thedirtysouth

Oklahoma City

2010-04-20T21:02:00.004-05:00

A couple of years ago I drove by myself to Oklahoma City to see the memorial. This was during March of '08, coming up on the thirteenth anniversary of the bombing. It's a long drive to OKC from Memphis and I had just started a new job, driving a brand new car and I kind of felt like part of my life was ending. When I got into town I didn't go directly to the memorial. I just checked into my hotel and walked around a little on my end of downtown, got some food, had a beer. I was tired. I had worked all night the night before. So I was pretty tired by the time I rolled into town anyway.

The next morning I was kind of bummed looking up at the clouds. I wanted to walk to the memorial but it looked like rain. I was flipping around the television trying to find the Weather Channel to get a look at the radar and check out the forecast. They were predicting rain for much later in the day. Didn't look good to me but I decided to chance it. I asked somebody at the front desk the best way to get to the Murrah Building, I mean the memorial. I felt bad for saying the name out loud. It didn't seem to faze them though, they just handed me a paper tourist map of downtown Oklahoma City. The nice lady at the front desk just circled where the hotel was and circled where the memorial was. Just a few blocks. Off I went.

I'm a huge fan of cities. I like the tall buildings downtown. I like robust public transportation systems. I like checking out the local dining scene. These things interest me. Whenever I walk around in a new city I wonder what is it like here, what are the common themes here. What's the one thing in this city that everyone agrees on. Well in a place like Oklahoma City, which is smaller than Memphis, you know the answer. You know what it's about here. What everyone thinks about everyday. The bombing. And I kept thinking, they had a bombing.

I always think that when people visit Memphis they assume that we all subconsciously have an Elvis song running in our heads. Or an Elvis movie. Or an Elvis story. I mean, I do, but do most people in Memphis? But regardless of what is true or not, we are at least identified as the Elvis city. So I think that's what I was thinking about OKC. They had a bombing.

I'm pretty good with maps so I sort of set my course and took off folding the map away in my pocket. I knew what direction I was going, I knew what side of the street to be on and be looking on. I knew the name of the cross streets I was looking for but I was still thrown for a loop when I got there. There it was, the entryway plaza for the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. It's still there, it's the opposite side from where the truck was parked and exploded. And my first thought was, holy shit. It was like looking at ancient ruins, some relic from the past. And also, I didn't know this was here. My brain was buzzing with a million thoughts.

My immediate thought as I stood there frozen, looking at the plaque bearing the name, right next to the steps, was, if I had stood here on this spot on that day what would it have sounded like? What would it have felt like? Would I have been injured or killed? Would I have ran around to the other side and tried to rescue people?

And there they were, these steps that lead up to the plaza. How many victims took these steps from the sidewalk for the last time that day? I walked up them and I was starting to get emotional. Not outwardly, I wasn't crying or making a scene. I just had to force myself to breath. I had to force myself to walk up those steps. I got up to the top and saw the large planters still there, with trees in them. I was wondering if I wanted to keep going. How much did I want to see I thought? Keep going.

The plaza ends abruptly. Right in the spot where the building stood. You can walk to the edge and look down at what at the time was street level and what today is the public memorial. The first thing you notice is the long reflecting pool. The pool runs parallel to what would have been the building. The pool itself is surrounded by a stone walk way. And directly below are the chairs. 168 of them, one for each of the victims. They are spread out exactly where the building once stood and each chair is located approximately where the people would have been in the building.

I stood up there for a while and I don't know, it was peaceful and it gave me strength. It was like getting a second wind and I felt it was important to be here and see this. You can walk inside the memorial grounds so that's what I did. And it wasn't until I got down there that I realized the reflecting pool runs where the street ran. Which means you can't stand in the exact spot where the the truck was parked and the bomb exploded.

Why did they do this I thought? Are they trying to obliterate history? I wanted to stand in that spot because I wanted to somehow absorb part of the psychic energy of that blast. To pull some of it away from the survivors. To share in the burden somehow. I kept thinking of Lincoln's quote about "the mystic chords of memory that bound our earthly affections" or something like that. I wanted to feel their pain and to let them know that what happened here was not just a crime but an immense national tragedy. Something we all shared in. I walked all the way around the pool.

When I got directly in front of the chairs, I had no compulsion to walk on the grass where they stand. Where the building was. I didn't want to go in the building. I couldn't go in the building. I started thinking about the kids in the daycare. I kept on walking.

I stood at the end of the reflecting pool it was the end closest to the intersection that the truck drove through (I'm not going to use that assholes name) right before it was parked. And then exploded. Later I walked back to the hotel and got in my car and drove all around the memorial. I was obsessed with the exact route the truck took to get there. There was a surveillance camera at an apartment building that caught a glimpse of the truck just a block away on it's way. I stopped my car in front of the apartment building. I looked in my rear view mirror and still I thought, but where was the truck before it got here? I wanted to know exactly.

I figured out it wasn't the interstate exit or the interstate. Or the secluded lake or the storage shed. That's not what I wanted to know. I wanted to know why? Why did this happen? And in the end you go to the memorial and you visit the museum. And the museum is excellent and moving. You see where it happened. You know exactly when it happened down to the minute. But you never find out why. Nobody knows why.

Later that day I sat staring out the window of my hotel room watching it rain it's ass off.

Almost A Year

2010-01-12T01:01:00.001-06:00

President Obama.

For The Bible Tells Me So...

2009-06-07T07:56:00.002-05:00

Two Parties Enter, One Party Leaves. Welcom To The Terror Dome

2009-05-14T07:49:00.002-05:00

I love watching Rush Limbaugh run roughshod over the Republican party. At least the extreme right wing of the Republican party which is all there is to the party now. If those guys think Limbaugh is the answer then they should put him on the ballot in 2012. Put him right at the top of the ticket with Sarah Palin as his veep. If party purity is what they want, it doesn't get any purer than that. Put them on there and let's vote on it. Please.

Here Is The Problem For The Conservative Movement.

2009-05-12T16:44:00.001-05:00

This article says it all.

Welcome To The Space Olympics

2009-01-10T01:33:00.000-06:00

New Favorite Blog

2008-12-17T11:10:00.001-06:00

It's got everything, humor, sarcasm, fuzzy animals. Check it out!

If The Shoe Fits

2008-12-14T23:12:00.002-06:00

A journalist in Iraq threw two shoes at President Bush. NOW do you believe we aren't going to be greeted as liberators? I thought the president demonstrated great agility in dodging the shoe. I'm glad he escaped harm. He would have been a better P.E. instructor. He missed his calling.

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

2008-11-20T20:53:00.000-06:00

Colby Buzzell

2008-11-13T11:31:00.002-06:00

I've probably read 20 plus books on the war in Iraq. One of my favorites is My War: Killing Time In Iraq by Colby Buzzell. It's a soldier's eye perspective of what goes on in Iraq. He's featured today in an article on CNN.

He first started blogging around the same time I started this blog. That was back in the day when right wing bloggers said you were not supporting the troops if you didn't support the war. Called you un-American. Or worse. Colby, posting under the moniker CBFTW was the darling of a lot of right wing blogs. Now that he's come home and spoken out against the war, not so much. Yeah, Colby, Fuck The War!

Swing State Project And 42

2008-10-25T22:10:00.002-05:00

Recently spent three days up in Missouri volunteering with the Obama campaign. Capped that off by going to a rally in Arkansas to hear Bill Clinton rally the troops. More later.

Thedirtysouth Is Definitely For Obama!

2008-10-20T14:28:00.002-05:00

No this is not me but right on! I think this guy is from North Carolina.

The Powell Endorsement

2008-10-20T06:27:00.003-05:00

Of course I was happy about it. And I believe he was right on in criticizing the McCain campaign about the whole Ayers thing. And about his decision to pick Palin. It was a dumb move on his part. Even if the powers that be forced his hand he should have stood his ground.

One thing I think is interesting is this new line re the Powell endorsement that somehow Powell took a swipe at Palin by pointing out the fact that she's not ready. That's not a swipe. Almost nobody in the country is ready for that job. Very few people in fact. So yeah Powell was absolutely right in saying Palin is not ready for the job but so what? She was a good enough sport to go on snl. She seems to have a sense of humor. She can give a good rousing speech. She appears to be a great mom soon to be grandmother. Let's let her go back up to Alaska and enjoy that big ole family of hers. She won't bother us and we won't bother her. After November 4th.

Paging Joe The Handyman.

