Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2008

Simple Political Equations in a Dynamic System

When you take a McCain who thinks he's still a POW Multiply times Old McCain/New McCain Divide by the phrase 'President Palin'  obviously the sum is

Perhaps Limbaugh Doesn't Get Irony

Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President and this is what Rush Limbaugh had to say about it: This is what conservative radio guy Mike Gallgher said: This is the reason Powell actually gave for his endorsement: By extension of their screwed up logic, the only reason McCain's supporters support him is because they are rich, white, or old (or to take it a step further, unconstitutionally capable of voting for a black man, i.e. racists). And therein lies the sad truth. For many of them the only reason they're supporting McCain is because he represents the interests of the rich, not because he has a plan, nor because they think his experience will save the country. At the same time his campaign is gorging the monsters of racism and ethnic fear to scrape together every fear and hate driven vote possible. They accuse Colin Powell of supporting Barack Obama because they're both black, because they actually are only supporting McCain because they're rich white guys ...

Cui Bono?

Living in Spain as an American ex-pat it's somewhat easy for me to say that if McCain is elected, the country gets what it deserves; if it believes new versions of the same lies, it chooses its own fate. Seeing what I see and reading what I read on the Internet, it seems impossible that the polls are as close as they are, but it's been years since I watched mainstream news in any format other than clips on blogs. I don't know what mainstream America media is saying, but I doubt many Americans receive the sort of daily information that leaves them well informed. I would like to believe that if Americans received reliable information, the coming election would be a landslide. Obviously the information is out there, but most of it requires an Internet connection and time. The Obama campaign can't merely hope that enough people see the right reports on the news that correct the McCain campaign lies; they can't wait for a referee to accurately call all of the fouls. The ...

Are the Polls Really This Close? Really?

If any Republican can overcome the wretched stain of eight years of George Bush and win the White House we deserve whatever bad things will happen to us. Jack Cafferty I realize that this is a best of the worst of McCain, but I can't imagine anyone putting together similar clips of Obama, that offered as frightening a glimpse of the man as future president. What makes this frightening is that most of these clips are from the last few months. He has made so many gaffes that he can have a 5 minute blooper reel based on three months of appearances. Actually saying gaffes seems generous, he places Iraq on the Pakistani border, thinks Czechoslovakia is still one country, Putin is the current president of Russia and Germany, and doesn't know which extremists Iran is supposed to be sending into Iraq. He either regularly misstates the facts or doesn't know what they are, and he constantly contradicts himself. What ...

Probably criminal, not to be hyperbolic.

When you consider the breadth of the taint and degrading effect of the Bush administration on all aspects of the government, the kindest thing you can say is that they were blinded by ideology. I don't think it's too out of bounds to ask if the results of their governance is their ideology; to essentially wonder if they are following the Grover Norquist handbook to weaken the government, leave it powerless to regulate any market or industry effectively. As was asked after Katrina, you could ask about their manipulations of every aspect of the government, " Was it deliberate malevolence or just criminal incompetence? " The War on Terror has become the war to create terrorists. No Child Left Behind has left most children behind. The cakewalk war that would never become another Vietnam, has the potential to be worse than Vietnam, especially in terms of its effect on the stability of the region. Rumsfeld's plan to create a fast moving sleek military has left it brok...

Weaseling Out

When you read my account with Doug Feith and with others, you will see the sort of weaseling out of individual responsibility, the total and abject failure to accept involvement. Read Mr. Feith’s book. on how to fight the so-called war on terror. And it’s as though the man had no involvement in the decisions relating to interrogation of detainees. And yet, as I describe in the book, the man was deeply involved in the decision making from step one. So it’s about individual responsibility. And there’s been an abject failure on that account. ( Think Progress ) You could take Phillip Sands' word for it or you can see Feith trying to escape responsibility yourself . In the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you that I've seen the edited interview that was broadcast, but I can't bring myself to find the full 20 minute interview at The Daily Show site. These people defy reality. Everyday they look reality in its face, deny its existence, and act as if it's not happeni...

Does Myopia Really Just Refer To Foresight? (because it's the best word to describe how these people see the world.)

"Ye Htut, a Burmese government spokesman, also accused the first lady of politicizing the tragedy. 'I would like to say that what we are doing is better than the Bush administration response to the Katrina storm in 2005, if you compare the resources of the two countries,' he told reporters." (ht White House Watch ) This was in response to Laura Bush's condemnation of the Burmese government and their refusals of conditions to US aid, which goes to show that the myopia of people connected to this administration also applies to events receding into the past. I would like to say that this is the best example of this administration's inability to look at its own incompetency when viewing unfolding events, but it's a relatively small one (but only beside the multitude of much larger examples). Still I would be remiss to not point out the hypocrisy of this administration condemning another government for refusing international aid for its citizens in harm...

How McCain Became President, I Mean Bush

The deeper danger of the concentration of media ownership comes in matters that much more deeply concern us than whether Murdoch gets on the local cable systems in New York: The matters of great national policy, matters of local policy. When they control all the sources of media within a community, this is a very dangerous situation. They can declare their own blackout of news they don't want the public to share. Or they can twist the news any way they please. And there's no monitor. There's nobody to say "don't". Nobody to say, "Hey, wait a minute, folks, you're not getting the truth." --Walter Cronkite My experience in Spain has been far easier than I expected (that's an understatement, it has actually been far easier than I probably deserved, I found the love of my life, friendship, music, and a great diet, all on the Mediterranean.) I expected to find myself being forced to speak for US imperialism, but mostly all I've gotte...

Slower Trains Are Coming

It's been a while. I've been trying to start writing again. But with the amount of crap that seems to be going on in the US or because of Prez & Co., outside the US, it's like trying to jump onto a speeding train. Living outside the country it's difficult to tell if the state of the nation would seem so dire were I there, or if the population would seem, if not apathetic, as disconnected as it seems now. I'm not sure what an American population that is tuned into the rapid decay of the nation would look like. Or if the corporate owned media would actually portray that politically involved population. Still, I don't think I'm seeing that. The US stands for torture now. Prez & Co. want free reign to monitor telephone and email communications in the country, of American citizens.....My god I have to stop there. This administration is a Pandora's box of bad and wicked shit. The list is too long, the offenses too many to recount or adequatel...