The Conservative Perspective – Political Pornography
As I troll, surf and stalk what is happening in the news I often stumble upon such absurdity by so-called Conservatives that I do a check to ensure I have taken the correct medication for the day. In a clear-headed world such lewdness of logic could not be taking place. More often than not I ignore such offense to reason. When I have noted these mental burlesques they have been featured in a segment designated Derriere Orifice of the Week. This was indeed a special week!
* Senator John Ensign (R-NV) and Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), advocates of family values, opponents of gay rights and pontificators of how others should conduct their lives, were exposed for extra-marital affairs. Perhaps these disgraced icons of the holier-than-thou movement should pay more attention to what their own sexual organs are doing. Republican sexual indiscretions have become so prevalent that TalkingPointsMemo.com has developed a Sex Scandal Flow Chart, where all roads must lead to hell. Truth be told, I would not care less what happens in the private lives of politicians if not for those instances where their hypocrisy is palpable. The sanctity of marriage begins with one’s own zipper remaining in the up position. And what does it say about Senate Republican leadership that during their regular Tuesday luncheon meeting, following Ensign’s mea culpa apology to them, they showered him with applause. Good job John, another notch on the chastity belt!
* Noted natural healer and airwaves polluter Rush Limbaugh offered an alibi for Sanford’s love tryst in Argentina. Limbaugh said, “Sanford flew out of the country to have an affair because ‘President Obama drove him over the edge’.” The background of “over the edge” involved Sanford opposing the acceptance of desperately needed money provided in the Stimulus Plan for South Carolina. Sanford lost this fierce battle with his state legislature as he desperately attempted to establish his conservative credentials for a presidential run in 2012. The Limbaugh Prescription: committing adultery is the homeopathic approach to dealing with stress. Whatever bothers you, just get laid and blame it on the President.
* Right-wing anti-tax activist Grover Norquist offered an interesting perspective on recent Republican adultery. Norquist said, “It does indicate that men who oppose federal spending at the local level are irresistible to women.” Oh to have had this knowledge when I was single. Who would have thought that approaching a woman in a cocktail lounge as a tight-assed, anal-retentive bible thumper with a Shirley Temple in hand would have her disrobing and fogging up my eyeglasses?
* One of Maryland’s most prominent Republican organizations, Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, issued a letter by the organization’s President, Joyce Thomann. Her letter began “Dear Friends” and went on to say, “Obama and Hitler have a great deal in common in my view. Obama and Hitler use the “blitzkrieg” method to overwhelm their enemies. FAST, CARPET BOMBING intent on destruction. Hitler’s blitzkrieg bombing destroyed many European cities – quickly and effectively. Obama is systematically destroying the American economy and with it AMERICA.” I do have issues with Ms. Thomann’s grammar but, more importantly, this is a good example of what happens when rain closes the country club golf course. Idle hands are the devil’s tools.
* Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) is the poster child for Attention Deficit Disorder and the mindless meanderings of a mercury-tainted cerebral hemisphere. Her malapropisms and malcogitation (sic) are legendary and the congresswoman from Minnesota is a frequent flyer on the Derriere Orifice express. She has announced that she will break the law by not filling out her 2010 Census questionnaire. Her explanation included that the Census led to the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940’s. This link attempts to analyze Bachmann’s irrationality and historical to hysterical errors. I suggest two aspirin one hour before reading. One wonders if the citizens of her district should be interned for electing her to congress. If one guessed that her public display of idiocy took place on FOX News you are exempt from completing your census form. And what does it say about your assertions when right-wing nut Glenn Beck thinks you have lost your census?
* Eight Supreme Court justices ruled that a school’s strip search of an Arizona 13 year old girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen was illegal.” The eight justices range in philosophy from liberal to moderate to conservative. But there are nine SC justices and the ultra conservative and reactionary Justice Clarence Thomas offered a dissenting opinion. Thomas said, “the court was making a “deep intrusion” into the administration of public schools and their efforts to fight the scourge of drug abuse.” Yes, the eternal challenge for a democracy is finding that elusive balance between the common good and individual freedoms. Someone should explain to Justice Thomas that “No Child Left Behind” had nothing to do with students baring their behind by lowering their Calvin Klein underwear.
* Just when you thought that Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher’s career as spokesperson for the conservative mind was over he floats to the top of the septic tank. At a speaking engagement to Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin “The Plunger” said more than once, referring to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), "Why hasn't he been strung up?" Ah, the voice of Conservatism – cogent, articulate and erudite while conveying the ideals and principles of American freedom and democracy. I expect that Joe’s next appearance will be in Anne Arundel, Maryland at the annual Spaetzle Cook Off.
* Let my people go – Republican Representatives John Culberson (TX), Peter Hoekstra (MI), and David Dreier (CA) all compared their minority status in congress to the plight of the Iranian protestors. With the exception of living in a democracy and not being shot at or bludgeoned for their views their analogy is spot on. I suggest that they will feel better if they take the advice of the leader of their Party, Rush Limbaugh, and just get laid.
* Recall Republicans going ballistic when President Obama said that one of the characteristics his Supreme Court nominee should possess is empathy. Some would say that Republican opposition stemmed from the fact that they do not understand the meaning of the word. Well, there is some evidence that at least one Republican can express empathy. Meet Missouri state representative Cynthia Davis. As chairwoman of the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families she was critical of a government program that provides food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year. “A report by Feeding America found that one in five Missouri children currently lives with hunger.” Here is where the empathy thing comes in. Ms. Davis extolled the virtues of hunger because “hunger can be a positive motivator.” Rumor has it that Ms. Davis has been selected Woman of the Year by the Republican Women of Anne Arundel County.
* Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) signed the US Senate vacancy bill which takes away the governor’s power to appoint someone to a vacant US Senate seat. Rell said, “this bill gives directly to the people of Connecticut the decision on who would fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate… Since taking office as Governor, I have done everything in my power to make Connecticut a model for all states when it comes to openness, transparency and citizen participation in government." “Republican lawmakers had called the bill a "power grab" during lengthy debates in both the House and the Senate.” Lacking empathy and the concept of democracy, Republicans conclude that giving the citizens the right to elect their officials “is a power grab.”
Who then is sane? He who is not a fool.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, aka, Horace (65 BC to 8 BC) Roman lyric poet
Showing posts with label Rush Limbaugh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rush Limbaugh. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
* Sitting Shiva – This is not a reference to one of the supreme Hindu gods, often depicted meditating in the lotus position. The term is used in the context of Jewish tradition. It denotes a one week period of grief and mourning following the burial of a deceased, when family members gather in one place and receive visitors. I thought of this tradition as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held its annual coven in Washington D.C. last week. What is now the heart, core and soul of the Republican Party gathered to… well, I am not sure. Some of the leading speakers included Ann Coulter, Joe the Plumber and the whining star of the gathering, Rush Limbaugh, spokes model for the Republican/Conservative movement in America. The CPAC attendees desperately cling to an ideology launched in the Ronald Regan years that ultimately imploded during the George W. Bush years. The most recent incarnation of conservatism has been abandoned by the vast majority of the American people. The abandonment was not capricious. It earned its demise by yielding utter and complete failure. Let me count the ways:
Anti-unionism, unregulated free markets, deficit spending stapled to tax cuts for the wealthy, denial of science, ignorance of the needs of a deteriorating infrastructure, unconstitutional merging of church and state, abandonment of the needy and less fortunate in our society, policies that encourage greed and corruption, encouragement of a neocon philosophy that preaches preemptive war and imperialism and the promulgation that health care is a privilege, not a right. This is by far a complete list. I am confident that history will write a more comprehensive account of this movement that we now mourn and which has left us with considerable grief and bereavement.
How wide is the disconnect between CPAC ideologues and Main Street America? The Republican response to President Obama’s address to congress is telling. The person chosen to present the “other side” was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Frank Rich, writing for the NY Times, made the following observation: “But like all zealots, Jindal is oblivious to how non-zealots see him. Pleading “principle,” he has actually turned down some $100 million in stimulus money for Louisiana. And, as he proudly explained on “Meet the Press”, he can’t wait to be judged on “the results” of his heroic frugality. The state of Louisiana ranks fourth in children living below the poverty line and 46th in high school graduation rates. The well-being of the majority of Americans was never a consideration of Reagan or Bush or Bush. The well-being of the “royalty” of society was the premise and the policy. The ultimate widespread failure of the policies is apparent to almost anyone not part of the CPAC clique. Governor Jindal, you are far from being a hero AND you do not walk among heroes.
* The Guiding Light of hypocrisy ~ I was against it before I did it even though I am against it – Few can forget the homophobic Colorado mega-church pastor Ted Haggart resigning in disgrace when it was revealed that he was having a homosexual affair. It is even easier to remember vocally anti-gay Idaho Senator Larry Craig attempting to drop his Fruit of the Looms in a public restroom. It should come as no surprise that a recent study found that conservative states in the union, the Red states that want to ban the sale of vibrators, dildos and sexually explicit material, have a higher incidence of visiting pornography sites on the internet than the citizens of the heathen Blue states. “Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds… Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election.” I have often wondered how the holy rollers know what I should not be doing in the privacy of my own home. They certainly cannot be accused of not doing their homework. Now, just shut up and take a cold shower!
* Cynics of Green Energy ~ naysayers say no more – If anyone still believes that green energy solutions are impractical, unaffordable or unrealistic the prophets of profitability, also known as the Mafia, have spoken. “Italian police… arrested mobsters, businessmen and local politicians who allegedly used corrupt practices and bribes to gain control of a project to build wind farms in Sicily… Police in Trapani said the local Mafia bribed city officials in nearby Mazara del Vallo so the town would invest in wind farms to produce energy.” When the Mafia assumes the roll of lobbyist it is pretty certain that the business venture makes cents (sic). We are not talking about pie-in-the-sky idealists. Where is America’s own Al Capone when we need him?
* Drug efficacy ~ serious side effects – Last week, and on many previous occasions, I have noted evidence of congressman selling their vote to special interests. This week we learn about another hooker in pinstripes and silk cravat posing as a U.S. Senator. “The pharmaceutical industry that long has benefited from Sen. Orrin G. Hatch´s (R-UT) legislative efforts has directed large sums of money to a charity he helped found - and still raises money for - while also hiring the Republican lawmaker's son as a lobbyist.” This week our government begins exploring ways to reduce the outrageous cost of health care in America. Unless the decision makers such as Hatch are publicly and broadly exposed for their financially symbiotic relationship with the special interests that play a significant role in the high cost of health care, the American healthcare system and the economy will remain on life support. Ostensibly, Hatch represents the citizens of Utah. Among his extra-state constituents are pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Schering-Plough Corp., Eli Lilly and Co., Barr Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca Pharm LP, and Sepracor. Other Hatch “constituents” include medical equipment suppliers and health care providers. I suggest that the next time you want to write a letter to your congressman, drop it off at your pharmacy. It will get there faster.
* Taxpayers ambushed ~ the cavalry is coming – It was announced this week that the Obama administration will overhaul how government contracts are awarded that would save about $40 billion dollars a year. The new rules “would make it more difficult for contractors to bilk taxpayers and make some half-trillion dollars in federal contracts each year more accessible to independent contractors.” This would be a refreshing change to no bid, no oversight contracts. Such policy reached its nadir in Iraq where billions of U.S. dollars were funneled through insider private no-bid contractors – much of it unaccounted for, much of it wasted on projects never completed or completed projects that are unsafe and in disrepair. To complete the picture, many of these same private contractors are U.S. companies that set up off-shore corporations to avoid paying U.S. taxes. If Obama can have an impact on what we now know has been a pervasive breakdown in our federal government, my November vote will have been well cast.