2008-10-18T00:02:00.002-05:00

Forget plumbing. I need some dry wall work done. The last crew that were in my condo were (how should a liberal put it) ah, part of Mr. Bush's "guest worker" program. And let's just say there was a lack of communication due mainly to the fact that I took meaningless French in high school and college and these guys spoke Spanish. I don't even care that you're not licensed. I just need to know if you can fix a few spots on the wall. I would also like some hardwood flooring installed. About 500 spare foot is all I need. Shoot me an estimate, I promise not to make fun of your stupid bald head.

Of course I'll need to wait and see how big a tax cut I will get next year being that I myself do not make 250,000 a year. On second thought, maybe you should get someone else to come in and do the estimate since you don't seem to be all that good with numbers. Nevertheless I'm sure your better at mixing up and applying joint compound than I am. Thanks dude.

What Would A Princeton Economist Do?

2008-10-09T14:50:00.003-05:00

It's hard to figure out the financial mess I know. I read Paul Krugman's blog which you can find here.

I just want things to settle down. Ugh.

Nail Meet Head ( Newsweek Excerpt On Palin)

2008-10-09T11:38:00.002-05:00

This is from John Meacham's recent cover article.

Here's more from Meacham:

Palin sometimes seems an odd combination of Chauncey Gardiner from "Being There" and Marge from "Fargo."...Is this an elitist point of view? Perhaps, though it seems only reasonable and patriotic to hold candidates for high office to high standards. Elitism in this sense is not about educational or class credentials, not about where you went to school or whether you use "summer" as a verb. It is, rather, about the pursuit of excellence no matter where you started out in life. Jackson, Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton were born to ordinary families, but they spent their lives doing extraordinary things, demonstrating an interest in, and a curiosity about, the world around them. This is much less evident in Palin's case.

"Much less evident" is being somewhat generous in my view but then again I'm just a member of the angry left.

The Problem For McCain

2008-10-08T07:06:00.003-05:00

I don't agree with James Carville when he said this election is over on CNN last night. Although I do think Obama has a better chance of winning than McCain. Here are the three main reasons Obama should win:

Palin: Even some conservative columnist have called for her to drop out of the race. Having Palin on the ticket neutralizes any "experience" argument McCain supporters used to like to use against Obama. She's simply not qualified and putting her on the ticket will probably be viewed as one of McCain's biggest political blunders.

Iraq: This thing that McCain keeps saying about the surge; that it worked and that he was right and Obama was wrong. He keeps hammering away at this. Yes Barack Obama was not in favor of the surge. But later Obama did admit that the surge had succeeded in reducing the amount of violence on the streets. He admitted that. The problem for McCain is this, if the surge has worked, then why can't we leave? It's hard to argue on the one hand that the surge has worked and on the other hand that we can't withdraw. And if we can't withdraw then what has the surge really done? We're not going to bomb and shoot our way to a solution in Iraq. Reconciliation is something the Iraqis are going to have to do themselves, we can't force it. The truth is our presence there does more harm to the situation than good. Armed occupation of a Muslim country creates inherent tensions. We need to get out, militarily. Stay engaged with the Iraqis, but move the troops out as soon as possible.

Economy: Let's face it. We are facing some difficult times. This crisis spans the globe. It took a while for us to get here and it will take a while for us to get out. John McCain talking over and over again about deregulation has not inspired confidence. When this financial crisis started making headlines McCain was caught flat-footed. He suspended his campaign, sort of. Then rushed to Washington, sort of. Then rallied enough Republican votes in the House to pass a bail-out measure, sort of. Now McCain is trying to out FDR Obama by proposing to buy up peoples failing mortgages directly and renegotiate with the buyers? What will his free market buddies say about that one! But it's not McCain's fault. He admits he doesn't know that much about the economy. It is the economy stupid.

So now McCain sends out the Hockey Mom to call Obama a terrorist. He points his finger during the debate and say's "that one." Well John I got news for you. "That one" is leading in the polls including every battle ground state and creeping up on some of the traditional red states. You and Saracuda are going to have to come up with something else besides drill baby drill and the "t" word.

Keating 5 And Why It Still Matters

2008-10-06T15:54:00.001-05:00

Palin Calls Obama "Friend" Of Terrorist!

2008-10-04T18:43:00.002-05:00

At first she was just stupid, now she is a liar. Just when some people might have taken her seriously she turns into a female Karl Rove. Touting a supposed friendship between a seventies radical and Obama.

"Bill Ayers is a guy who did some detestable things when I was 8."- Barack Obama

"The bigger the lie the more people will believe it." - Joseph Goebbels

Swift boating has returned but instead of surrogates spreading the slime, it's the Hockey Mom herself.

Palin Lives To Fight Another Day

2008-10-02T22:11:00.002-05:00

I can admit that she did better than expected. And by doing so a case can be made that she won. Of course she didn't change my mind about who I'm going to vote for and that's the main problem for McCain/Palin. I think mainly what she did was redeem herself in the eyes of so many people (me included) that she isn't in fact as stupid as she seems. No way do I believe that she is the most qualified person, man or woman in the Republican party to be on the ticket with McCain. But, at least for herself she stopped the bleeding.

As for Biden, there weren't any obvious gaffes. I think maybe he laid back too much in order to seem not like a bully. I wouldn't call this a game changer.

As far as the last two Obama v McCain debates: Again I think only something unusual or unforeseen could move the polls in either direction. That's not to say the polls are frozen, certainly they are not. But it's highly unlikely that the debates themselves including the winking Sarah Palin, will change a whole lot of minds.

The economy and the war will determine this election. Not catchphrases, not lipstick, not playful flirting with the camera. Issues matter.

Can't Name One Newspaper? Really?

2008-10-01T09:20:00.002-05:00

It's bad enough she couldn't think of one Supreme Court case other than Roe v Wade, but not being able to come up with the name one newspaper! I'm actually starting to feel sorry for her. I hope Gwen Ifill doesn't ask her any of these "gotcha" questions. Q. What sites on the internet do you visit?

A. We get all of them in Alaska. I visit all of them.

check please!

Straight Talk Express My Ass

2008-09-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

Are You Fucking Kidding Me?

2008-09-29T01:28:00.000-05:00

Funny. For All The Right Reasons?

2008-09-28T19:40:00.001-05:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Let's just keep this in the realm of parody.

Missed Opportunity In Mississippi

2008-09-28T16:15:00.002-05:00

I thought Jim Lehrer missed an opportunity while he was moderating the debate down in Mississippi. According to the latest figures available from the census department, Mississippi ranks 51st out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia in poverty at 20.6 percent of the population. I live an hour away from Oxford MS. I actually lived in Oxford for a year while I was still in high school. This is a place that I'm familiar with. But the rest of the country isn't. And I think the opportunity was wasted. Not just by the moderator. Neither candidate spoke about poverty.

Ole Miss is a beautiful campus. I've been there several times, it's a great place to see a football game. But if you drive just 30 minutes in any direction out of Oxford a lot of people would be surprised at what poverty in America looks like in 2008. I know this debate was scheduled to be about foreign policy and national security but the economy has emerged as the dominant issue lately.

Poverty is an issue that most politicians don't like to talk about because: 1. As a block the very, very poor don't vote regularly. 2. They certainly don't have the money to contribute to any campaign or political party. 3. A sizable portion of the electorate blame the poor for being poor. 4. Even the media doesn't bring it up despite the fact that the largest concentration of reporters in the free world gather right smack in the middle of the poorest state in the union and they themselves don't mention it.

This is not a tree falling in the forest and no one hearing. This is not hearing the tree fall because we ourselves are holding the chainsaw. It's not just Wall Street that needs bailing out.

Funny. But For All The Wrong Reasons

2008-09-28T06:16:00.001-05:00

The Nest Egg

2008-09-27T12:32:00.002-05:00

I was really distraught when I finally got up enough courage to log on to my financial providers website the other day. I quit a job after 11 years and rolled my 401k into a Roth IRA. For me it was a substantial amount of money. At my new job I just started over with a new 401k.

So I log in and start poking around and boom! My IRA has lost 14% of it's value since May. I got a terrible sinking feeling. I became a little nauseous. I started to panic. I immediately called the 800 number. I was starting to sweat.

I nice young man came on and I said hey man I'm a little in crisis mode here, I just need to know if I'm doing the right thing with my money. I mean I put in x amount of dollars at the beginning of the year and now I'm down to y amount. And I know this isn't like a savings account I mean once it's gone it's gone! And could I potentially loose all of it? Should I do something else? If Congress doesn't pass some kind of bail out is your company going to disappear with the rest of my money?

