Monday, July 31, 2006
Just pray the tour doesn't make it to your hometown...
Why is it that every time one of these pukes from the Bush administration picks up an instrument, disaster strikes? Children die, cities drown... Honestly, every time they strum, pluck or tickle the ivories, the world burns down. Nero had nothing on these assholes.
If she had a fiddle...
I'm so angry. I can't even fathom the levels of ineptitude shown by these clowns, the deep muck they've sunk us all into. Oh, I know, it's Hezbollah's fault, it's al Qaeda's fault... shut up. I'm sick of it. And no I'm not sticking up for any goddam terrorists, they are a despicable lot as well. But for six goddam years these fools in the White House, these nutcases pacing up and down the halls of the Pentagon, have done nothing but taken one wrong turn after another. Their crooked, detached-from-reality vision of the world and their stubborn, bull-headed policies have not made anyone safer. They've managed to take a bad situation and make it much, much worse.
And don't think for one second that any one of 'em wants this thing to stop. These crazy freaks behind our foreign policy, the ones who probably concur with Coulter-esque mantras like 'Kill 'em all, let Allah sort them out', see what's happening as an opportunity, a 'gift' even, but not as the tragedy it clearly is. They want nothing more than all-out war in the Middle East, there's no doubt in my mind. They're not interested in 'managing calm' anymore, and the only alternative to that is managing chaos, an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. Condi speaks about the violence wracking the region as 'birth pangs' toward a new Middle East, but there's is nothing being born here, these are death pangs we're seeing, and the Neocon fuckers in the White House love it. This is their plan.
Their goal from the get has been to reshape the Middle East in their image, regardless of the will of the people, of history, of ideology. Step One was Iraq, a sputtering example of near complete failure. One bad turn after another. A monumental miscalculation. And yet, these folks don't seem deterred. They just want to move on to Phase 2 and blow up the rest of the world, shake out all the bad guys, and slap a fresh coat of freedom paint on the entire region. After all we've seen, after the massive incompetence they've shown, does anyone trust them to do that?
Everything they do, every policy initiative they set forth, blows up in their face -- or more accurately, someone else's face. Literally. Now they want Israel to simplistic, black-and-white worldview, their refusal to even consider discussion with anyone they determine to be a 'bad guy' is killing us all. As Richard Armitage said last week, it's just plain lazy. Or maybe it's just the plan.
"This president has a very firm world view that is not about to be changed by facts or realities."
'Ooop, 'ah almost slipped on a little reality right der... heh, heh, heh.'
Their inaction is killing children, contributing to both a emboldening Hezbollah, uniting once-disparate radicals and governments in the region against us, and inflaming an already raging anger in the Arab world. Their voluntary reluctance to recognize the tinder box that is the Middle East (because they WANT it to explode) are all contributing to the further disaster that's sure to come. In other words, things are pretty much going to plan for the Bushies.
Oh, and how did Bush show solidarity with the Lebanese people after Sunday's tragedy? He too spent the day with children. As rescue workers dug them out of the rubble in Qana, he played tee ball with them on the White House lawn.
What an asshole.
End this.
NOW.
MORE
Digby: Sustainable
Rich: And What About Iraq?
Tom Tomorrow: Wrong About Everything
Horowitz: Name one good thing, just one...
Matthews: Bush created a 'Frankenstein Monster'
Some Right-Wing Nutjob: Who's really to blame for Qana? The photographers.
*all apologies to Mr. Thorogood & his Destroyers.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
I'm thinking this may have made the rounds during my recent break, but, uh, whateva. Me thinks it's good enough to watch again.
Besides, with the spotlight again shining brightly on Bush's penchant to use 'signing statements' as a method to fully flout the Constitution, the video once again seems entirely appropriate. Whether it's the law, his own citizenry or the global community, he manages to take the concepts of contempt and scorn to levels previously not thought possible, doesn't he? Quite impressive that.
