Friday, June 30, 2006

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2500 2513 2532
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1755
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1198
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1158
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 139

It is still 935days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Friday Cat Blogging


Thursday, June 29, 2006

Stripsearch Sammy's True Colors

It didn't take long for the BFEE's newest stealth justice to show his true colors. Voting with the minority in a 5-3 decision over the rights to a real trial of "enemy combatants" in the Gitmo case, Scalito sided with -- suprise -- Scalia and Thomas, the two most reliable allies of the BFEE and the forces of repression.

And this was only the boy's first partial session on the court. Wait until next year when the fun really starts. Activist judges? The rightwing has 'em up the yingyang, and they'll slowly raise the temperature of the water until all of us liberal frogs are boiled alive.

Paying for the VA Credit Boondoggle

Baby Doc apparently can just pull money out of his ass to pay for the war illegal occupation of Iraq, but when it comes to the veterans of that war -- and all veterans -- whoops, there just isn't any cash lying around to take care of them.

That's why the assholes in charge are intending to cut funding for food stamps, student loans and youth programs to pay for credit monitoring for those of us victimized by the inept security controls at the VA.

This is the party that ran on a platform of personal responsibility and "compassionate conservatism", if you will recall.

So, Monkey Fuehrer, show a little of both and stand up to the plate. If you don't think there's any money to help America's veterans, maybe you could go, hat in hand, to the next meeting of the Fat Cat Plutocrat Society and ask them for just a tiny fraction of those billions upon billions of dollars that you personally, along with your lap-dog lackeys in the People's Chamber of Deputies congress, handed to them with your reckless and irresponsible tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy.

Fat chance of that ever happening.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Dominican Republic Sex Tourism: I Knew It!

Following up on the Rush Limbaugh Viagra bust post from yesterday, I managed to do a little research on the sex trade in the Dominican Republic. Apparently I've been living under a rock for the last several years (okay, I've been happily married for the last 24 years, which, when it comes to this subject, is just like living under a rock...)

It turns out, to my surprise, that the Dominican Republic, of all places, is ground zero for the sex trade in the Western Hemisphere, as this Google search illustrates: There are over 542,000 hits for the words "dominican republic sex tourism" -- and many of those sites refer specifically to child prostitution, such as this one and this one.

Not that I am in any way accusing -- or even suggesting -- that Rusty "Limpdick" Limbaugh has been anything but an honorable and law-abiding Republican* in his consorting with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. But it really makes you wonder why he felt the need to go all the way to the DR for sex when it's so readily available for a reasonable price all over South Florida, and especially in Miami and nearby Miami Beach, both of which are right down the shore from where he lives. Plus he's a media celebrity, for chrissake, and despite the fact that he's a fatassed flabby limp-dick slob, even he must have an adequate number of rightwing groupies to nail right here in the good old USA.

So why did he go all the way to the Dominican Republic?

* Surely an oxymoron, but never mind...

More on the Death Penalty

No, I am not talking about the so-called "Death Tax". What I talking about is the real old-fashioned death penalty, wherein the state takes it on itself to commit a murder. And don't talk to me about that "eye for an eye" crap, or about how it's a deterrent blah blah blah(demonstrably it isn't). I've argued before on this blog about the death penalty, for example here and here, and nothing has happened in the meantime to change my mind.

Now our newest Supreme, Stripsearch Sammy Scalito, has sided with his other BFEE surrogates in a 5-4 decision upholding the Kansas death penalty, even though many people will inevitably be put to death in cases where the "aggravated" requirement of the Kansas death penalty law has not been proved to the jury. See the confusing details in this story in a Seattle paper outlining the case.

Anna Quindlen, writing in Newsweek, says that "last year only four countries accounted for nearly all executions worldwide: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Are we really proud of being in that company?

Monday, June 26, 2006

Too Good to be True: Limbaugh Busted -- Again

This just in: America's favorite fatassed blowhard radio voice was just busted coming back into the country with an apparently illegal prescription for ... Viagra!

"It's all Clinton's fault," Limbaugh did not say. "I wanted a blow job, too, and the only way I can get it up any more is by using this commonly-prescribed prescription. Which is available in every pharmacy, even those who won't dispense the morning-after pill."

How's that, you "family-values-focus-on-the-fetus" crowd out there? Your loudmouthed spokesman, the thrice-divorced addict to "prescription pain killers" (which he bought on the street -- or more accurately, sent his maid to score for him on the mean streets of Miami), currently on probation for that little stunt, has yet another prescription med that doesn't belong to him.

I refuse to listen to the pimple-assed bloviator, so I won't get to hear what lame fucking excuse he comes up with for this one, but it has to be good. Stephanie Miller will cover it, I'm sure, on her "right wing world" segment -- be sure to listen on Wednesday for the down and dirty.