The rep was really good and he talked me down off the precipice. I was ready to start putting everything under the mattress. He explained everything I thought I already knew about market volatility and how I'm only 37 and should take the long view since I won't be wanting any of this money for some 25 years or so. He explained that while the value of my plan has went down, the number of shares I possess is still the same. And those shares will rebound in value over time. He told me to relax. So, I allowed myself to believe him. Confidence is part of the market. And I choose to believe that the markets will go up and continue to go up.
Just like I believe that Congress will fix this mess we are in. And Santa will be here before you know it. And the Easter Bunny will bring another new nest egg in the Spring when the markets soar. Hallelujah!

A Sarah We Can All Agree On

2008-09-25T12:38:00.000-05:00

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

McCains Hail Mary

2008-09-24T16:26:00.002-05:00

In the words of an old Marine aviator I know, McCain has "shit his mess kit." This call to suspend the debate on Friday is just a nakedly partisan move brought on by McCain's sagging poll numbers. If he had truly wanted to present a bi-partisan front with the Obama campaign then he would have gotten all the details worked out behind the scenes and then issued a joint statement. Instead, McCain goes in front of the cameras and says he's shutting down the campaign and wants to put off the debate. And calling on Obama to follow his lead. Follow his lead? Even if he wanted to Obama can't just go along with this because it would look like he's taking orders from McCain. And I think this is what McCain wants. He doesn't want bi-partisanship he wants to be president! And he's trying to shake things up. Just like the hissy fit he through when the party elders told him he couldn't pick Lieberman for veep. Sometimes desperate measures are called for. The economy isn't the only thing in trouble. The straight talk express is going straight to hell.

The one positive thing for McCain is now the media isn't talking about the protective bubble Sarah Palin is in.

Is It Possible Bush Hasn't Cut Taxes Enough?

2008-09-15T13:45:00.002-05:00

"You know, if you let me write $200 billion worth of hot checks every year, I could give you an illusion of prosperity, too." Senator Lloyd Bensten.

Oh course Bill Clinton put it better when instead of the "illusion of prosperity" he used "show you a good time." But that's Bill, and that was last year. And Lloyd Bensten said it back in 1988 when he was pointing out the fundamental weakness of Reaganomics. Or "trickle down" theory. Or whatever they want to call it today.

Bush has taken the theory to a whole new level. Aggressively cutting taxes while at the same time increasing spending. Most of the increase in spending going to Iraq which we shouldn't have done in the first place but that's another story. Even Reagan raised taxes eventually. Oh and Sarah Palin, as Governor of Alaska, raised taxes too. Sometimes taxes are raised. It happens. I agree with Grover Norquist on one thing, it would be totally awesome if none of us had to pay any taxes at all.

I would like to open a checking account with ten dollars and then just start paying my mortgage every month with a check without the burden of actual money coming out of my pocket. This is the Bush economy.

As I watch the dow plummet today, (now down 353 as I write this) I am thinking about the news that came out over the weekend. The news that no doubt has been covered up by the current crisis on Wall Street. The IMF or the International Monetary Fund is getting ready to help another struggling economy. Nope, it's not Mexico or Venezuela. It's not Iraq or Ethiopia. It's the United States of America. The Bush administration has quietly agreed to let the IMF come in and look at the books so to speak. That's where we are now. Usually we are the people to suggest to other countries "maybe you should let the IMF come in and make some suggestions." We're at the point now where we need a bunch of really smart economist to come in and fix what's wrong. And if they're doing this this close to the election things must really be bad. Probably more so than they are telling us.

Lehman Brothers owes 613 billion dollars. But unlike you or I, they can file bankruptcy and walk away without paying. Thanks to that bankruptcy law that yes, Obama voted for and Clinton and McCain and the president signed.

Our country is at risk from these economic policies. Maybe gay marriage and stem cell research aren't the only things we should be worried about. Terrorism isn't the only thing that puts us at risk. It's the economy (again) stupid.

What's Wrong With You

2008-09-02T08:02:00.002-05:00

I don't care that her daughter is pregnant. I don't care! I'm afraid that if McCain some how wins the election and then dies on us we will be stuck with this! She makes light of not knowing whats going on in the world. Seriously, I thought no matter what happened nothing could be as bad as Bush/Cheney. But Jesus Christ already! Who the hell are you people? This isn't the local PTA that you can force the science department to teach intelligent design and make the health class an abstinence only seminar. (How's that working out for you btw?) This is the fucking country we're talking about. God help us!

I Know What Happened!

2008-08-29T18:48:00.002-05:00

John McCain didn't choose Sarah Palin. Everyone else turned him down. Think about it. Romney: He wants the real thing and he's just Biden his time to run again in 2012. And so is Huckabee and so is Guiliani and so is Pawlenty and so is every one else who matters in the GOP. No one will admit it publicly but these guys have given up. They are spotting the White House to Obama and are taking a wait and see how the next four years turn out attitude. And who can blame them. There are just two months and four debates left in this cycle. The train has left the station. It's over. Over.

Here's A Thought

2008-08-18T21:19:00.000-05:00

RIP Black Moses

2008-08-11T07:20:00.001-05:00

One of the coolest album covers of all time. One of the coolest motherfuckers of all time.

A Bad On The River

2008-08-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

Radio conversation during barge collision

Obama Meet-Up In Memphis Yall

2008-07-18T14:12:00.002-05:00

If you live in Memphis and would like to attend our little get together you'll find more information here.

We're also trying to confirm Congressman Steve Cohen attending. They assure us someone from the campaign will be there. If all else fails, there will be a keg. So come on down!

Here's A Fun Holiday Torture Video.

2008-07-04T16:03:00.001-05:00

That Was Then This Is Now. Once A Dick Always A Dick?

2008-06-22T15:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm Just A Bill...

2008-06-08T00:40:00.002-05:00

Scott McClellan Gets Even

2008-05-29T06:26:00.002-05:00

First of all I haven't read McClellan's book and neither have you because it doesn't come out until Monday. But I have seen Dan Bartlett and Karl Rove come out and say they just don't understand what happened to Scott. What in the world has possessed him to say such terrible things about the Bush White House? Well I know. And if you've been reading this blog for the last four years you know too. Scott McClellan was lied to about who was responsible for outing Valerie Plame. AND THEY LIED TO HIS FACE! Now at the time I wasn't sure if someone lied to McClellan or if he was just lying to the American people but I did know it was a lie!

Of course it was a lie. This administration was built on lies. First they tried to lie about being warned that Bin Laden was determined to attack the US. Then, thanks to the 9/11 commission we know the president was given a report titled "Bin Laden Determined To Attack US." He lied! Then they lied about Saddam Hussein either, depending on what day it was, having weapons of mass destruction, or helping Bin Laden plan 9/11. He lied. He lied so much that on the eve of the Iraqi invasion 70% of America thought Saddam did have something to do with it. He lied. Bush said Saddam had tried to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger in the State Of The Union!!! He lied. And he was called on that lie by Joe Wilson in the New York Times. This made them so mad that they outed his wife, a covert CIA operative who worked trying to make this country safer against wmd! She was actually working undercover to protect America against wmd's and they outed her to get to her husband. They lied. And when it came out that this was a plan executed by White House. They lied. They lied to their own press secretary. These fucking people. More importantly they lied to the American people. They lied to get us into a war they have no plan to get us out of. And when people like Scott McClellan tell the truth, they attack. Or when former secretary of the treasury Paul O'Neill wrote that planning for the invasion of Iraq began before 9/11, they attack.

In the coming days I'm sure we'll here quite a bit more about Scott and how he just doesn't seem like himself anymore. I'm sure he does seem different to Rove and Cheney and Dan Bartlett and George Bush. He's different because he stopped towing the party line. He is different because he got out of that fucking hell hole called the Bush administration. And come January 20th, we'll all be rid was these lying ass incompetent fucks!

Obama For President!

2008-05-27T00:38:00.001-05:00

Wilco: Singing About My Life.

2008-05-19T21:29:00.003-05:00

It's NOT Mr. Bush's War. It's His War. And Many More Like Colby Buzzell.

2008-05-09T20:38:00.003-05:00

Return to Sender - Iraq Veteran Gets the Call Again

ColBuzzell

Thursday, May 8, 2008

When I voluntarily enlisted in the Army, I remember asking my recruiter about the fine print on the contract about being called back up to active duty once my enlistment was completed. He assured me not to worry, that every contract said that and it would only happen if "World War III" broke out.