* We can have a lead role in oversight ~ the audition is now – “For every foreclosure in a neighborhood, home values drop by an estimated 1%. Credit Suisse says that if judges have the ability to write down mortgages, it will stem the tide of foreclosures by 20% and it won't cost the taxpayers a single dime… President Obama says that allowing bankruptcy judges to write down mortgages is an important part of his plan to arrest the downward spiral of the foreclosure crisis.” HOWEVER, corporation-favoring Republican and Democratic members of Congress and bank lobbyists are trying to stop that. The banks want to unload their bad loans on taxpayers. We should not let this happen. The website Firedoglake.com is providing a petition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanding that bankruptcy judges be allowed to write down mortgages. Pelosi and congress gave in to the banks and their lobbyists in 2007 when this idea was first proposed. If more and more citizens voice their opposition to “Congress for Sale” there is some chance that our democratic process will avoid total bankruptcy. If we do nothing, then nothing is what will be accomplished. Below is the comment I made on the petition that I signed:
It is beyond time that citizens take back our government - a government that our elected representatives sold to the highest bidders. If you refuse to represent the interests of the American people then we will work to ensure that you experience the unemployment line. Yes - that long line that your sellout to special interests helped create. Congress is draped in disgrace and the American people are suffering the consequences. Perhaps it is poetic justice since we elected you. Shame on all of us!
* Being our own lobbyists - President Barack Obama said: "the special interests and lobbyists ... I know they're gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this: So am I." One of the tasks and great challenges that Obama is taking on is health care reform. The special interests and lobbyists present major opposition and will attempt to influence the Obama administration and congress. One of the ways that the American people’s interests and voices can be heard on health care reform is through petition. Congress must know that we are paying attention and have expectations. MoveOn.org is providing a petition that will be sent to your representative and senators. Over 200,000 concerned citizens have already signed the petition. If you are concerned about the state of your own health care, the future health care of your children as well as the tremendous drain that the current system has on our economy, you may want to add your name. Consumers Union provides a similar petition.
* It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.”
David Brin
“Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today”
Mahatma Gandhi
Anti-unionism, unregulated free markets, deficit spending stapled to tax cuts for the wealthy, denial of science, ignorance of the needs of a deteriorating infrastructure, unconstitutional merging of church and state, abandonment of the needy and less fortunate in our society, policies that encourage greed and corruption, encouragement of a neocon philosophy that preaches preemptive war and imperialism and the promulgation that health care is a privilege, not a right. This is by far a complete list. I am confident that history will write a more comprehensive account of this movement that we now mourn and which has left us with considerable grief and bereavement.
How wide is the disconnect between CPAC ideologues and Main Street America? The Republican response to President Obama’s address to congress is telling. The person chosen to present the “other side” was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Frank Rich, writing for the NY Times, made the following observation: “But like all zealots, Jindal is oblivious to how non-zealots see him. Pleading “principle,” he has actually turned down some $100 million in stimulus money for Louisiana. And, as he proudly explained on “Meet the Press”, he can’t wait to be judged on “the results” of his heroic frugality. The state of Louisiana ranks fourth in children living below the poverty line and 46th in high school graduation rates. The well-being of the majority of Americans was never a consideration of Reagan or Bush or Bush. The well-being of the “royalty” of society was the premise and the policy. The ultimate widespread failure of the policies is apparent to almost anyone not part of the CPAC clique. Governor Jindal, you are far from being a hero AND you do not walk among heroes.
* The Guiding Light of hypocrisy ~ I was against it before I did it even though I am against it – Few can forget the homophobic Colorado mega-church pastor Ted Haggart resigning in disgrace when it was revealed that he was having a homosexual affair. It is even easier to remember vocally anti-gay Idaho Senator Larry Craig attempting to drop his Fruit of the Looms in a public restroom. It should come as no surprise that a recent study found that conservative states in the union, the Red states that want to ban the sale of vibrators, dildos and sexually explicit material, have a higher incidence of visiting pornography sites on the internet than the citizens of the heathen Blue states. “Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds… Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election.” I have often wondered how the holy rollers know what I should not be doing in the privacy of my own home. They certainly cannot be accused of not doing their homework. Now, just shut up and take a cold shower!
* Cynics of Green Energy ~ naysayers say no more – If anyone still believes that green energy solutions are impractical, unaffordable or unrealistic the prophets of profitability, also known as the Mafia, have spoken. “Italian police… arrested mobsters, businessmen and local politicians who allegedly used corrupt practices and bribes to gain control of a project to build wind farms in Sicily… Police in Trapani said the local Mafia bribed city officials in nearby Mazara del Vallo so the town would invest in wind farms to produce energy.” When the Mafia assumes the roll of lobbyist it is pretty certain that the business venture makes cents (sic). We are not talking about pie-in-the-sky idealists. Where is America’s own Al Capone when we need him?
* Drug efficacy ~ serious side effects – Last week, and on many previous occasions, I have noted evidence of congressman selling their vote to special interests. This week we learn about another hooker in pinstripes and silk cravat posing as a U.S. Senator. “The pharmaceutical industry that long has benefited from Sen. Orrin G. Hatch´s (R-UT) legislative efforts has directed large sums of money to a charity he helped found - and still raises money for - while also hiring the Republican lawmaker's son as a lobbyist.” This week our government begins exploring ways to reduce the outrageous cost of health care in America. Unless the decision makers such as Hatch are publicly and broadly exposed for their financially symbiotic relationship with the special interests that play a significant role in the high cost of health care, the American healthcare system and the economy will remain on life support. Ostensibly, Hatch represents the citizens of Utah. Among his extra-state constituents are pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Schering-Plough Corp., Eli Lilly and Co., Barr Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca Pharm LP, and Sepracor. Other Hatch “constituents” include medical equipment suppliers and health care providers. I suggest that the next time you want to write a letter to your congressman, drop it off at your pharmacy. It will get there faster.