Jesus Christ, how many times are his moonie-eyed dittoheads going to let him slide on this kind of crap? Never mind, I already know the answer to that one.

But Rusty, listen to me: You are fucking 55 years old, dude! Isn't it time you grew up a little bit, settled down and got a nice productive job, instead of jetting off to the fucking Dominican Republic, of all places?

Besides, didn't I hear somewhere that the Dominican Republic has turned into a kind of destination resort for old fat guys who want to score some teenage (and I mean early teenage) tail? Has anyone else heard that, and can you provide a source? America wants to know.

Flag Burning Amendment -- A Call to Action

Regular readers of this blog know how I feel about a so-called "flag desecration" amendment.

You also must know that this ugly issue has raised its head once again -- it is an election year, after all -- so the US Senate has scheduled a vote on this piece of shit, a vote which could come as soon as today.

Please contact your senator and tell him or her to vote AGAINST this travesty of a bill -- Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

This is a solution in search of a problem. Lets not amend the constitution to restrict individual liberties. The last time that happened we got Prohibition, and look at the problems that little experiment caused.

BTW, I am proud to be a member of Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights -- see their website for more information on this important issue.

Syriana -- A "Must See" Movie

I watched Syriana this weekend and I highly recommend it to everyone. Not only is it an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but it's also a primer on the oil business in the Middle East, on the despair of Arab youth fed by radical Islamist clerics, on American corporate corruption, and on the ruthlessness of power.

George Clooney is at his masterful best as an amoral CIA agent -- a performance which won for him the Oscar for best actor at this year's Academy Awards.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 763 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.



Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Friday, June 23, 2006

Coulter or Hitler?

Here's a fun quiz. See if you can identify which of the 14 quotations on this website came out of either Ann Coulter or Adolph Hitler.

I got 11 out of 14. Can you do better?

Finally, Some Action on VA Security Breach

A Senate panel yesterday approved $160M in spending to pay for credit monitoring for America's veterans whose personal data was stolen early last month when a VA employee's laptop computer was stolen.

Naturally, Repugnicans on the committee wanted to pay for it out of existing VA funds, but my good senator and friend to all veterans, Patty Murray (D-WA), said "I don't think it's acceptable to tell our veterans we lost your personal information, and by the way, we're going to cut your health care to pay for it." Way to go, Patty!

At the same time, according to the NYT story, a House panel was told that credit monitoring alone might not be enough.

However, the money is a welcome gesture, but knowing how slowly the government works, it probably won't be until fall that the money is available to us. And god knows how many strings will be attached, or how many hoops we'll have to jump through to get action on our compromised credit.

In the meantime, we need to keep on top of our own credit scores by watching closely all of our credit card statements, etc. That in itself, of course, won't be enough, since any new credit applications -- which is the major danger here -- we likely won't know about. This is why it's important to review your credit report regularly. You are entitled to one free credit report each year, which you can request at AnnualCreditReport.com (1-877-322-8228). I suggest that you do this ASAP, to establish a base line against which future credit reports can be measured.

See also the Q&A on the firstgov.gov website for information on what happened and what you can do.

Remember, it isn't just veterans discharged after 1975 -- it affects ALL veterans who have ever filed a claim for VA disability compensation, pension, or education benefits, or who have (or had) a VA insurance policy –- no matter when they were discharged, when the claim was filed, or whether the claim was approved or denied.

And that's pretty much all of us.

Friday Cat Blogging


Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2500 2513
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1748
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1191
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1151
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 132

It is still 942days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Southern Repugnicans Block Voting Rights for Blacks

In yet another piece of news in the Not Surprising category, a group of southern lawmakers (all of them Repugs, naturally) have held up the extension of the 1964 Voting Rights Act.

Reuter's has the story, as do more than 300 other news sources.

Their complaints center around the usual crap ("It's not fair to MY state," etc etc), but we all know what's behind it: The same fucking mentality that drove the Southern Democrats out of the Democratic Party and into the arms of the so-called Big Tent Republicans way back when, when the Act was first passed.

Lyndon Johnson, whose political antennae were always well attuned to the prevailing wind, said when he signed it that it would cost the Democratic Party the South for "a generation". Turns out it's longer than that, it would appear.

They didn't like uppity black people back then, and they still don't like them. Oh, they are willing to use them when it's politically expedient -- that's why you have that small handful of black Republicans (which ought to be an oxymoron) who have sold their souls to their masters. Remember what Harry Belafonte said about Kindasleazy Rice and Colin Toby-Be-Good Powell? That's pretty much it for all black Republicans.

It's Faux News -- They Just Can't Help It

Weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq! Ricky Man-on-Dog-Sex Santorum (R-Pervert) announced breathlessly on Faux News today that a total of 500 chemical weapon canisters found buried in the ground near the Iranian border.