That was a little over five years ago. After serving in Iraq, I elected to use my GI Bill to enroll in a photography course at San Francisco City College. I felt good, and I had a feeling that the days to come were all going to be good as well.

On way out of my building two weeks ago, I checked my mailbox and found a letter from the Department of the Army with "Important Document" printed in all caps on the middle. I immediately felt sick, so I went back to my room, locked the door, grabbed a beer from the fridge and stared out my window for a while. People outside were all wearing sunglasses and walking about enjoying the sun. I took a picture.

I got out of the Army three long years ago, and since then I've never really talked ill of the military, the people in it, or expressed any regrets at all about enlisting. If I had to do it all over again, I honestly would have. Granted, I got lucky and made it back with all my body parts intact. If I hadn't, my answer might be a little bit different than what it is now.

As terrible as this might sound, whenever someone asks me about enlisting, I'm tempted to encourage them. I figure that the more people who enlist, the slimmer the chances that I'll get called back up. But of course this is ridiculous: No one in their right mind would enlist now, whereas I've already signed the papers. I'm now going back to Iraq for a second time because people like me - existing service members - are the only people at the Army's disposal.

Looking back, would I have joined the military if I were doing something that I loved? Or had a job that paid $100,000 a year? Probably not. Those are the men and women I feel that we need to mail these letters to. Let's see what happens when they receive letters telling them to put on a uniform and ship out immediately to the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many people believe that the draft ended the Vietnam War. I'm convinced that reinstating the draft would definitely end this war. Rich, connected people will always find a way to evade mandatory service, but what about the rest of America? The middle class - people with good jobs and nice lives - would perhaps riot if the government even suggested that it expected from them what the Army expects from veterans.

What if there were a war and none of the veterans who were called up showed up?

Every time when I hear about a soldier's death now - which is always reported very briefly - there always seems to be a short mention that it was the soldier's second or third deployment, and now my name might be among them.

I know I won't get any sympathy at all from the "you dumb ass you signed the contract!" crowd, which is fine, but I really was looking forward to applying my GI Bill to photography classes so I could learn how to take pictures. But now, thanks to not enough Americans volunteering for military service, I now have to worry about my picture appearing on the second or third page of my hometown paper with the words, "it was his second deployment" in my obituary.

Colby Buzzell proudly served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-04. He lives in San Francisco and spends his free time going on long walks with his camera. This will be his second deployment. Buzzell blogs at http://cbftw.blogspot.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/08/ED3J10IGLO.DTL

This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle

The Onion Rocks!

2008-04-24T07:09:00.003-05:00

Something Fun Stolen Off The Internets!

2008-04-22T14:25:00.000-05:00

Another Important Political Site From thedirtysouth

2008-04-20T21:31:00.002-05:00

You know, I don't hate Hillary. But I am an Obama supporter.
And I have to admit this is a great site!

Two, ok Three Things.

2008-03-27T23:53:00.002-05:00

I really like the new Black Crowes record. And the new Raconteurs. And even though I live in the state I'm really glad the Vols lost. Fuck UT!

It's Time!

2008-02-03T12:14:00.000-06:00

Let's work! Let's get it done! It's time!
Stolen from Liz at urban addiction blog.

Yeah! and the punchline is...

2008-02-03T05:19:00.000-06:00

White House press credentials

Gannon first attended a White House press conference on February 28, 2003, and there asked a question of then White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. At this time Gannon had never had an article published, and was not associated with any kind of news organization (Talon News had not been created yet[2]). However, Gannon states that he was editor of his high school student newspaper, as proof of having some journalistic experience. [8]

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan later said that there was no breakdown in security and no one intervened on Guckert's behalf to ensure his access, despite the fact that Gannon had been able to get a press pass for the White House using an assumed name. Gannon's response was that the alias Jeff Gannon was a professional name used for convenience, saying that his "real last name is hard to spell and pronounce," and that the Secret Service was aware of his identity.[2]

Journalists have said that it can take weeks to get the kind of clearance Gannon received. The Augusta Free Press reported that its acquisition of a single one-day pass was a two-week process.[9][not in citation given] Furthermore, it was said that, highly unusually, Gannon was issued one-day press passes for nearly two years, avoiding the extensive background checks required for permanent passes, and sidestepping Gannon's inability to gain the necessary Congressional press pass. Gannon applied for a Congressional press pass in April 2004 but was denied one by The Standing Committee of Correspondents, a group of congressional reporters who oversee press credential distribution on Capitol Hill, on the grounds that Talon did not qualify as a legitimate and independent news service.[10] On his resume Gannon said he is a graduate of the Leadership Institute Broadcast School of Journalism, a two day seminar for "conservatives who want a career in journalism."[11]

[edit] Talon News

Fair And Balanced

2008-01-28T23:00:00.000-06:00

As a political junkie I was watching the cable news coverage of the President's State of the Union address. I saw our old friend Dick Morris being interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox. Underneath Morris was the label: Former Clinton adviser. Now people who know about politics know this is true. Morris worked for Bill Clinton during the 1996 campaign. He worked for Bill Clinton right up until the time he was fired. And he was fired for letting a hooker listen in on his phone calls with the president in some random hotel room. This is common knowledge in politics. But to the casual Fox viewer they would just think hey man this guy is some sort of sympathetic Clinton supporter. Right? Well that's what Fox wants you to think. Cause they are fair and balanced.

Later I turned it back over to hear what looked to me like a drunk Chuck Norris stump for Huckabee. Now that was the best thing I saw all night.

Here's What The President Should Say Tonight

2008-01-28T09:55:00.000-06:00

My fellow Americans, as you know I have less than a full year left in office. This year Americans are going to the polls to pick my replacement. And I don't mind telling you I know it's a good time to be running for office. Especially this office. When you are president you make $400,000 a year and you get free health care. I'm talking no deductible! You don't wait in traffic. You don't pay rent. You get free cable. And you can listen in on anybody's phone call you want. It's good to be the President, so long as you can be a dictator.

Now, during this last year I pledge to work with the congress to get a few legislative items passed. The most pressing is this: I need immunity from breaking the law. I know when I ordered people in our custody to be tortured I was breaking the law. And when I ignored the FISA court and spied on American cititzens I was breaking the law. So we got to get some legislation passed that will protect me from prosecution once I leave the friendly confines of the White House. Now sure, I broke the law but I meant well. And as President, laws don't really apply to me anyway. Now, I know that and many of you know that but I don't think many in Congress understand that. So we need to send them a message.

And for all you Americans with less than perfect credit who are struggling to make your mortgage payments every month. Let this be a lesson to you. Those adjustable rate mortgages are a real bitch. Now I'll be sending most of you a check this summer. It won't do you any good as far as you being able to stay in your house but you will be able to go out and get that iphone you've had your eye on for the last year.

Let me conclude by going over some of the themes of my presidency. Stem cells and steroids: Bad. Oil and corporate greed: Good. Thank you all and may God continue to Bless these United States of America.

Thompson "Quits"

2008-01-22T22:06:00.000-06:00

You can't really quit something you never really began. I don't know what Fred Thompson was thinking. Nobody's going to be elected president with a campaign theme of "I don't really want to be here."

On the other hand, I'm pulling for John Edwards, who by the way has run a hell of campaign. But let's face it. The writing is on the wall for this guy too. But, I refuse to make any predictions for the duration of the primary season. It's too nutty and too much fun to watch.

Close Guantanamo Now!

2008-01-11T03:13:00.000-06:00

It was six years ago today that the first prisoners were brought to Guantanamo. And in six years not one person has gone to trial for any crime for which they have been detained. What country does this?

If someone has committed a crime. Charge them and try them in a court of law. Present the evidence and allow them to defend themselves. That is the America I believe in.

775 people have been brought to this legal no mans land. 470 have been released without any charges. Including three British Muslims who were held for three years.

We should transfer them to the US and charge them with a crime. Or send them back to the country they came from. Only 5% of the detainees at Gitmo were actually captured by US forces on the ground in the war on terror. Most of the people were turned in for money, paid by the US, to villagers and local tribesmen settling old scores with rivals. That's how you go from 775 to 405. But this is not how America should behave. Colin Powell has voiced his displeasure saying "we have shaken the belief the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission."

Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice favor shutting down Guantanamo.

It's been six years. Are we really going to have to wait for a new administration to come in and restore our shared American values? We are better than that.