* Taxpayers ambushed ~ the cavalry is coming – It was announced this week that the Obama administration will overhaul how government contracts are awarded that would save about $40 billion dollars a year. The new rules “would make it more difficult for contractors to bilk taxpayers and make some half-trillion dollars in federal contracts each year more accessible to independent contractors.” This would be a refreshing change to no bid, no oversight contracts. Such policy reached its nadir in Iraq where billions of U.S. dollars were funneled through insider private no-bid contractors – much of it unaccounted for, much of it wasted on projects never completed or completed projects that are unsafe and in disrepair. To complete the picture, many of these same private contractors are U.S. companies that set up off-shore corporations to avoid paying U.S. taxes. If Obama can have an impact on what we now know has been a pervasive breakdown in our federal government, my November vote will have been well cast.
* We can have a lead role in oversight ~ the audition is now – “For every foreclosure in a neighborhood, home values drop by an estimated 1%. Credit Suisse says that if judges have the ability to write down mortgages, it will stem the tide of foreclosures by 20% and it won't cost the taxpayers a single dime… President Obama says that allowing bankruptcy judges to write down mortgages is an important part of his plan to arrest the downward spiral of the foreclosure crisis.” HOWEVER, corporation-favoring Republican and Democratic members of Congress and bank lobbyists are trying to stop that. The banks want to unload their bad loans on taxpayers. We should not let this happen. The website Firedoglake.com is providing a petition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanding that bankruptcy judges be allowed to write down mortgages. Pelosi and congress gave in to the banks and their lobbyists in 2007 when this idea was first proposed. If more and more citizens voice their opposition to “Congress for Sale” there is some chance that our democratic process will avoid total bankruptcy. If we do nothing, then nothing is what will be accomplished. Below is the comment I made on the petition that I signed:
It is beyond time that citizens take back our government - a government that our elected representatives sold to the highest bidders. If you refuse to represent the interests of the American people then we will work to ensure that you experience the unemployment line. Yes - that long line that your sellout to special interests helped create. Congress is draped in disgrace and the American people are suffering the consequences. Perhaps it is poetic justice since we elected you. Shame on all of us!
* Being our own lobbyists - President Barack Obama said: "the special interests and lobbyists ... I know they're gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this: So am I." One of the tasks and great challenges that Obama is taking on is health care reform. The special interests and lobbyists present major opposition and will attempt to influence the Obama administration and congress. One of the ways that the American people’s interests and voices can be heard on health care reform is through petition. Congress must know that we are paying attention and have expectations. MoveOn.org is providing a petition that will be sent to your representative and senators. Over 200,000 concerned citizens have already signed the petition. If you are concerned about the state of your own health care, the future health care of your children as well as the tremendous drain that the current system has on our economy, you may want to add your name. Consumers Union provides a similar petition.
* It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.”
David Brin
“Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today”
Mahatma Gandhi
Saturday, January 31, 2009
* Joke of the Week ~ A pig in a $3000 suit is still a pig – President Obama, members of congress, cable news pundits and editorials across America bemoaned what Wall Street has done or not done with the $350 billion they received in a financial bailout several months ago. My local newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, said in an editorial titled Rewarding the Bad Guys, “Wall Street still doesn’t get it” as it was learned that these financial firms handed out $18.4 billion in bonuses this past year as their firms were reaching economic critical mass.
I am surprised and shocked that everyone is shocked and surprised. The financial collapse resulted from greed on steroids by financial institutions and head-up-their-butt government oversight. And the financial collapse changed nothing. Congress gave Bush and his Treasury Secretary $350 billion to bail out the Appalling Street of Financiers. These two geniuses then handed over the cash to the guys in fancy suits like drunks lusting for a lap dance at a gentlemen’s club - no enforceable guidelines, no strings attached, no oversight and the salacious alcohol-induced fantasy that the cash recipients will perform as desired. Now everyone is stunned that the money was not used intelligently, as intended, as naively hoped for. Like drunks with empty pockets and lust unfulfilled we gird for the morning-after hangover. Wall Street has given prostitutes a bad name and our government has once again proven to be hapless schmucks.
* Quotes of the week - The following two quotes are from the same article:
PBS Journalist Bill Moyers – “So here's the lens through which I see things. From my days in President Johnson's White House onward, I have defended Israel's right to defend itself, and still do. But killing innocent people is wrong, whether in Vietnam, Israel, Iraq or Gaza. Sometimes a candid critic is a country's best friend.”
Former Israeli soldier turned journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote in the NY Times this week – “Hamas cannot be bombed, nor cajoled, into moderation. Tanks cannot defeat deeply held beliefs. No. Waging war on an entire population guarantees one thing: the radicals get what they want, and the innocents, on both sides, suffer.”
The lessons identified above have been hard learned but remain elusive as the errors are repeated over many decades and in many locations. The loss of innocent lives is but one of the tragedies that taint the past 50 years.
The same noted article includes an exchange between Moyer and Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League. It is a read I highly recommend for anyone attempting to seek clarity or a moral footing relative to Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza. To take a position that our own government or an ally can do no wrong is naïve and belies the evidence. I recall the pushback to protestors who were against the Viet Nam War being told, “America, love it or leave it.” This same mentality is exhibited by orators on the Fourth of July recognizing the brave men and women who gave their lives defending American democracy but then too often want to deny democratic expression when it does not suit their politics. How quickly we have forgotten the era of McCarthyism and the lives destroyed as Congress looked for Communists behind every curtain and every word spoken. Was this same political ploy not used by Bush and Republicans in the lead up to and execution of the Iraq war? Opposition was labeled as unpatriotic. Opposition was tainted as un-American. I would suggest that if the citizens who loved America enough to criticize their own country did not stand up we would indeed have a country and political system worth leaving.