Buried, that is, sometime prior to 1988. Jesus, this wasn't a big fucking secret. The US already knew about them, found them, in fact, in 2003. And reported that the blister agent used in them had long gone inert. At the time they were found, not even the White House was ready to claim that this pathetic stash constituted the "smoking gun" evidence that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq.

That didn't stop Little Ricky and his sidekick, Peter Hoekstra (R-Shitweasel) from strutting around like they'd found a fucking new-clee-ar warhead. And it didn't stop Faux News from giving them a front and center podium to stand on and squawk to the Moron-American knuckledraggers who actualy watch Faux News.

Must be an election year, and Little Ricky is behind in the polls.

One-Year Anniversary!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of this blog. To be honest, when I started it, I really wondered if I was going to have enough stuff to post day after day after day.

Wow, did I have a surprise coming. There is so much out there, and sometimes it just seems to write itself.

So, in honor of that one-year anniversary, I'm reposting my very first blog entry, wherein I lay a little historical smackdown on my two favorite slackers, Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush. It turned out that these two became a weekly fixture here on OPOVet.

* * * * * *

From June 22, 2005:

Twins in Uniform

Why aren’t Barbara and Jenna Bush in uniform? They have college degrees, and by all indications they would make fine officers.

After all, it would have an incredibly positive effect on the morale of the country, it would no doubt drive up enlistments in all branches of the service, enlistments which are now at a dangerously low level and dropping monthly, and it would shore up W’s rapidly slipping poll numbers.

And, as their father proved so many years ago, it’s not like they’d really have to DO anything. They really wouldn’t even have to show up for most of it.

But I guess they'd rather party down at those tony Georgetown nightspots instead of following the lead of presidential children of earlier generations.

Consider the four sons of Theodore Roosevelt: Quentin, the youngest, was a pilot who died in action in WWI. The remaining three sons, Ted Junior, Kermit and Archie, served with honor and distinction both in World War One AND in World War Two.

Ted Junior, a Medal of Honor winner, was the only general to come ashore at Normandy on D-Day. A week later he was dead at the age of 56, the victim of a heart attack.

Consider the four sons of Franklin Roosevelt. They, along with Robert Lincoln, and the husbands of the daughters of Lyndon Johnson, share the rare distinction of being the only presidential children to serve in a war fought while their father was president.

James, Elliott, Franklin Jr. and John Roosevelt all served with honor in World War II and they came home decorated heroes.

Both Charles Robb and Patrick Nugent, the Johnson sons-in-laws, served with honor and distinction in Vietnam.

But there it ends.

The husbands of Richard Nixon’s daughters did not serve in Vietnam.

None of the children of Ronald Reagan donned a uniform.

And the offspring of George Bush Senior? Well, we know about that already.

Now we are once again engaged in a war in which there are presidential children of military age.

But, unlike those earlier generations, the Bush twins apparently feel no need to serve in a war over which their father has command.

Unlike those presidential children of earlier generations, they apparently feel no need to show even symbolic support for their father’s war.

Come on, you two. Show your support for the troops and for your father's war. Do the right thing for yourselves and for your country. Enlist today.

Besides, there's something about twins in uniform...

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

More Dueling Quotes

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda."

-- Baby Doc Bush, November 1, 2002

"The president back then said there's no demonstrated link between Saddam and 9-11, and we're never going to make that argument, and he never has."
-- Presidential Meat Puppet Tony Snow, June 14, 2006

I swear, you just can't make this shit up.

Thanks once more to Bartcop for this one.

19 Republicans Vote For Amnesty for Iraqi Murderers of Americans

Okay, that head is a little misleading. I used to work for a Republican newspaper, so sue me.

What they actually voted on was a "sense of congress" amendment that the government of Iraq should not grant amnesty to Iraqis and other local yokels who are known to have killed American soldiers.

In the large scheme of things, all of this "sense of congress" crap is basically meaningless, but you gotta ask yourself why 19 senators -- all of them Republicans -- voted "nay" on this bill. Including people that you would think ought to know better, like John "Falwell-Ass-Kisser" McCain and Nebraska's Vietnam vet senator, Chuck Hagel.

Read the full text of the amendment, and the full list of who voted for it -- and against it -- on the Americablog website, and then maybe you can tell me why these fuckers voted against it.

Dueling Quotes

"Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free. In other words when you say something as President you better make it clear so everybody understands what you're saying, and you better mean what you say."

Baby Doc Bush 9/27/04

"I think what the Taliban is doing - and it’s predictable - the Taliban fighters have been losing. Now, you can expect there to be pushback by the Taliban."
Tony Snow 6/19/2006

So...what's the deal? I think someone was lying. I wonder who it was...

Yeah, you're right, I do love this shit.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

VA Swamped with New Vietnam Vet PTSD Applications

In a development that should come as a surprise to no one, the VA reports a surge in PTSD cases from Vietnam veterans that is a direct result of media images from the war in illegal occupation of Iraq.