Damn Liberal Media

2008-01-09T04:39:00.000-06:00

Chris Matthews had me BELIEVING Obama was gonna win in New Hampshire. I was believing it! Don't get me wrong I still wanted Edwards to win, or at least do well. But Obama had the big MO! It was his to loose.
I even called some of my Obama friends and told them I was excited. Edwards would be a better president in my book. And I will support Edwards until he drops out. But this is what it's all about for me. The horse race.
And the dems have a lot of good choices. As a matter of fact, the only Democrat I absolutely will not vote for even if they get the nomination is...Giuliani. (ba- dum-dum) Thank you very much.

That's My Boy

2008-01-06T12:50:00.001-06:00

No one works harder for you than this guy. Come on America! Come on New Hampshire!

Iowa

2008-01-04T09:15:00.000-06:00

I guess I should have been more vocal for John Edwards in Iowa. I don't think very many people in Iowa read thedirtysouth. As a matter of fact, not very many people in the world read thedirtysouth. Of course I haven't blogged much lately in the first place and when I did I never came out full force for anybody this primary season. Did I? I tell the people in my real life who I am supporting. Most of those people have been supporting Obama. And congratulations to them and to him. I think Obama would be a fine president.

But no one has spoken out more eloquently or more passionately about the plight of the working poor in this country than Edwards. I got to see Edwards speak here in Memphis a few months ago and he reminded me of an old time country preacher. I know he's selling something. He's selling himself. But he's also selling the idea that to be great in America is not just to succeed in business. It's not just to build a huge mansion. (for which he himself has been derided for in the media and in blogland) It's not just to build an empire of far flung enterprises. It's the idea that helping others is just as important. That service to your community is just as important.

I agree with what Norman Soloman wrote about Edwards the candidate:

[ There have been good reasons not to support John Edwards for president. For years, his foreign-policy outlook has been a hodgepodge of insights and dangerous conventional wisdom; his health-care prescriptions have not taken the leap to single payer; and all told, from a progressive standpoint, his positions have been inferior to those of Dennis Kucinich.

But Edwards was the most improved presidential candidate of 2007. He sharpened his attacks on corporate power and honed his calls for economic justice. He laid down a clear position against nuclear power. He explicitly challenged the power of the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical giants.

And he improved his position on Iraq to the point that, in an interview with the New York Times a couple of days ago, he said: “The continued occupation of Iraq undermines everything America has to do to reestablish ourselves as a country that should be followed, that should be a leader.” Later in the interview, Edwards added: “I would plan to have all combat troops out of Iraq at the end of nine to ten months, certainly within the first year.”

Now, apparently, Edwards is one of three people with a chance to become the Democratic presidential nominee this year. If so, he would be the most progressive Democrat to top the national ticket in more than half a century.]

Now that would be awesome!

But right now, a respectable second in Iowa doesn't do anything for a candidate who has been trailing third consistently in national polls. But there is still meager hope.

Speaking of Hope. Another guy from Hope Arkansas is taking his party by storm. I'm from Arkansas and let me tell you, Huckabee is no Clinton. Amen!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2007-12-25T07:06:00.000-06:00

And a happy dirty south new year!

Good News Bad News

2007-12-08T21:52:00.000-06:00

The good news is Pervis Payne has been issued a stay of execution. A federal judge has issued a stay while the Supreme Court hears a case from Kentucky involving lethal injection. The bad news is his appeal of the trial courts ruling that dna testing not be conducted was denied. Basically the appeals court said he's probably guilty anyway so why do a dna test.

Given the make-up of the US Supreme Court, it's highly unlikely they will find lethal injection cruel and unusual. But you never know.

Pervis Payne

2007-12-06T02:20:00.000-06:00

I remember Pervis used to wear his church shoes to band practice. Sweat pants and church shoes. He wasn't being cute. That's all he had. He marched in those shoes.
There is no problem. He didn't do it. He had no money. He waited for his girl friend. He did not just get bored. He did not rape and murder a woman and her two kids. The state says he raped her and then he murdered her and her two kids. One of them lived. . why? eh? why?why? why? why?
What are we doing here?
The state wants to...a week from now. what now..? What do I do?
Has it been delayed? I hope so.

How Do You Stop An Execution?

2007-11-18T21:34:00.000-06:00

I was talking to a friend of mine from high school recently. Someone who knew Pervis Payne as I knew him; as a friend. It was then that I found out a date has been set for the State of Tennessee to execute him. December 12, 2007. What do we do? How do you stop an execution?

Since I first mentioned Pervis Payne on this blog I've received a few emails from people on the subject. Some say fry the motherfucker! Some say they speak to him regularly in prison and that he has changed their lives. I met him when I was 13.

Back then I was in 8th grade, a drummer in the school band. The high school back then was so small the band director recruited a few 8th graders to help fill out the band. So I was one of those lucky few. You would not believe the characters around the drum line back then. Our section leader was a 21 year old black man who wore dangling earrings and Beatle boots. He spoke in metaphors like a hipster prophet. He was our Moses leading us to the promised land. I was 13 years old and you couldn't tell me shit. I was in the high school drum line.

But those first few days for me were rough. I was a scrawny little kid with a face full of pimples, bad hair and bad teeth. I was as shy as I was mortified to open my mouth. The first upper classmen to recognize how scared and out of my element I was was Pervis Payne. During those first few days of my first band camp ever, when it was hotter than Hades out, and I was struggling to learn how to just walk with a drum strapped on the front of my pitiful frame, it was Pervis who put his arm around me. He said to me don't worry little man, you're amongst friends here.

I thought it was the beginning of some awful hazing ritual because this guy, while not as tall as our section leader, was way more powerfully built. Pervis worked out all the time and when he put his huge arm on my shoulder I had no idea what was about to happen. But what he was doing was letting the rest of the guys know they better not fuck with me. And that's all it took because after that, everything seemed easier, even marching with that damn drum!

As I said before, being in a drum line is like being in a family. We all watched each others backs. At least at the time we did. Needless to say I got through that year and went on to become section leader myself. Later I was able to go to college in large part because of the band scholarship I received.

But I wonder what did Pervis get out of the drum line? I know he didn't learn that a good way to pass the time waiting for his girlfriend to get home is to rape his girlfriends neighbor, while her kids are there, in the middle of the afternoon, and then try to "cover it up" by killing everyone in the apartment. I know he didn't do that.

Earlier this year I also wrote about Judge Jon P Colton denying a request by Pervis and his lawyers to test for dna any evidence that the state still has. His lawyers believe that the sperm residue found inside the victim will be that of somebody else. The victim's boyfriend at the time testified that he spent the night with her the night before she was murdered. He testified they had sex. This was never mentioned at the murder trial mind you. This came out after Pervis was sentenced to death. THE JURY THAT CONVICTED HIM NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THE BOYFRIEND! And it was never brought up in court anywhere, it was part of a deposition by Pervis' subsequent legal team. It's a shame that somebody started to do a little digging after the fact.

Isn't this what the legal system is for? Isn't this what appeals are all about? Why not do a dna test?

I told my friend Charles, we have to go to the media and stir up political pressure. But the truth is nobody cares. They don't care if he's guilty or innocent. And if they execute him only his family and the few friends who remember him will shed a tear. I know some of them. I'm among them.

But what do we do? How do you stop an execution?

The Surge Is Working! Or Has Worked! Or Something To That Effect!

2007-09-22T13:50:00.000-05:00

Of course this is the message of the White House spin machine delivered by it's very own hand picked general, before congress, God, and everybody. Much like Colin Powells testimony to the UN in 2003. Testimony Powell later said he regretted. And he regretted it because it was full of lies. Lies designed to sell a war.

Most Americans now realize they were lied to. Deliberately by the president and vice-president. And no matter how many generals they trot out we just aren't going to believe them. It defies logic to suggest that General Petreus gave congress his own completely independent assessment of the surge in Iraq. Even before he was finished testifying the president was giving a speech saying he accepted the generals recommendation that the surge was working and now some troops can come home. He didn't need time to look it over with the Secretary of Defense and the vice-president, he just accepted it huh? Right. Of course he accepted it, he wrote it! Or his people wrote it.

I have a question. If the surge is such a success, why not continue it? Why not expand it? Why not make it official policy until there really is a stable secular democracy in Iraq? I'll tell you why. Because just like this war from the beginning it's a lie! The surge is not sustainable for one thing. This rotation of 30,000 thousand troops coming home over the next year has to happen. So they just spin it to seem like it was all part of the plan from the beginning.