Monday, July 24, 2006
The Bush Doctrine.So Dick Cheney wants fellow Republicans to run on their national security credentials, eh? He thinks the Bush administration's awesome foreign policy skills and track record of success in the War On Terror should provide Rethugs an advantage come November. Oh really? Cheney said:
"As we make our case to the voters this year, it is vital to keep issues of national security at the top of the agenda. The president and I welcome the discussion because every voter in America needs to know where the president and I stand -- and where every candidate for federal office stands -- when it comes to the war on terror. Either we're serious about fighting this war or we are not. With George Bush leading this nation we are serious."Listen buddy, you can be serious about something and still totally suck at it, ok? I'm sure David Hasselhoff is very serious about his singing, but that doesn't make him any good, no matter what the Germans may think.
Honestly, doesn't it feel like Barney Fife has been left alone with the keys to our foreign policy and a bottle of hooch for the past six years? These idiots can't do anything right. They just barrel forth, seemingly ignorant of history, culturally aloof, detached from reality and completely unaware or uncaring about the potential reprecussions of they're actions. They don't believe they can be wrong. They don't try to learn from their mistakes. They don't even think they've made any mistakes. All while George Bush drops pearls of diplomatic wisdom such as 'they gotta stop this shit' into the annals of the foreign policy hall of fame.
'Nip it in the bud... bomb someone!'So really Dick, are you sure you want to talk about your, erm, foreign policy 'successes' as you head into election season? Just what would those successes be? Could you be talking about your wildly succesful freedom project in Iraq? How's that going?
None left untouched by daily violence in Baghdad
Iraq's morgues are overflowing and 100 civilians a day are killed in communal violence, but official statistics tell only part of the story of a slide into civil war -- for the rest, just listen to ordinary Iraqis.
Talk to people at random in the capital and a picture quickly emerges of a city where virtually everyone has a friend, relative or neighbour who has fallen victim to the sectarian shootings and death threats that Washington accepts are now an even bigger threat than the 3-year-old Sunni insurgency.
Every one of 20 people who spoke to Reuters around their workplace in central Baghdad, from a variety of sects and ethnic groups, had a horror story of conflict touching their lives. Eight had lost family or close friends to gunmen, four had suffered from kidnaps in their immediate circle, four knew people well who had received death threats. Four knew people well who had died in bombings. Some had themselves been threatened.
But surely that's just the hippie liberal media spinning things against Bush's policy. Baghdad is actually a whole lot more "relaxing" than the media makes it sound, right?
Ok, so Iraq isn't all hearts and flowers, fine. But what about Afghanistan? That's surely a success story, right?BAGHDAD -- Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. command said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing "an all-out assault" on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq.
BAGHDAD -- Tens of thousands of Iraqis have fled their homes in fear of sectarian violence that has worsened since formation of a U.S.-backed national unity government two months ago, official data showed on Thursday.
BAGHDAD -- Bombs killed more than 60 people and wounded more than 200 Sunday in Baghdad and the northern oil center of Kirkuk - a dramatic escalation of violence as U.S. and Iraqi forces crack down on Iraq's most feared Shiite militia.BAGHDAD -- More than 14,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq in the first half of this year, an ominous figure reflecting the fact that "killings, kidnappings and torture remain widespread" in the war-torn country, a United Nations report says. Killings of civilians are on "an upward trend," with more than 5,800 deaths and more than 5,700 injuries reported in May and June alone, it says.
Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general
The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan today described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption.
Well, fuck. At least al Qaeda is on the run, you can't deny that.
Ok, I give up. Is there any good news? Any at all?Al-Qaeda regrouping, on the march
"Today, al-Qaida has not only regrouped, but it is on the march," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corp. "Al-Qaida is now functioning exactly as its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, envisioned it."The organization has evolved into what bin Laden set out to create: a fractured, worldwide movement inspired by bin Laden and united by a single vision, as well as a central organization that continues to direct the implementation of terrorist attacks.