So now we have to prepare ourselves for renewed charges of fraud and abuse of the system, charges that are generally leveled by the Sean Hannity/Bill O'Reilly/mAnn Coulter types who would piss their pants if they actually saw anything resembling combat.

Recently, as you know, the VA attempted to launch a full-court-press probe of some 72,000 PTSD claims, but that probe was quietly dropped after a random sample of 2100 claims turned up no instances of fraud. None. As in zero, zilch, bupkis.

A so-called scholar at, of all places, the American Enterprise Institute (a far-right Bushco-enabling wingnut "think tank") even seems to claim that PTSD is a myth. One Sally Satel, allegedly a psychiatrist, claims that the new wave of Vietnam War PTSD claimants have had "deaths in their families, all kind of tragedies" over the years that they've been able to cope with, so what's the big deal.

Well, Sally, if that's really your name, why don't you enlist in the Army, join something like, say, the Transportation Corps (my old battalion, the 6th Transportation, is over there right now and they'd welcome a new driver), run some convoys out of the Green Zone where every single day you will face some death-dealing Iraqi insurgents trying to shoot your lily-white ass, and then come back and talk about PTSD being a myth. You stupid bitch.

In the meantime, I would suggest this to all my fellow Vietnam veterans: If you even think that there's a remote possibility that you are suffering from PTSD, apply for VA disability benefits. Now. Fuck the American Enterprise Institute and its hired gun, Sally "The Bushco Whore" Satel.

Oh, and BTW, the VA says that it's "overwhelmed" by this development and, of course, there's no money to pay for it.

Bullshit!

We're pumping millions of dollars per day into the War on Terratm and the Quagmire in the Desert. Part of the cost of going to war is caring for our veterans when they return. Dial back just a tiny amount of those unconscionable tax cuts to the top 1% of the oligarchy and you can pay for the health care of our veterans.

But that ain't gonna happen. As Tom Delay so famously said, "Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes."

Bush Fights Bird Flu

After months of inaction on the bird flu crisis, the president announced today that the US will bomb Turkey and the Canary Islands.

Press Secretary Tony Snowjob also stated that the administration would dissolve the franchises of pro sports teams in Toronto, Phoenix, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 756 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Friday, June 16, 2006

The NAFTA Superhighway -- WTF?

Chances are you've never heard of the NAFTA Superhighway. Neither had I until yesterday, and the American media is steadfastly ignoring it. Do a Google News search for "NAFTA Superhighway" and you get only FOUR hits. If you think the spelling is wrong, do another one for "NAFTA Super Highway and you get... another four hits.

So what the fuck is it? Well, it's a Bushco plan to build a highway four footballs fields wide from deep in Mexico to Middle America, and eventually into Canada. Mexico will offload shipments from the far east at several of their Pacific ports, load them onto Mexican trucks, and then highball it on this new superhighway to a Midwest "inland port" distribution point in ... Kansas City. All without using either longshoremen or teamsters to do it.

This superhighway will also continue on all the way to Duluth on the Great Lakes, presumably to handle cargo coming in up the St Lawrence, and eventually it will also continue on into Canada.

It's not like they are trying to even hide it. Something called NASCO, the North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition, even has its own website where they are flogging a huge and professionally-illustrated artist's map of the project.

They are even scheduled to break ground early next year on the first phase, down in Texas.

So why haven't we even heard about this? This has to be the biggest news story of the year -- of the decade, really -- that's flown completely under the radar. The American media seems intent on ignoring it. But even Left Blogistan has been caught flat-footed on this one.

Jeez, Mister Whiner. No big deal -- it only spells the beginning of the end for the middle class in this country, with Bushco apparently without opposition continuing the march to oligarchy, using corporate greed to elevate the wealthy even more into a feudal superclass while at the same time pushing the rest of us down into economic serfdom.

This is why Der Monkey Fuehrer has been hemming and hawing and dragging his feet so much on the Mexican border question. When this gets implemented, there will essentially be no Mexican border. Mexican truckers will get a free pass to haul ass across that imaginary line marking the border, without even a perfunctory stop for customs and immigration, and stream northward on a twelve-lane superhighway nonstop to KC. No messy laws, rules and regulations to contend with. No minimum wage laws, no health and welfare benefits, no highway regulations and probably no speed limits.

The wingnuts, however, never ones to be caught out of the loop, have been singing the praises of this fucked up idea. See for example Human Events for some obnoxiously blatant praise of the union-busting aspects of the plan.

And I'm sure that it's just a coincidence that the plan will completely bypass the Pacific Coast ports of the United States, which just happen to be worked by America's strongest and most militant union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). Plus all of those West Coast ports just happen to be in blue states...

Nope, nothing more to see here. Move along.

Friday by the Numbers

Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2472 2489 2500!
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1741
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1184
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1144
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 125

It is still 949 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards.

Vote Democratic this fall!