* Derriere Orifice of the Week ~ ta da, Rush Limbaugh – This is not the first time the blunderbuss of talk radio has received this ignominious “award.” His recent exploits are so well documented that I will forgo the usual quote or explanation that usually accompanies this segment. I will simply say that this airwaves sewage pump is the Derriere Orifice of the Week because he is an unmitigated asshole. And, most fitting, he is now the spokes model for the Republican Party.
* Good News of the Week ~ hurray for less frequent mail – The Postmaster General has said it may be necessary to reduce the number of days that mail is delivered from 6 to 5 days. Personally, I could use an extra day of not receiving all the ad and solicitation mail that I did not request and do not want. The last time that there was a postal increase I had the thought to keep the rates lower by delivering the mail every other day. I will get over the disappointment of delaying for one day the receipt of the menu at the local Chinese restaurant, the next mattress sale or the discount coupon to have my chimney swept.
While on the subject of mail I suggest that the postal service be barred from increasing the cost of sending a letter by only one or two cents. I have a drawer full of odd stamps and I do not know what they are worth any more. I have to believe that when the cost increases by such insignificant amounts the post office winds up losing money given the cost of the transition and the millions of inquiries it must address relative to new postage rates. Like many departments in our government administration an upgrade in management skills would be a blessing.
* Comment of the Week – In an interview this week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that Bush was a burden on the Republican Party. McConnel failed to note that he and the other Senate GOPers marched lock-step for eight years supporting George W. Bush and his failed policies. Republicans are full shareholders in the disastrous Bush years. Now they are rat-like abandoning the ship of fools. The American people have not been fooled as they have voted Republicans into minority status and given the White House to the Democrats. Unfortunately, it took a crushed economy, devastating foreign policy and further debilitating of the federal government by Bush and Republicans for the American people to fully grasp this failed leadership. Fortunately, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
* Election of the Week ~ meet Michael Steele – The former lieutenant governor of Maryland and long-time conservative commentator on FOX News has been elected the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). What do we know about the man selected to lead the Republican Party out of purgatory? When Steele ran for the Maryland senate seat two years ago he ran a campaign “worthy” of his party. His backers went to Philadelphia and hired 300 poor, mostly unemployed African Americans and put them on Trailways buses bound for Maryland. They were deployed to African American communities and given fliers to hand out to residents. “They spent Election Day handing out glossy fliers headlined "Democratic Sample Ballot" or "Official Voter Guide." The fliers employed the phrase "Ehrlich-Steele Democrats." And they featured images of prominent African Americans, such as former Democratic congressman and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume, above the words: "These are our choices."
Mfume was not supporting Steele and Steele was running on the Republican ticket. The group Progressive Maryland described Steele’s campaign as one of "Lies, Dirty Tricks, and Fraudulent Fliers Designed to Deceive African American Voters." Steele lost the election but apparently shored up his Republican credentials. Yes, Michael Steele meets most of the qualifications to be the leader of the Republican Party – the one exception being that he is an African American. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the almost last stronghold of the Republican Party – the Land of Dixie.
* This is the 100th post of Stephen Views the News. What began as a brief email to 15 friends in June 2007 soon became a forum to address issues I deemed of national concern and to publicize the machinations and failures of the Bush administration that I came across, often in less than mainstream media. By almost any standard this blog is narrow in influence and yet it has enabled me to feel I have made a small contribution to readers’ awareness on a broad range of subjects. The writing of SVN has resulted in making new relationships across our country and the resulting dialogue and feedback has contributed to shaping my views and opinions. In addition to my own web page SVN is posted at barackobama.com and the national website of Democracy for America where it is made available to hundreds of local DFA affiliates. It is impossible to know how many people read my work at these other sites. I do know that several thousand individuals have visited SVN, coming from 42 countries and nearly 1000 cities. The internet is truly an amazing gift and the newest tool for shining a bright light on our leaders.
* “It may well be that our means are fairly limited and our possibilities restricted when it comes to applying pressure on our government. But is this a reason to do nothing? Despair is nor an answer. Neither is resignation. Resignation only leads to indifference, which is not merely a sin but a punishment.”
Elie Wiesel (born 1928) Holocaust survivor, Jewish writer, professor, political activist and Nobel Laureate
I am surprised and shocked that everyone is shocked and surprised. The financial collapse resulted from greed on steroids by financial institutions and head-up-their-butt government oversight. And the financial collapse changed nothing. Congress gave Bush and his Treasury Secretary $350 billion to bail out the Appalling Street of Financiers. These two geniuses then handed over the cash to the guys in fancy suits like drunks lusting for a lap dance at a gentlemen’s club - no enforceable guidelines, no strings attached, no oversight and the salacious alcohol-induced fantasy that the cash recipients will perform as desired. Now everyone is stunned that the money was not used intelligently, as intended, as naively hoped for. Like drunks with empty pockets and lust unfulfilled we gird for the morning-after hangover. Wall Street has given prostitutes a bad name and our government has once again proven to be hapless schmucks.
* Quotes of the week - The following two quotes are from the same article:
PBS Journalist Bill Moyers – “So here's the lens through which I see things. From my days in President Johnson's White House onward, I have defended Israel's right to defend itself, and still do. But killing innocent people is wrong, whether in Vietnam, Israel, Iraq or Gaza. Sometimes a candid critic is a country's best friend.”