The surge was supposed to provide the security on the ground to allow the formation of a stable political structure in Iraq. As soon as the surge began, the Iraqi parliament went on vacation. Of course they had good reason to go on vacation. Aside from the death squads and IED's, as White House spokesman pointed out, "It's hot in Baghdad in the summer!" So I suppose the heat may slow down the political process a bit. Right.

But nobody wants to talk about the policy. They want to talk about MoveOn.org's ad against the general. Of course the people most up in arms about it are the same ones who gladly stood behing the Swift Boat ads attacking John Kerry in 2004. The substance, the policy, the reason's behind those policies, are never really discussed. The president gives us a general who says things could be better but they are not so bad as they once were.

The president himself goes on television to tell us that when he leaves office, there will still be well over 100,000 American service men and women in Iraq. In other words, he's not ending shit. President Bush doesn't want to admit he failed. And he was wrong for invading Iraq in the first place. He just buying time now.

Whoever is elected in 08 will spend their first two years undoing the horrible policies of the Bush administration. And it's not just Iraq. Whether it be a Democratic of Republican administration they will: Get us out of Iraq. Allow funding for stem cell research. Either reinstate the Kyoto accords or otherwise restrict the release of carbon in the atmosphere. And that's just for starters.

As for Bush, he may put off the withdrawal from Iraq. But he will never escape the harsh judgment of history. A horrible president. One of the worst. Maybe the worst ever.

Goodbye Karl

2007-08-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

I remember before the 06 midterms, Rove was doing an interview with NPR's Robert Seigel in which Mr. Seigel asserted that Rove's own rosy forecast for the upcoming congressional elections may be on the optimistic side. Of course Rove did what Rove always does, he attacked. He accused Seigel of "exhibiting a bias" when interpretting polling data. Seigel stated that he was looking at the same polls Rove was looking at and the math pointed towards disaster for the Republicans at the polls. At which point Rove asserts "you're entitled to your math but I'm entitled to the math. And they call this man a genius.

Rove was good at strategy but not at policy. He didn't out think anyone. He was just willing to do whatever it took to win. Like leaking Valerie Plames name. Or in 2000 in South Carolina push polling John McCain right out of the nomination by saying he fathered an illegitimate black child. Or orchestrating the firing of US attorneys who don't play ball. The architect. Indeed.

He was the architect all right. It is his political philosophy that has governed the government. The facts don't matter. Winning is everything. Power is winning. He is the architect of the doomed. Of the failed Bush administration. And like a rat scurrying from a sinking ship he's running away. But more likely being pushed away. Certainly not by Bush. But by the realist in the GOP. Who want to salvage 2008. It's not just the presidency we are voting on. Several key senate seats are up. And the house will be in play once more. Rove is a liability to the party. They can't afford another 06 in 08.

Obviously the dems have a lot of work to do. The gop will not concede anything, especially not the white house. We got a long way to go till November 08. The gop will continue cleaning house. Rove is gone. Gonzales you're next. Cheney, watch your ass.

The Case Against Bush

2007-07-04T13:31:00.000-05:00

I mentioned not too long ago that the President should probably go ahead and pardon Scooter Libby for his role in leaking Valerie Plame's name to Judith Miller and others in the media. I believed then as I do now that Libby was doing what he thought was the right thing. Protecting the President and the Vice-President. He was protecting them all the while he was being charged for the crime that ultimately the President and the Vice-President should pay for. It is now time to remove George W Bush and Dick Cheney from office.

You will find, even today, folks still willing to say that Valerie Plame was not a real covert operative. That the case against Libby should not have been brought in the first place. What these naysayers fail to realize, or they just don't want to realize, it was the CIA, not the Democrats in Congress, who brought forth the referral. It was the CIA that told Fitzgerald that their employee, Valerie Plame, was indeed covert. That her identity was protected and security had been breached. It was the CIA, not the Democrats who asked for the charges.

Much has been made that Scooter Libby was not charged with leaking Plames name. He was not charged with violating the law that the CIA originally referred to. This is true. Prosecutor Fitzgerald addressed this very issue to the jury. Libby wasn't charged, because Libby told the FBI and other investigators that he heard the name Plame from reporters he was talking to at the time. He lied. Scooter Libby lied. This is what he was charged with. And because he lied to the FBI in the course of an official investigation, he was also charged with obstruction of justice. He was ultimately found guilty of perjury, and obstruction of justice. Because he was lying Fitzgerald could not get to the leaking part of the case. And the only other witness was well, Dick Cheney, and he aint talkin'. Except when he visits the White House to tell George Bush what to do. Like invade Iran.

And invasion is really where this all began. WMD's. Namely Iraqis trying to buy Uranium from Niger. The president presented this story as "fact" in a State of the Union address. And this is where more sand has been thrown in your eyes.

Joe Wilson went to Africa to investigate this Uranium story. He quickly realized the documents were crude forgeries and the story was demonstrably false. And he was right. And nobody thinks this story is true anymore. Although you might read claims from right wing nuts to this day on other blogs. The next grain of sand is this story that Wilson claimed he was sent to Africa by the Vice-President personally. This is another lie. And the right just uses this lie to muddy the waters. "If Wilson lied about that then what else is he lying about."

Which brings us to Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. It was the Vice-Presidents office who made the request to the CIA that they look into this Uranium in Niger story. Cheney's office ask the CIA to look into the story. They didn't ask Joe Wilson, and he didn't claim Cheney did. Another favorite right wing talking point is the whole "it was Valerie who sent her husband to Niger" claim. She was part of a fake company set up by the CIA. It was called Brewster Jennings. They bought and sold weapons and material for making weapons. It was a real company to everyone else in the world, except if you were a covert agent working for the CIA. So yes, it is possible that she was asked about Uranium and Niger and very likely recommended her husband for the job.

The right sees a conspiracy here. But it doesn't add up. It was the Vice-President who initiated the investigation. And ultimately someone besides Valerie Plame had to give the final OK to go. But the most important thing to remember is back then we were all on the same team. Supposedly. We wanted to know the truth. We were on a quest for the truth and Joe Wilson found the truth. Iraq didn't try to buy Uranium from Niger. Aren't conspiracies designed to hide the truth. The truth came out.

And this is where the real conspiracy begins. This is how you get to a place where the Vice-President can declare he is not part of the executive branch. This is where the Vice-President won't release the visitor logs to his residence. And he won't tell us who was on the secret energy task force. But if the truth gets out...

Country be damned. This is when you out CIA operatives to try to silence and discredit her husband. Because the truth is not welcomed in this administration. Nor is the law. Nor any check on executive power. The constitution does not apply.

The only way to stop them is remove them both from office.
1. When they declare they have the right to ignore existing statutes and the Constitution by eavesdropping on our phone calls, reading are mail, and our email they should be impeached and removed.

2. When they declare the right to torture people in our name they should be impeached and removed.

3. When they declare the right to grab any human being anywhere in the world and take them to secret prisons to be tortured, or worse, they should be impeached and removed.

4. When they abandon the writ of habeas corpus, refusing any sort of judicial oversight for whatever they do with anyone, citizen or not, they should be impeached and removed.

5. When they lie to get us into a war they benefit directly from, they should be impeached and removed.

6. When they pay private security firms huge amounts of money to act essentially as mercenaries in Iraq and at the same time skimp on medical services for our volunteer military soldiers and airmen here at home they should be impeached and removed.

7. When they place the corporate hacks who have done the worst of the polluting in the first place in charge of the agencies that look after our environment, they should be impeached and removed.

8. When they fire US attorneys because they will not bring political prosecutions and replace them with their own cronies they should be impeached and removed.

9. When they leak the name of a covert CIA operative to silence critics of their murderous and greedy regime, they should be impeached and removed.

10. When they have become the worst administration in our country's history they should be impeached and removed.

J. F.

2007-06-18T06:54:00.000-05:00

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Chicago Poems. 1916.

1. Chicago

HOG Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders: 5

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys.
And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again.
And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger.
And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. 10
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,
Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking, 15
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding,
Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth,
Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs,
Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, 20
Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse. and under his ribs the heart of the people,
Laughing!
Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Been thinking about this city lately.

State Of The You Know What...

2007-06-05T18:47:00.000-05:00

Mr. Libby, go to jail, go directly to jail. Do not pass go, but you will need to drop off $250,000. I still think it a long shot that Libby does more time then Paris Hilton. Bush will pardon him. And I don't think that would be the worst thing Bush has ever done. After all, Libby took a bullet for him; he owes him one.