Friday Cat Blogging


Thursday, June 15, 2006

2500

I know people will say that it's just a number, and if we didn't have ten fingers, we wouldn't have base-ten arithmetic, but...

Two thousand five hundred dead American troops.

I think that's more than just a number. It's 2500 families torn asunder. It's 2500 people, most of them with their full lives ahead of them, snuffed out, all for what? A fucking business deal?

Bush has to be stopped. The only light at the end of the tunnel is the election of a Democratic congress this fall.

Nancy Pelosi is on record as saying that impeachment is not being considered.

Bullshit. I don't believe her. Vote Democratic. Stop the madness.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, Even 100 Years Ago

Would you be willing to join an organization that had these principles as its founding prescripts:

  • First: To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless from the indignities, wrongs and outrages of the lawless, the violent and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of ... soldiers.

  • Second: To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States...

  • Third: To aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws, and to protect the people from unlawful seizure, and from trial except by their peers in conformity with the laws of the land.

Sounds okay, right? Who could argue with that? Well, not so fast with that application, buddy. You would be joining, of things, the Ku Klux Klan!

Believe it or not, those were the prescripts for the founding of what is known as The Second Klan, which was born in 1915, following the release of the movie The Birth of a Nation, out of the rubble of the long-disbanded and discredited first incarnation of the Klan.

What this shows is that the racist wingnut faction -- amply represented in today's Repugnican Party -- was capable even nearly 100 years ago of deception, dissembling, and outright lying about its purpose, mission and direction.

The more things change... etc.

If you get a chance, read that Wikipedia article about the Klan -- it's fascinating and scary stuff, especially when you realize that at its high point the Klan controlled, through sympathetic politicians, the governments of not only most of the deep-south (aka "red") states (where you would expect it) but also such states as Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana (where an avowed Klansman was actually elected governor), and ... Oregon!

A Question for the "Focus on the Fetus" Crowd

Next time some smarmy Xian glassy-eyed fundo whack-job starts yapping on about the "rights of the pre-born", ask 'em this question:

You are standing outside a reproductive health clinic when it catches on fire. You have only enough time to save five thousand frozen embyos or one live baby, but not both. Which do you choose?

(Thanks to the always-entertaining Al Franken show on Air America radio for this one.)

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Jim Webb Wins Virginia Senatorial Primary!

Read the news stories and exult in victory. And thank you to everyone who pitched in for Jim Webb on my recommendation.

But the battle isn't over. Now it's on to November and victory then. Let's show the Repugnican bastards that Democrats are the true party of national security and support for the troops.

Please bookmark the Jim Webb for Senate page, and think serioulsy about throwing some cash his way. He is exactly the kind of Democrat that we need in the Senate: A smart, involved, and dedicated anti-war veteran.

Kind of like (ahem) me.

And, Finally, Some Good News

In two unrelated stories, we finally get some good news. First, pizza and beer contain ingredients that actively fight to prevent prostate cancer. The tomato sauce on the pizza has long been believed to act as an anti-oxidant that is good for you, and now it turns out that a substance called xanthohumol, found in hops, the main ingredient of beer, seems to thwart the development of prostate cancer. However, researchers say, you'd have to drink 17 beers to get a medically-effective dose.

So ... what's the down side?

In the second story, a recent study has shown that drinking coffee can help to prevent cirrhosis of the liver.

Jeez, it doesn't get any better than this: Who knew that my two major vices would actually turn out to be good for me? On my way home tomorrow, I'll stop at my local watering hole, the Fish Bowl Brew Pub for a nice growler of India Pale Ale, swing over to my favorite coffee merchant, Batdorf and Bronson for some whole-bean Dancing Goatstm blend and drink both of them until I'm the picture of health.

Like I say, it doesn't get any better than this.

Just Trust Us

In a weird circular-reasoning logic, he White House won't -- can't -- defend itself from the charges of illegal wiretapping because to do so would mean that the details of that wiretapping would have to be revealed.

"The president has decided that the program is necessary to protect and defend the United States," according to DOJ lawyer Anthony Coppolino "And that's all you need to worry your pretty little head about, judge," he did not add.

Privacy advocates and constitutional scholars alike have been decrying the domestic spying wiretap abuse since it became known, but this is the first time that's it has made it into court.

Trust us, the government says. We're only doing what it best for you.

It's really beyond me why this whole wiretapping thing was even considered to be necessary. It has never once caught a terrorist, suspected terrorist, or even a street-level vandalizing thug.

And here is why: Go into any convenience story anywhere in the country and you will see a rack of phone cards, for sale to anyone without their having to show any identification. And the way these work is that any calls made on them will not show up as coming from your telephone number. Instead, you use a phone booth to dial a toll-free number, key in your code, and the call looks like it's originating from wherever that long distance provider's server is. No muss, no fuss and no way to trace the originating number.