Former Israeli soldier turned journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, wrote in the NY Times this week – “Hamas cannot be bombed, nor cajoled, into moderation. Tanks cannot defeat deeply held beliefs. No. Waging war on an entire population guarantees one thing: the radicals get what they want, and the innocents, on both sides, suffer.”
The lessons identified above have been hard learned but remain elusive as the errors are repeated over many decades and in many locations. The loss of innocent lives is but one of the tragedies that taint the past 50 years.
The same noted article includes an exchange between Moyer and Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League. It is a read I highly recommend for anyone attempting to seek clarity or a moral footing relative to Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza. To take a position that our own government or an ally can do no wrong is naïve and belies the evidence. I recall the pushback to protestors who were against the Viet Nam War being told, “America, love it or leave it.” This same mentality is exhibited by orators on the Fourth of July recognizing the brave men and women who gave their lives defending American democracy but then too often want to deny democratic expression when it does not suit their politics. How quickly we have forgotten the era of McCarthyism and the lives destroyed as Congress looked for Communists behind every curtain and every word spoken. Was this same political ploy not used by Bush and Republicans in the lead up to and execution of the Iraq war? Opposition was labeled as unpatriotic. Opposition was tainted as un-American. I would suggest that if the citizens who loved America enough to criticize their own country did not stand up we would indeed have a country and political system worth leaving.
* Derriere Orifice of the Week ~ ta da, Rush Limbaugh – This is not the first time the blunderbuss of talk radio has received this ignominious “award.” His recent exploits are so well documented that I will forgo the usual quote or explanation that usually accompanies this segment. I will simply say that this airwaves sewage pump is the Derriere Orifice of the Week because he is an unmitigated asshole. And, most fitting, he is now the spokes model for the Republican Party.
* Good News of the Week ~ hurray for less frequent mail – The Postmaster General has said it may be necessary to reduce the number of days that mail is delivered from 6 to 5 days. Personally, I could use an extra day of not receiving all the ad and solicitation mail that I did not request and do not want. The last time that there was a postal increase I had the thought to keep the rates lower by delivering the mail every other day. I will get over the disappointment of delaying for one day the receipt of the menu at the local Chinese restaurant, the next mattress sale or the discount coupon to have my chimney swept.
While on the subject of mail I suggest that the postal service be barred from increasing the cost of sending a letter by only one or two cents. I have a drawer full of odd stamps and I do not know what they are worth any more. I have to believe that when the cost increases by such insignificant amounts the post office winds up losing money given the cost of the transition and the millions of inquiries it must address relative to new postage rates. Like many departments in our government administration an upgrade in management skills would be a blessing.
* Comment of the Week – In an interview this week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that Bush was a burden on the Republican Party. McConnel failed to note that he and the other Senate GOPers marched lock-step for eight years supporting George W. Bush and his failed policies. Republicans are full shareholders in the disastrous Bush years. Now they are rat-like abandoning the ship of fools. The American people have not been fooled as they have voted Republicans into minority status and given the White House to the Democrats. Unfortunately, it took a crushed economy, devastating foreign policy and further debilitating of the federal government by Bush and Republicans for the American people to fully grasp this failed leadership. Fortunately, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
* Election of the Week ~ meet Michael Steele – The former lieutenant governor of Maryland and long-time conservative commentator on FOX News has been elected the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). What do we know about the man selected to lead the Republican Party out of purgatory? When Steele ran for the Maryland senate seat two years ago he ran a campaign “worthy” of his party. His backers went to Philadelphia and hired 300 poor, mostly unemployed African Americans and put them on Trailways buses bound for Maryland. They were deployed to African American communities and given fliers to hand out to residents. “They spent Election Day handing out glossy fliers headlined "Democratic Sample Ballot" or "Official Voter Guide." The fliers employed the phrase "Ehrlich-Steele Democrats." And they featured images of prominent African Americans, such as former Democratic congressman and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume, above the words: "These are our choices."
Mfume was not supporting Steele and Steele was running on the Republican ticket. The group Progressive Maryland described Steele’s campaign as one of "Lies, Dirty Tricks, and Fraudulent Fliers Designed to Deceive African American Voters." Steele lost the election but apparently shored up his Republican credentials. Yes, Michael Steele meets most of the qualifications to be the leader of the Republican Party – the one exception being that he is an African American. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the almost last stronghold of the Republican Party – the Land of Dixie.
* This is the 100th post of Stephen Views the News. What began as a brief email to 15 friends in June 2007 soon became a forum to address issues I deemed of national concern and to publicize the machinations and failures of the Bush administration that I came across, often in less than mainstream media. By almost any standard this blog is narrow in influence and yet it has enabled me to feel I have made a small contribution to readers’ awareness on a broad range of subjects. The writing of SVN has resulted in making new relationships across our country and the resulting dialogue and feedback has contributed to shaping my views and opinions. In addition to my own web page SVN is posted at barackobama.com and the national website of Democracy for America where it is made available to hundreds of local DFA affiliates. It is impossible to know how many people read my work at these other sites. I do know that several thousand individuals have visited SVN, coming from 42 countries and nearly 1000 cities. The internet is truly an amazing gift and the newest tool for shining a bright light on our leaders.
* “It may well be that our means are fairly limited and our possibilities restricted when it comes to applying pressure on our government. But is this a reason to do nothing? Despair is nor an answer. Neither is resignation. Resignation only leads to indifference, which is not merely a sin but a punishment.”
Elie Wiesel (born 1928) Holocaust survivor, Jewish writer, professor, political activist and Nobel Laureate
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
* Naked on the right - The demise of the most recent version of conservative economic and political policies has the populist talking heads of conservatism in a dither. Examples include Neil Cavuto and Rush Limbaugh from viral broadcasting and the right-sided writing of the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer. They currently are desperately grasping for a hold on respectability and relevance. In order to protect their message they have concocted faux targets to divert attention from misguided and wrong counsel. One of their disingenuous maneuvers is to place the blame for the current financial crisis on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Look out for those liberal-supported policies designed to assist lower income families to invest in homes.” “Those damn left-wingers.” Fortunately, there are still some in the Fourth Estate doing their job.