Mideast violence may raise odds of US attack: experts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration's tacit support for Israeli military strikes on Lebanon may have increased the danger of militant retaliation against the United States and U.S. interests abroad, some experts say.
Israel's attempt to cripple Hizbollah in Lebanon may have strengthened the Shi'ite organization by winning it fresh political support among moderate Arabs and Muslims, former officials and other experts said. The Bush administration's stance that calling an immediate ceasefire would not be productive has also angered many Arabs at a time when bombings in Lebanon are causing large numbers of Muslim civilian casualties, they added.
One European counterterrorism official said it was widely recognized there that Middle East hostilities could become a motivating factor for Sunni groups inspired by Osama bin Laden who ordinarily dislike Hizbollah but might try to exploit the outrage in Arab communities. "Even al Qaeda itself may be ready with an attack, and they may choose to use it now."
No, no there isn't. Thanks for playing. And yeah, run on your security record. Makes a lot sense Mr. Last Throes. Good luck with that, ya jackass.
At least while the world burns and the four horsemen of the apocalypse draw nearer, Bush is keeping his eye on the ball, working hard and doing what needs to be done to come up with a solution to the world's problems. Apparently, he's enlisted the Soul Patrol to help with the job.
(Image courtesy of Shakes)
We're all so dead, aren't we? We truly are The Damned. Thanks Dubya.
MORE
Wolcott: The Damned
Buckley: 'There will be no legacy for Bush.'
TBogg: Leaving the world worse than how he found it
WTF Now: Anger grows over Bush's lack of foreign policy, brains
FP: 84% of foreign policy experts say we're losing the War On Terror
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
... what an asshole.
Bush casts his first veto on stem-cell billHe's right ya know. Clearly, to him, they're just props.
He announced his veto at an event where he was surrounded by "snowflake" babies and toddlers born from leftover frozen embryos adopted from parents who had undergone in-vitro fertilization.
"These boys and girls are not spare parts," Bush said.
'Which one sir? Which one do you want?'
"I 'll git this one! Shiiiit."
'Very good sir. Very, very good.'
Absolutely deplorable. After nearly six years in office, Bush finally issues a veto, one which will do little more than stoke his rapidly shrinking base of irrational, science-and-logic-bashing ignoramuses. He put politics ahead of science, progress and logic. What a douche.
From the LA Times: A First Veto For This?
By rejecting a bill that would have lifted some federal restrictions on funding for stem cell research, Bush landed quite a blow against scientific progress and human health. At his first veto ceremony, Bush piously surrounded himself with children who were adopted while still embryos in fertility clinics. The kids were telegenic symbols of the potential embedded in each human embryo, but entirely disingenuous ones; the bill Bush rejected wouldn't have prevented a single one of them from being born.
Fertility clinics destroy thousands of embryos every year, byproducts of the in-vitro fertilization process. The bill would have allowed federal funding only for stem cell lines made from embryos that were destined for destruction, not adoption. No lives will be saved by the president's veto, but it's quite possible that many will be lost, victims of complications of diseases that embryonic stem cells could one day cure.
Heckuva job Dubya, heckuva job. Isn't it about time for you to go on vacation?
MORE
Alliance for SCR: Key Facts
MS Society: Override the Veto
Rep. Langevin: Outraged (video)
MediaNeedle: Summer Snowflakes
Skenazy: Bush Stems the Tide of Progress
Monday, July 17, 2006
Remember when George W. Bush looked in to Vladimir Putin's soul and thought he'd made a connection? Uh, not so much.
'What happened to us Pooty-Poot?'Bush: "I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq, where there's a free press and free religion. And I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same thing."No shit.
Putin: "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly."
The Russian side broke into laughter, but Bush's face went red.