Drug dealers figured this one out years ago. But I guess the evil lurkers in all of those terrorist sleeper cells in this country are just too fucking stupid to figure it out for themselves.

Jesus, give me a break.

The Big Empty Gesture

When you're plummeting in the polls to the point where even members of your own party look the other way when you enter a room, trying to pretend that they don't know you, it's time for something dramatic. Something that's going to make you look like a leader again. Hmmm, what to do? Gay marriage? Naw, dead issue. Flag burning? It has possibilities, but it will probably take a real flag being burned somewhere to get the drums beating on that one.

I got it. A trip to Baghdad! Easy to do, no airline reservations, and with just a little advance planning the eyes of the world are back on you. The Moron-American voting bloc sees you once more as the rough and tough "bring 'em on" hero you always longed to be, laughing in the face of Fate, fearless in the gaze of death, and suddenly you're back on top again, ridin' high and livin' large.

Now let's all watch the poll numbers rise as though by magic.

(BTW, I'm sure that it's just a coincidence that the very minute Air Force One cleared the US border the stock market staged a dramatic rally.)

Monday, June 12, 2006

Books for New Orleans

I just heard about this. If you have a few good books sitting around just gathering dust, consider sending them to New Orleans so they can restock their library. Sadly, most of their books were destroyed in the Katrina flooding.

So if you do have a few, please send them to:

Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112-2007
Send them "media mail" at the Post Office and the postage won't cost you much. According to The Democratic Party story, the PO might even give you a break on the already-cheap cost to mail them.

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 749 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.



Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Friday, June 09, 2006

Friday Cat Blogging


Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2472 2489
Total coalition forces dead: 226
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1734
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1177
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1137
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 118

It is still 956 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards. Vote Democratic this fall!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Is Ann Coulter Insane?

It certainly looks that way, after she called a group of New Jersey 9-11 widows "witches" and "harpies" in her new book and on the Today Show, among many other venues. If a dog exhibited similar dissociative behavior, he would be shot and his head would be removed for a diagnosis of potential rabies, a/k/a "mad dog" syndrome.

"Mann" Coulter (next time she's on one of those talking head shows, check out that Adam's apple and those man-hands -- yikes!) has made her own cottage industry out of being a stridently weird wingnut, but this time the consensus is that she's gone too far. Even Faux News pundits Bill O'Reilly and Mike Straka are trying to distance themselves from her after her frothing rant about the 9-11 widows who are now professional victims enjoying a little too much the fruits of their husbands' deaths.

So, in honor of Crazy Ann Coulter, here's another rehash of a song parody from last year, this one to the tune of Springsteen's Spirit in the Night:

Fear it in the Night
© 2005 Dennis Mansker

Ann "Thrax" Coulter held her steely dan
Clutched in the fingers of her strong right hand.
She has to use it 'cause she can't get a man,
Even drunk on Saturday night.

Well, Annie likes to slam the Democrats,
She calls 'em traitors and then she calls 'em rats,
She looks like a vampire hangin' out with the bats
Lookin' for a neck to bite.

Along with Mushy Rushie and Shammity,
They'll strip away our freedoms and take our liberty,
We have to fight, but we better fear it in the night (all night),
In the night (all night),
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you.
Fear it in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
If you're a liberal Annie will shoot you.

Ann Coulter is a crazy bitch,
If you're not Republican and you're not rich,
She'll kick you in the head and knock you in the ditch,
Leaving you alone to die there.

Annie wrote "Slander" and it was a lie,
Fox News sang her praises and never asked her why,
Then she wrote "Treason" and they gave her another bye,
And liberals aren't supposed to care?

Crazy Annie would be dancin' on our graves,
There wouldn't be a liberal that she would want to save,
She's such a fright, and you'd better fear it in the night (all night),
In the night (all night),
Oh, you don't know what she can do to you.
Fear it in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Stand up for the left she'll shoot you.

Ann "Voter Fraud" Coulter

After spouting her unforgiving brand of Xian philosophy for years about how the rule of law is supreme, criminals ought to receive the maximum penalties blah blah blah, it is with such a delicious feeling of schadenfreude that I read the news that she is apparently guilty of felony vote fraud in Florida.

Her only response so far is that the liberal elections board in Palm Beach County is suffering from brain damage due to syphilis.

Read the whole story and then follow up with Steven Leser's commentary on it.

Like Leser says, try counting the ironies. Dee-licious.

So all she needs to do now, to be consistent with her own beliefs and statements, is to plead guilty and demand that she be given the maximum prison term for her crime.

Uh huh. That's gonna happen right after blowhard neofascist gasbag Rush "Just-one-more-oxycontin" Limbaugh asks for jail time for HIS felony.

Hypocritical assholes.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

The CIA-Nazi Connection

Here's news that, sadly, does not come as a suprise. The CIA was instrumental in concealing the identities and the whereabouts of top Nazis following WWII in a desperate and cynical attempt to use those Nazis as double agents against the Soviets.