The McClatchy Newspapers Washington Bureau just removed the wheels from the canard that conservatives are riding. The article is titled “Private sector loans, not Fannie or Freddie, triggered crisis.” It was an unregulated private sector gone wild that brought our economy to its knees, not regulated government-assisted programs. I highly recommend a read of this article as an aide to understand what took place and, just as importantly, guidance for future policy. Republican conservatives bemoan the fact that the current financial crisis has altered the parameters of the upcoming election. I agree that it is unfortunate. We all had to suffer the effects before their failed policies were laid bare. The policies that they promoted should be evaluated and voted upon by the electorate, without spin and din.
To borrow an often used phrase of Barack Obama, “Let me be perfectly clear.” I do not advocate a national discourse devoid of conservative ideas any more than it would be appropriate to give voice exclusively to liberal thinking. It so happens that conservatives have dominated the national landscape while their views were implemented dishonestly and incompetently by President George W. Bush and the Republican Party. Liberal thinking and the Democratic Party are not without criticism. Going forward America’s best chance is a synthesis of views from all positions. It is likely that the first step will require that the political house be cleaned, with many more Republicans than Democrats being left for the trash pickup. A return to normalcy will be accompanied by a return to balance. At some point in the future this lesson will be forgotten and the process will cycle again. At best, we can hope for less dramatic swings of the political ideology pendulum and greater integrity in the people that we elect.
* Agreeing to disagree – I almost never agree with neo-con, conservative and Bush war cheerleader Bill Kristol. His column in the NY Times on Monday October 13th was no exception. Kristol wrote, “It’s time for John McCain to fire his campaign.” This comment comes after previous Kristol comments suggesting the McCain campaign do what he now criticizes. I say leave well enough alone. This is a McCain-selected campaign team of lobbyists, neo-cons, deregulators and slime campaigners scraped like barnacles from the Karl Rove ship of ghouls. They represent the political and economic philosophy and foreign policy that has put this country and its citizens in peril. My friends, I say do not fire them. Allow them to go down in flames with the current icons of these failures, Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. I wish them GOP – Get Out of Politics - after the election.
* Clunk - That thud you heard this week was the approval rating of George W. Bush. Declining to 23% it surpassed Richard Nixon’s low of 24% and is a point away from the lowest in 70 years of polling, set by Harry Truman in early 1952. The ABC News/Washington Post poll also found that 90% of Americans believe that the country “is on the wrong track.” Contrary to Mr. Bush’s daydreams and prognostications, history will not absolve him of what will be one of the worst executive tenures in American history. I believe that as we learn more about a Bush administration that has been wrapped in secrets and deceptions the perception of the Bush years will worsen. The face of G.W. Bush will not displace the portraits of Washington, Lincoln, Jackson, Hamilton or Franklin on our folding money – even if there is any money left.
* Mea culpa – I recently criticized the Clintons for not campaigning more on behalf of Barack Obama. Perhaps their appearances were not showing up in my news sources. On Sunday I watched their speeches in Scranton, PA and both Clintons are active on the campaign trail promoting Obama, the jobs he will create and reinforcing the idea that we do not need a continuation of Bush-like policies. We each can ask ourselves what we are doing to bring about a change from the disastrous policies of the last eight years. The Obama campaign is urging people to volunteer at their local offices leading up the election on November 4th. With less than three weeks remaining before the most important presidential election in our lifetime there are opportunities to get out the vote, work at polls, help people to get to the polls. If you have been unhappy with the course our government has taken, the time to do something is now.
* Welcome to the 51st State of the United States ~ the police state - Talk about unfocused and misguided policy. Over the last couple of years we have seen evidence of federal, state and local police bodies targeting anti-war groups. Unlike the protests during the Viet Nam war evidence of violent intentions or behavior is lacking and yet the free speech of protesters is seen as terrorist activity. The latest example of such blurred vision and perhaps illegal action was committed by the Maryland State Police. Sisters Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte, each serving the Catholic Church for over 50 years, have been placed on a national watch list due to their participation in anti-war protest activities. “They were among 53 people added to a terrorist watch list in conjunction with an extensive Maryland surveillance effort of antiwar activists.” Many voices in our society are quick to criticize the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) but it is actions like that of Maryland law enforcement that reinforces the need for civil liberty watchdog organizations. Note: This portion of SVN is being written anonymously since I will be driving through Maryland later this week. You can be sure I will not be wearing a nun’s habit.
* Unwelcome results of government spying on citizens – The National Security Agency (NSA) is the primary eavesdropper on our communications. Bush has tried at every opportunity to allow such spying without oversight or court order. Before Bush the courts had to issue a warrant for a U.S. citizen to be spied upon. Recent legislation removed restraints and that is troublesome in a free society. Power unregulated gets abused. It is a natural law. In an ABC report, “two former military intercept officers who worked at the NSA charge that the government spying agency listened in on calls to the United States made by soldiers, journalists and human rights workers working in the Middle East, even after it was clear that the calls were not in any way related to national security. The NSA officials regularly passed around salacious calls such as the private "phone sex" calls of military officers calling home, according to the report.”
In the next administration and congress oversight of spying should be revisited and protections from spying abuse legislated. One J. Edgar Hoover was enough for this country. Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1936 and led the organization until his death in 1972. Known for abusing his power and exceeding his jurisdiction U.S. leaders feared him because he compiled secret files on them, information often collected illegally. His dirty tricks program included “infiltration, burglaries, illegal wiretaps, planting forged documents and spreading false rumors about key members of target organizations.” Hoover was not bashful about using these files to achieve his end. This is not an America that I envision.