At least Putin didn't try to belly-kiss him. Now that would've been embarrassing.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
As many of you may have noticed, I've been a bit AWOL from the politics of late. Frankly, after almost three straight years of pointing out how big a collection of incompetent pricks Bush and his cronies have been, I needed the break. The Chronicle's Mark Morford summed up my condition best I think in a column earlier this month titled 'George W. Bush Is Dead to Me':
"It is like some sort of virus. It is like some sort of weird and painful rash on your face that makes you embarrassed to walk out the door and so you sit there day after day, waiting for it to go away, slathering on ointment and Bactine and scotch. And yet still it lingers. Some days the pain is so searing and hot you want to cut off your own head with a nail file.That's pretty much how I started to feel as June rolled around. Thankfully, the World Cup was there just in the nick of time to provide a distraction, as well as a proper forum for downing those 10 drinks.
George W. Bush is just like that.
Everyone I know has had enough. Everyone I know is just about done.There is this threshold of happy deadened disgust, this point where the body simply resigns itself to the pain, a point where the disease, the poison has seeped so deeply into the bones that you just have to laugh and shrug it all off and go for a drink. Or 10."
As I detox and plug back into the world, I see that things have gotten much, much better. The Middle East seems calmer than ever. Iraq is on the upswing. Gas prices have dropped significantly. Ann Coulter seems rational, as does North Korea. And Bush seems to be a changed man. Really, things seem great. I'm so glad to be back.
... and then I woke up and felt just like this kid.Honestly, I'm not sure where to begin, things are pretty f'ed up right now. Through it all remains one constant though: George W. Bush is a complete boob. As the flames of war lick up toward the apocalypse, what's on his beautiful little mind? The succulent pig he's having for dinner of course.
Then again, maybe he's just not that concerned about all this. Could it be that he's just a tad excited even? It seems possible, given his evangelical leanings. Think I'm nuts? The debate over at the 'Rapture Ready' message board is whether or not it's ok to be excited by all that's happening in the Middle East right now. You know, death, destruction, mayhem, World War III. The prevailing opinion? Yes, it is ok to be excited. Why? Because God's in charge, that's why.
Here's an actual quote from a user on the board (since removed after blogwide scorn):
"I too am soooo excited!! I get goose bumps, literally, when I watch what's going on in the M.E.!! You were so right when saying it was quite a day yesterday, in the world news, and I add in local news here in the Boston area!! Tunnel ceiling collapsed on a car and killed a woman of faith, and we had the most terrifying storms I have ever seen here!! But, yes, Ohappyday, like in your screen name , it is most indeed a time to be happy and excited, right there with ya!!"Man, where is the Flying Spaghetti Monster when you need him? He could probably slap some sense into these folks, no?
And who knew Betty & Veronica were so Rapture Ready?
I'm so glad I decided to plug back in just in time to witness all this rational thought. Jeebus. There's much more to cover of course, but that seems to be enough for now. All this talk of the rapture has me hungry for...
... a dirty movie? Hmmm, that seems odd.
(oh come on! that panel is begging for it!)
All kidding aside, no matter what you're opinion of the current conflict, pray (if you must) that cooler heads prevail. And whatever you do, don't get excited. Please. I'm looking at you Mr. President, you goofy, fundamentalist bastard.
Only the Rapture will save his ass. Wednesday, July 12, 2006
After a full month of football, 32 teams from six continents playing in over 64 matches, the World Cup pretty much came down to this:
Italian Head.
Italian Butts. 
And a French Butt Head.
Finé.
There's not much more I can say that hasn't already been said about Zidane's actions. Simply put, it was inexcusable. I don't care what Materazzi said to him, even if he did call him the "son of whore terrorist," you can't lose your head in a moment of that magnitude. Do you know how many times bloggers such as myself have been called a terrorist by whack jobs on the far right? And you don't see me walking around burying my head into people's chests. Of course, if I saw O'Reilly on the street, I might not be able to contain myself...
It could've been worse I suppose. At least this didn't happen...
"