Even Adolph Eichmann was a beneficiary of this misguided largesse. The CIA knew as early as 1958 where Eichmann was hiding, and even what name he was using. But they sat on this knowledge because they were afraid that Eichmann, if he were captured and brought to justsice, would blow the whistle on his buddy, Hans Globke, who was working for the US in Germany coordinating anti-communist activities.

Never mind the fact that Eichmann was the commandant of Auschwitz, personally responsible for the deaths of millions of people. That fact evidently paled in comparison to keeping Globke's skirts looking clean. Even when Eichmann was finally discovered and apprehended by agents from Israel, the US was able to exercise its considerable influence on Israel to keep Globke's name out of the proceedings.

Jeez, doesn't it seem like they could have done that anyway and given up Eichmann to Israel when they first knew his location?

No, I guess that makes too much sense. After all, we're dealing with that 1950s CIA mindset that dicated that the communists in the Soviet Union were so much worse than the German Nazis, who were apparently just "misunderstood".

After all, as we now know, even Prescott Bush, Baby Doc's own grandfather and the founder of the BFEE, made his fortune from his business dealings with the fascist corporatists in the Third Reich. He apparently didn't have any qualms about any untidy and unprofitable concepts such as human rights.

Back to Somalia?

Tromp tromp tromp, the boots of The Empire keep marching. Now it's back to Somalia, but not for revenge (after all, the Black Hawk Down events happened under Clinton's watch -- even though it was Poppy Bush who first sent troops there, another inconvenient fact forgotten by the Repugs when they were howling for Clinton's head over the incident) but to prevent the new government, the Islamic Militia, from creating a "safe haven" for Al Qaeda.

Baby Doc said as much yesterday, if you read between the lines, in a thinly-veiled threat to the new leaders of the country.

Naturally Baby Doc and his minions and handlers in the BFEE weren't at all happy that an Islamic force overthrew the warlords and ended years of lawless slaughter in that benighted nation. And that kind of puts us in the awkward position of supporting the very criminals who were in charge of Mogadishu when the body one of our own soldiers was dragged through the streets for the benefit of international television.

It's a funny world, isn't it? Black is white, up is down, war is peace, and freedom is slavery.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Jim Webb for Senate, Virginia

On Friday I received a telephone call from my good friend Tom Keefe, who was the National Field Director for Veterans for Kerry. Tom lives in the state of Virginia and is now active in the US Senate campaign of James Webb (www.webbforsenate.com). Jim Webb is a fellow Vietnam veteran, fellow Vietnam author and former Secretary of the Navy who is running against a guy named Harris Miller, a professional lobbyist, in the Virginia primary election, which is coming up just next week, on June 13th.

If any of you live in Virginia please help Jim win the primary; if you have friends or relatives living in Virginia, you might want to give them a call or send them an email to urge them to vote for Jim Webb.

And please consider making a donation to the Webb campaign -- his primary opponent, being a professional lobbyist, has lots of money and Jim Webb doesn't. Even $10 will help. Please do it quickly, since there are only seven days remaining until the election.

Here are some of the reasons why Tom Keefe and I, along with many other veterans, are supporting James Webb:

·He has the courage to stand up and lead.
·He has the unique ability to bring "Reagan Democrats" and others, who have drifted away from the Democratic Party back home, to the party of Wes Clark, Mark Warner, and Tim Kaine.
· He is not a life-long, career politician or lobbyist, like Harris Miller. Instead, Jim Webb is a patriot who cares first about the country for which he almost gave his life in Vietnam. As proof of this, Webb gave up a life he loved in order to run for US Senate, simply because he was deeply concerned over the nation's direction.
·As a former Navy Secretary, Jim Webb has tremendous national security experience and credibility in this post-9/11 world.
·Jim Webb alone had the guts to speak out against the Iraq War before the invasion. This shows character and the type of leadership we can expect from Senator Webb. Contrast this with Harris Miller, who continues to refuse to answer whether he would have voted for the resolution that gave the President a blank check to invade Iraq.

Thank you for any support that you can give to Jim Webb in this crucial race.

God, Guns and Gays

Let's see... An illegal occupation of Iraq that keeps dragging on with no end in sight, no "victory" possible, and an American death toll of over 2400 and counting. Children going to bed hungry. Fifty million people without health care. A Walmart economy that continues to add jobs that don't pay a living wage while at the same time "outsourcing" real jobs to India and China. Record high gas prices coupled with record high profits for Big Oil. A ballooning deficit that should be a firebell in the night for the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. A federal government that is out of control and spying on innocent Americans. A culture of corruption that has taken over Congress and the Executive Branch.