I was trying to watch the Republican debate, Jesus! These guys still bring up evolution like it's a political hot potato. What century are these guys living in?

Which Of These Women Did More Damage To The Country?

2007-05-29T11:30:00.000-05:00

I suppose it really depends on how much kool-aide you drink on a weekly basis.

They both have been attacked by the left for different reasons. Cindy, for attacking Democrats who keep caving in to the President over war funding and timetables. Monica was attacked for being a religious nut who politicized the hiring of career professionals at the justice department.

Of course, I've never read anyone say they would punch Monica Goodling in the face if they ran into her on the street. That is a common theme when discussing Cindy Sheehan on some blogs.

They Don't Even Want To Know The Truth

2007-05-23T02:46:00.000-05:00

"The convicted defendant requesting postconviction DNA analysis is not provided a presumption of innocence and this court need not ignore all the other proof supporting conviction."

This was the ruling of Judge John P Colton Jr, a criminal court judge here in Memphis. Of course the petitioner was Pervis T Payne, my high school friend and convicted murderer. It seems to me the judge is saying he doesn't care what the dna test might show. The judge believes he's guilty so go ahead and execute him? I read about this the day it was issued, this ruling. And I just didn't have the strength to write about it. Nothing seems to do any good. I keep trying to draw attention to this but to no avail. Why not do a dna test?

I guess because if the test came back negative for Payne's semen then the prosecution theory of a rape gone bad would fly out the window. And the state would have to admit that they locked the wrong man up for the last 20 years. And the Millington police department would have to admit that they botched, maybe worse than that, framed an innocent man. I guess it's all academic now. Or soon to be. We can discuss it over his grave I suppose.

This whole thing makes me want to fucking puke.

Gonzales A Go Go

2007-04-19T00:25:00.000-05:00

Alberto Gonzales is set to testify today before Congress. I believe there will be more Republicans calling for his removal very shortly. My prediction is he won't survive in office past May. Thank God for C-Span.

Update: I was right. He's done. More calls for his resignation today. By all accounts, his testimony not going well.

Virginia Tech

2007-04-17T02:47:00.000-05:00

I've read several news accounts. The students quoted are asking the same question I am. Namely why was the campus not locked down after the FIRST two students were shot and killed on campus? Why?

There's been a double homicide. There is a suspect, but he hasn't been apprehended yet. What am I missing? I heard the pathetic excuses offered up by the University President and the campus chief of police, who, btw looks to be in way over his head.

It may be too soon for this. I'm just ranting in the middle of the night...

Big Media Eating Its Young (or old in the case of Imus)

2007-04-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm a Howard Stern fan so of course I hate Don Imus. But honestly, I never even heard of the guy until I heard Stern call him a geriatric media whore. Here's my take on the whole thing. There are seven large multi-national companies that control 90% of the media output in this country. Now these companies exist for one reason only - to sell advertising. Now the reason Imus was fired was not because he called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy headed ho's", but because the major advertisers started to pull their ads from his program. Imus likes to style himself as a Maverick. But make no mistake, he was a big media whore, slopping it up with the rest of the conglomerations. The fact that he is a victim of a system that he himself helped to create is just funny.

The real losers in all this are we the consumers of news who have to pick and choose and search online and in various "outside the grid" publications to get to the truth of what is happening in our country and the world. After all it was our corporate owned media who beat the drums of war for the Bush administration in 2003. Even the so-called liberal New York Times, with Judith Miller, breathlessly warned us of WMD's and mobile weapons labs, and Uranium from Niger ect, ect.

Of course, a few of these conglomerates also have manufacturing interest in the arms industry. And war has always been very good for business.

Vonnegut

2007-04-13T13:58:00.000-05:00

Stolen from This Modern World.

Look Who's Not Supporting The President

2007-03-27T22:23:00.000-05:00

Republicans. Namely Senate Republicans for refusing to filibuster the non-binding time limits set for troop withdrawal in Iraq. The American people feel like the war has gone on too long. They feel like the war has been mismanaged. They are not hopeful for what lies ahead in Iraq. You know who knows this? The folks on both sides of the isle in the House and Senate who have to face reelection, either in '08 or '10.

You know who doesn't face reelection ever again? W.

So he's on his own.

Last week I speculated that Harriet Miers was about to be thrown under the bus because of the US attorney firings. My how things have changed. She's not the only one.

Alberto Gonzalez! Come on down! You're the next contestant on - on...on...You're Fired!

Things have gone bad for this White House not because of bad luck. Not because of partisan wrangling. Not because certain members of their own party haven't been on board. Things have gone bad for this President because George W Bush does not know what he is doing. Things have gone bad because George W Bush is incompetent. Things have gone bad because George W Bush is a liar. The end of his presidency began the day he sent troops into Iraq. Because he lied to get them there. He sent them there with no plan to secure the peace. And he sent them there with no plan to get out. Worst president ever.

Well, There's Always Next Year, Even For You Dorsey

2007-03-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

I chose your picture because you represent both the future, and the past of Tiger basketball. The future because next year you'll be a senior, a team leader, and a spokesman. And as a spokesman, I hope you don't tell everyone within earshot that you will shut down the big man you're going against in the next game. The bad news is - you got schooled yesterday and were made to look foolish. The good news is you got schooled by a lottery pick. Hopefully coach told you to worry about your own game and not the guy you play tomorrow. And mostly because of you, your tomorrow won't come until around November.

Enough jokes. We got five returning starters on a team with back to back elite eight showings. Coach Cal is promising not to go to Kentucky. (not that they've asked officially) And we've got a couple of real blue chips coming in the fall. Things could be worse in Tiger nation. It was a good season.

Memphis Lays Down The Law!

2007-03-23T07:24:00.000-05:00

Haters keep on hating. Especially that guy I kept running into on Bourbon St. last weekend who kept going "Acie Law man! Acie Law!

Yeah, man he's real good. And now his season is over.

Elite Eight Bitches!

Go Tigers Go!!

"Hey Randy! Screw You!" RIP Larry "Bud" Melman

2007-03-22T03:24:00.000-05:00

I could never really put my finger on why his Letterman appearances were so funny to me...but they were. Especially the "guy who thinks my name is Randy bit" so stupid it was funny!

Subpoenas And Such

2007-03-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

Bush and the people who handle him always put their supporters in the most awkward of positions. Harriett Miers is exhibit #1. When Bush wanted to give her the ultimate patronage job - Supreme Court Justice, conservatives howled because she wasn't "one of them." Although, she probably would have voted exactly as she was told once on the high court. The woman is nothing if not loyal. Now the conservative are forced to defend her because of her kooky idea of firing all 93 US attorneys and replacing them with political hacks.
Of course, it was Rove's idea, but she's the enabler. Just like outing Valerie Wilson was Rove's idea. They made Libby the enabler/sacrificial lamb. So, expect Rove not to testify. Or at least expect the White House to fight the subpoena tooth and rusty nail. They know they can draw this out the length of the presidency and they intend to.

But Miers on the other hand, may be offered up to appease the moderates on both sides. And to assure the Guiliani and McCain campaigns that this thing will "go away." Put on your martyr clothes Harriet Miers. Just as easily as they dumped your nomination for the Supreme Court, they are about to dump you entirely onto the Senate Judiciary Committee. Do us all a favor. Stop with the blind loyalty to a dangerous and dangerously stupid president. Testify against these assholes. Name names. Give them Rove. Give them Gonzales. Hell, be a hero and give them the whole presidency. It's never too late.

Look, I understand the concept of appointed US attorneys serving at the pleasure of the President. I get it. But to fire at least eight of them, in the unusual manner these guys were fired, and then claim they were fired based on non-existent performance reviews fits a pattern. These guys were fired because they didn't succumb to the pressure to harrass Democrats in their districts. Plain and simple. So if you're going to fire people in ostensibly non-political jobs for political reasons at least come clean about it. Or better yet, don't do it.

This administration lies without thought. It lies about war and the reasons for war. And even lies about whether the Vice-President went to the hospital on a routine check-up or because his leg was literally killing him. It lies about social security. It lies about prescription drugs. All they have are lies. But the truth is starting to get out, that's why no one believes them anymore.

You Did Good Tigers

2007-03-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

My beloved University Of Memphis Tigers went down to New Orleans and won their first two games in the big dance. Sweet Sixteen y'all!