* “The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902 – 1998) American historian
The McClatchy Newspapers Washington Bureau just removed the wheels from the canard that conservatives are riding. The article is titled “Private sector loans, not Fannie or Freddie, triggered crisis.” It was an unregulated private sector gone wild that brought our economy to its knees, not regulated government-assisted programs. I highly recommend a read of this article as an aide to understand what took place and, just as importantly, guidance for future policy. Republican conservatives bemoan the fact that the current financial crisis has altered the parameters of the upcoming election. I agree that it is unfortunate. We all had to suffer the effects before their failed policies were laid bare. The policies that they promoted should be evaluated and voted upon by the electorate, without spin and din.
To borrow an often used phrase of Barack Obama, “Let me be perfectly clear.” I do not advocate a national discourse devoid of conservative ideas any more than it would be appropriate to give voice exclusively to liberal thinking. It so happens that conservatives have dominated the national landscape while their views were implemented dishonestly and incompetently by President George W. Bush and the Republican Party. Liberal thinking and the Democratic Party are not without criticism. Going forward America’s best chance is a synthesis of views from all positions. It is likely that the first step will require that the political house be cleaned, with many more Republicans than Democrats being left for the trash pickup. A return to normalcy will be accompanied by a return to balance. At some point in the future this lesson will be forgotten and the process will cycle again. At best, we can hope for less dramatic swings of the political ideology pendulum and greater integrity in the people that we elect.
* Agreeing to disagree – I almost never agree with neo-con, conservative and Bush war cheerleader Bill Kristol. His column in the NY Times on Monday October 13th was no exception. Kristol wrote, “It’s time for John McCain to fire his campaign.” This comment comes after previous Kristol comments suggesting the McCain campaign do what he now criticizes. I say leave well enough alone. This is a McCain-selected campaign team of lobbyists, neo-cons, deregulators and slime campaigners scraped like barnacles from the Karl Rove ship of ghouls. They represent the political and economic philosophy and foreign policy that has put this country and its citizens in peril. My friends, I say do not fire them. Allow them to go down in flames with the current icons of these failures, Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. I wish them GOP – Get Out of Politics - after the election.
* Clunk - That thud you heard this week was the approval rating of George W. Bush. Declining to 23% it surpassed Richard Nixon’s low of 24% and is a point away from the lowest in 70 years of polling, set by Harry Truman in early 1952. The ABC News/Washington Post poll also found that 90% of Americans believe that the country “is on the wrong track.” Contrary to Mr. Bush’s daydreams and prognostications, history will not absolve him of what will be one of the worst executive tenures in American history. I believe that as we learn more about a Bush administration that has been wrapped in secrets and deceptions the perception of the Bush years will worsen. The face of G.W. Bush will not displace the portraits of Washington, Lincoln, Jackson, Hamilton or Franklin on our folding money – even if there is any money left.
* Mea culpa – I recently criticized the Clintons for not campaigning more on behalf of Barack Obama. Perhaps their appearances were not showing up in my news sources. On Sunday I watched their speeches in Scranton, PA and both Clintons are active on the campaign trail promoting Obama, the jobs he will create and reinforcing the idea that we do not need a continuation of Bush-like policies. We each can ask ourselves what we are doing to bring about a change from the disastrous policies of the last eight years. The Obama campaign is urging people to volunteer at their local offices leading up the election on November 4th. With less than three weeks remaining before the most important presidential election in our lifetime there are opportunities to get out the vote, work at polls, help people to get to the polls. If you have been unhappy with the course our government has taken, the time to do something is now.
* Welcome to the 51st State of the United States ~ the police state - Talk about unfocused and misguided policy. Over the last couple of years we have seen evidence of federal, state and local police bodies targeting anti-war groups. Unlike the protests during the Viet Nam war evidence of violent intentions or behavior is lacking and yet the free speech of protesters is seen as terrorist activity. The latest example of such blurred vision and perhaps illegal action was committed by the Maryland State Police. Sisters Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte, each serving the Catholic Church for over 50 years, have been placed on a national watch list due to their participation in anti-war protest activities. “They were among 53 people added to a terrorist watch list in conjunction with an extensive Maryland surveillance effort of antiwar activists.” Many voices in our society are quick to criticize the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) but it is actions like that of Maryland law enforcement that reinforces the need for civil liberty watchdog organizations. Note: This portion of SVN is being written anonymously since I will be driving through Maryland later this week. You can be sure I will not be wearing a nun’s habit.
* Unwelcome results of government spying on citizens – The National Security Agency (NSA) is the primary eavesdropper on our communications. Bush has tried at every opportunity to allow such spying without oversight or court order. Before Bush the courts had to issue a warrant for a U.S. citizen to be spied upon. Recent legislation removed restraints and that is troublesome in a free society. Power unregulated gets abused. It is a natural law. In an ABC report, “two former military intercept officers who worked at the NSA charge that the government spying agency listened in on calls to the United States made by soldiers, journalists and human rights workers working in the Middle East, even after it was clear that the calls were not in any way related to national security. The NSA officials regularly passed around salacious calls such as the private "phone sex" calls of military officers calling home, according to the report.”
In the next administration and congress oversight of spying should be revisited and protections from spying abuse legislated. One J. Edgar Hoover was enough for this country. Hoover was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1936 and led the organization until his death in 1972. Known for abusing his power and exceeding his jurisdiction U.S. leaders feared him because he compiled secret files on them, information often collected illegally. His dirty tricks program included “infiltration, burglaries, illegal wiretaps, planting forged documents and spreading false rumors about key members of target organizations.” Hoover was not bashful about using these files to achieve his end. This is not an America that I envision.
* “The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902 – 1998) American historian
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