Yep, wo do have some real problems in this country. So what's the GOP's answer to all this? Why, it's simple: Remove the so-called "death tax" (which currently affects only those who die with assets in excess of four million dollars, or 0.5% of the American populace), and of course deal with those old tried-and-true issues of gay marriage and flag burning, to be corrected by passing Constitutional amendments to ban them.

Cynic that I am, I can't help but see all of this is some more of that good ole god, guns and gays posturing by the Repugnicans who are anxious to deflect the attention of the Moron-American voting bloc away from the real problems by getting them to focus on those "values" issues that the GOP is so good at exploiting.

But hey, it's a post-9/11 world out there, and if you're not with us, you're with the terrorists. Yikes, there goes one now! It's a flag-burning faggot out to marry your brother, confiscate all of your guns and tax your death!

Weekly "Bush Twins in Uniform" Watch

It has now been 742 days since Jenna and Not-Jenna Bush, the slacker offspring of Preznit Numnutz, graduated from college and they are still not in the uniform of the US armed services.

Why? Because they have other priorities. They are too busy partying down in Georgetown to show their support for the war by enlisting their chickenhawk-child selves into the military service, that's why.

Why can't they be like their royal counterparts in the UK? The Royal Family, unlike the Bush Crime Family, has a centuries-long tradition of honorable military service. Prince Andrew was a combat helicopter pilot in La Guerre de las Malvinas (aka the Falklands War), Prince William, direct heir to the throne, has entered Sandhurst (Britain's West Point), and little brother Prince Harry graduated from Sandhurst in April and could be on his way to Iraq as a cavalry lieutenant.

Those of you who think the proud military tradition of this nation needs to be upheld by those most likely to profit from it, be sure to sign the Buzzflash petition and demand that the Bush offspring enlist, or else bring the troops home. If it's not a cause noble enough for any of the children of the Bush Dynasty to join, then it's not noble enough for our sons and daughters to die for.

And check out The Yellow Elephant blog, which asks the question "It's their war; why aren't they fighting it?"

Friday, June 02, 2006

Friday Cat Blogging


Friday by the Numbers

Total American dead in the Iraq Illegal Occupation: 2463 2472
Total coalition forces dead: 223
Total Iraqi Dead: 100,000+

Number of days since Baby Doc said he'd get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive": 1728
Number of days since the illegal occupation of Iraq began: 1170
Number of days since "Mission Accomplished": 1130
Number of days between Pearl Harbor and the end of WWII: Only 1347
Number of days that the the Vice President has NOT shot a man in the face: 111

It is still 963 days until the end of the BFEE Maladministration -- unless we impeach the whole sorry lot of the corrupt and criminal bastards. Vote Democratic this fall!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Is Haditha Arabic for My Lai?

The body count is smaller, but the similarities are overwhelming. Unarmed civilians, mostly old people, women and children, slaughtered by a force of American soldiers. A massive coverup by the American brass. When the truth finally emerges, massive denial by everyone in a position of authority.

Like so many other similarities between the quagmire in the jungle and the quagmire in the desert, the massacre of civilians at Haditha has a disconcerting resonance with the infamous My Lai massacre of forty years ago.

A notable difference is that this time the Army brass was not able to cover it up for more than a year before the truth came out. But they didn't have good-soldier Colin Powell to help out this time around (Powell was in the Americal Division and helped to cover up the My Lai Massacre -- an almost-forgotten inconvenient fact that I believe was integral to his decision not to run for higher office).

Predictably the wingnuttery are squawking out about the massacre with their usual "we're at war, shit happens" crap -- and oh by the way it's all the fault of the liberal media for reporting it. And of course, Clinton for...well, just being Clinton, I guess.

Once again some low-level grunts will bear the burden -- as they should, if the reports are accurate, as they seem to be -- but those above them who created the climate of violence and the opportunity for murder will go untouched. Instead, the military is instituting something they call "core values" training.

Baby Doc the other day at West Point presumptuously (and preposterously) compared himself to Harry Truman, but he ought to recall one of the things that Harry Truman was famous for: A desk sign that said "The Buck Stops Here".

Der Monkey Fuehrer and his flying-monkey lackey Rummy Rumsfeld are at the top of the heap in America's military. Bush likes to keep reminding us that he's the commander-in-chief and, as The Decider, is keeping Rummy on the job.

That makes both of them responsible and complicit in the deaths at Haditha. When the news of My Lai finally crept to the surface and saw the light of day, it was a turning point in the minds of most Americans who up to that point had either supported the war, or didn't oppose it (those people who "didn't have a dog in the fight" -- i.e., had no one they knew in uniform and over there), and the anti-war movement picked up both mass and velocity as a direct result of My Lai.

Here's hoping that the complacent attitude on the part of those same uninvolved Americans will change with the continuing revelations about Haditha. Call me cynical, but I'm not counting on it. Not when those same people can be lulled to sleep with the belief that Little Lynndie England, The Tiny Terror of Baghdad, was solely responsible for those highly inventive torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib.