard this was going to be. Consistently getting it wrong is the only thing this crowd does right. The larger, unanswered question is what the fuck are you going to do to fix it?

(chirp, chirp…)

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Props to the artists

I have nothing to say other than this is total class and much love from a grateful Hokie (concert info here).

NEW YORK — The Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Phil Vassar and Nas will perform at a special concert for Virginia Tech at the university's Lane Stadium on Sept. 6.

A gunman killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech on April 16. The concert is seen as a way to help the university begin the new school year on a positive note, organizers said Wednesday.
Free tickets will be available to students, faculty and staff.


All four musical acts have waived their fees for the event. Corporate sponsorships and the sale of commemorative concert items will help cover expenses.

We're extremely grateful for the compassion and generosity of these artists who wished to create a very special event," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said in a statement.
Tickets are not being made available to the general public at this time.


"We have a profound respect for the incredible resolve and unwavering sense of hope the university community has shown, and are honored to have the opportunity to share this evening with Virginia Tech," said Carter Beauford, drummer for Dave Matthews Band, in a statement.

These people suck at Foreign Policy

So Condi goes on a whirlwind tour of the Middle East, essentially begging for some help with Iraq. Needless to say, her efforts were futile. The President then proceeds to push an arms deal with many of the same countries that just gave us the diplomatic middle finger. Can anybody explain to me why this is a good idea? Is the US so over the (oil) barrel with the Arabs that we can only offer carrots? It seems to me that the official US policy towards Egypt and Saudi Arabia (especially Saudi Arabia) is thanks for listening and here are some fighter jets. WTF? And finally, why are we doing anything nice for the Saudis when they are pumping millions into the Iraqi insurgency?

This whole situation is so goddamn stupid I just want to scream.

Beijing Bob

Remember at the beginning of the war, when Baghdad Bob would stand in front of CNN’s cameras and plainly state that “there are no Americans In Baghdad” even as US Army humvees would roll past in the background? Well, the Chinese government is beginning to sound just about as credible on the topic of product safety. Amidst the recall, due to lead contamination, of one million Chinese-made preschool toys (Ugh – we may have to toss Elmo. Our two year old will think this an unpopular decision.), the AP contacted an apparently delusional propagandist government official. Let the dancing begin:

China "attaches great importance to product quality and food safety and is highly responsible," said Wei Chuanzhong, an official with the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, one of China's product safety watchdogs.

"We want to cooperate with other countries including the U.S. to strengthen cooperation and communication," Wei was quoted as saying Wednesday on the administration's Web site.

However, Wei added that while China would "not avoid our problems, we also do not agree to playing up the situation regardless of the facts.

So the facts are that a million potentially dangerous toys made it into the American market and this guy is basically saying really now, let’s not blow this thing out of proportion. Wanker.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Give it up for New Jersey and UPS

Many people have argued that the “separate but equal” status granted under most civil union legislation is inherently unfair and unequal. Those people have a point. One need only to look back to the Jim Crow South to find examples of injustice based on the “separate but equal” doctrine.

I, however, see the current trend favoring civil unions as but one incremental step to full civil marriage. As I am not gay, it is a whole lot easier for me to accept the half-a-loaf situation and be patient for society to come around this point of view. That is why the story about UPS and Governor Corzine is so important.

After persuasion from New Jersey's governor and attorney general, UPS Inc. said Monday it would extend health insurance benefits to the civil union partners of gay New Jersey employees covered by a union contract.

The policy change has to do with New Jersey's civil unions law, which took effect in February, and seeks to give gay couples the same rights in the state as married couples.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine sent Atlanta-based UPS a letter July 20 asking the shipping company, also known as United Parcel Service, to change its stance. The letter was on behalf of a UPS driver and her partner.

I see this as a sign that the public can and will support homosexual marriage one day. It just may to take a while to get there. I believe that each time a company or civic leader strives to level the inequality between marriage and civil union, that is one more entity unwilling to make the distinction. This is how full equality will be achieved; by opening one mind at a time.

Can we please leave now?

Iraq’s barely functioning coalition government lost the largest Sunni bloc today. The Accordance Front walked away from the coalition when the government failed to meet several (unrealistic) demands. The split should pretty much end the fiction that this is a “national unity” government.

To spice things further, Kurdish leaders are talking about annexing Kirkuk by force if it the government does not provide a constitutional referendum on the future of the city. Given that the Parliament can barely muster a quorum, I doubt this is goning to happen.

It looks to me like everyone has run out of patience with al-Malaki et al. It is like 120 degrees in Baghdad and people in the city get one hour of electricity per day. They are tired of the endless dithering by the politicians, of baking inside their homes, of the constant death. Surge or not, it looks like things in Iraq are going to get worse and we have 160,000 soldiers standing in the middle of this grudge match, trying to play referee.

God bless ‘em, because they are going to need it.