I went to the games to show my love for the Tigers, but also to visit New Orleans again. This was my first time since Katrina. I have to say there seems to be a determined effort by the locals to get on with it. In the parking lot of the Superdome, local college kids were volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. They were building homes right there in the parking lot. A local cab driver I talked to seemed to have a tired resignation about him when I asked about the recovery. (Probably from all these damn tourist asking about the recovery.) But you could tell he was optomistic. Upbeat even, about the future of his wonderful city.

The French Quarter looked pretty much the same. But that's the thing, the French Quarter is just a part of New Orleans. I caught glimpses of some of the more devestated areas from the Interstate. Vast neighborhoods that no one can live in. You feel kind of helpless just looking at it. You ask yourself what you can do.

And there are some things you can do. You can be like those kids in the parking lot. Donate. Volunteer. Or you could go there. Go there and spend your money. Lord knows they could use it.

My overall assessment is this: The spirit of New Orleans has not gone away. The locals still have that great sense of humor. You see a lot of FEMA jokes on the t-shirts now. (FEMA - Find Every Mexican Available) Or a local favorite. (Drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was gone.)

So my Tigers went down to New Orleans and they did good. And the city itself, well it gets a little better everyday.

GUILTY!

2007-03-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

I wrote that just after I heard the news of the verdict. But after thinking about it, I realize that he may not ever see the inside of a jail cell. All Ted Wells has to do, Libby's lawyer, is keep him out of jail until the day after the 2008 election, some 19 months from now. I would bet shortly after, maybe even the last day, Bush will give him a pardon. And you know what, he probably should. Libby did his duty. He didn't rat anybody out, least of all the Vice-President. Everybody knows what happened here. History will be the judge.

The West Memphis Three

2007-02-21T12:27:00.000-06:00

I remember lying in bed one morning it was 1993, the clock radio was playing. I knew it was my girlfriends clock radio because I never let the actual radio wake me up, I always used the "beeping" part of it. I was already awake, staring at the ceiling. And that God-awful top 40 station came on with that God-awful morning zoo bullshit. They had some serious news that morning.

Three young boys had been found murdered across the river in West Memphis. They were naked. Their bodies were stabbed numerous times. At least one had been sexually mutilated. All three had their hands tied behind their back.

My hair stood on end. The ceiling began to spin.
"What the fuck!"

"Holy Shit!"

"West Memphis?"

These were very disturbing facts to say the least. But that was just the beginning. In the weeks that followed. The crack detective squad of the West Memphis police department would come up with some suspects and a theory of the murders that would knock your socks off.

It seemed, right under every ones nose, a group of three disaffected young teenage boys had formed a satanic cult right there in Crittenden County Arkansas. They started off by meeting in remote places, spray painting pentagrams and the number 666 on a few overpasses and train trestles. They wore black trench coats and Metallica t-shirts. Then the theory alleges they started mutilating stray cats and dogs in ritualistic fashion. And then after a time, perhaps because Satan himself told them to, they grabbed three eight year old boys off the street as they rode bikes together. Pulled them into the woods and killed them.

At the time I thought - "a satanic cult huh?" "What?"

But then, the local paper reported they had a confession from one of the killers. So that's that right? Bullshit.

Christopher Byers, Steven Branch, and Michael Moore are the eight year old victims in this case. They were running buddies. They all rode bikes together. All three of them had a dog at home. I grew up pretty much the same way, about 130 miles South of where they lived. And about 14 years apart. I'm sure a lot changed over the years. But not much changes in Arkansas.

I work with a guy who was roughly the same age as the victims were in 1993. He's from neighboring Marion in Crittenden County. I asked him about the murders. I asked him if he thought the guys who were arrested for it were the right guys? His answer made me think of my own hometown, back when I was eight: "Everybody knew they did it. They bragged about it up at the ball field." In the rural dirtysouth "the ball field" is THE gathering spot for families on most nights during the summer. Especially families with younger kids. It's a place where people gather watch the kids play and talk about whats going on in the world. The ball field is the main place (outside of church) where different families mingle. And like any good meeting place, there's always plenty of gossip. Back in June, 1993, there was only one thing on every ones mind; Who killed Steven, Michael, and Chris? So young. So innocent.

Where,in a town of less than 30,000,could evil come from? How could it happen here? Who would be capable of such a thing? The police where asking themselves the same question and in a small town like West Memphis, the pressure was on to solve it and solve it quickly. It wouldn't take them long.

Pervis T Payne

2007-02-07T05:33:00.001-06:00

Petitioner Pervis T. Payne was sentenced to death in a Tennessee state court for the murderof Charisse Christopher and her daughter Lacie Christopher.

I went to school with Pervis. He did not do the crime. He did not commit murder.

The case against him is wrong. Please!!! Look at the facts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to school with Pervis. I know Pervis....or knew Pervis.

First: Look at the time of day!!

The state wants you to believe that he raped this woman. And to cover up the rape, he stabbed her thirty times. And stabbed her daughter. And stabbed her young son. And he decided to do all of this in the middle of the afternoon in June of 1987.

The rape is key here according to the prosecution. This is the motive. Here's the problem. Her boyfriend told the prosecutors that he spent the night with the victim the night before the murders happened. He acknowledged that he had sex with her. The jury that convicted Pervis never heard this statement. It wasn't shared with Pervis' court appointed lawyer. Who, by the way, was defending his first capital murder case. But the fact that there may have been semen in the victims vagina was brought up.

And Pervis is alleged to have done this at or about 2 in the afternoon. A woman he barely knew. And in the afternoon. With her two kids home. He just went in and did this. With no criminal record whatsoever. He just decided to do this.

I knew Pervis. And I'm not talking about I went to the same school as he did and ran into him in the halls; I KNEW him. We were in the drumline together. And those of you who've been in the drumline know what I mean when I say we were all brothers.

He was different. It came out in his trial that he had an IQ of 78. He was gifted musically. He could sing like a bird. He was in the drumline but he couldn't really read music (what drummer can right?) we taught him his parts by rote. But he had no problem learning them. He was gifted. And gentle.

He was older than I was. When I first got in the drumline, after a particularly grueling day in which I was nervous and anxious, and trying to get with the program, he took me under his arm, and told me, "don't worry about it man, you're amongst friends here."

I have pictures of Pervis. And not just yearbook photos. Actual snapshots. He cared about the way he looked. He worked out incessantly. The muscles on his biceps and shoulders were so over developed that he had stretch marks. Marks that the jury were told were scratches. Despite the fact that he was never examined by a doctor when he was arrested.

He didn't do it. But. It may be too late. The Governor of Tennessee just put a moratoriam on executions in the state. It's suppossed to last three months while they go over the procedures to make sure they pass constitutional muster. This gave Pervis a repreive of sorts. He was scheduled to be electrocuted April 11th. Now he has until at least May 2nd.

He's been in prison since 1987. I used to know him but I don't know him now. I wonder what being on death row for twenty years does to a person.

I've never been to see him. Never written him a letter. Never really talked about him much. It wasn't until recently that I even tried to do any research on the case. And I was his "friend."

Students of the law have heard of his case. "Payne" went to the Supreme Court. A ruling about victim impact statements. Whether he was guilty or not was not in question. He's not.

The state has taken 20 years of his life. And now they want the rest.

There are three victims in this case. Charisse, Lacie, and come this summer, Pervis T. Payne. None of them deserve their fate.

Here's why he was arrested, charged, and ultimately sentenced to death. He was at the scene. He did have the victims blood all over him. He did run from the cops.

He was at the scene because he was waiting on his girlfriend to get home. She lived in the same apartment complex as the victim. He told police he heard a scuffle going on in the victims apartment. He witnessed a man run out of the complex. He gives the police a description. The police weren't interested. They had their man. Pervis T. Payne.

He told police that he went to the victims door, he said the door was partially opened. He knocked and announced "I'm coming in." He found the victim, sitting on the floor in her kitchen, her back leaning against a cabinet door. Her two kids were there with her. The daughter, Lacie was not moving and appeared to be dead. Pervis told the police that Charisse was not dead. She looked up at him. She couldn't talk. The knife was still in her kneck. She made feeble attempts to pull it out. Pervis told police "she wanted me to help her, her mouth move, but no sound came." He pulled the knife out. Her young son was not dead. He was sitting there in the kitchen, on his knees crying. Pervis told the police he was panicked and didn't know what to do. He knew he should do something but couldn't function. He picked up the phone in the kitchen. Panick stricken, he didn't think to dial 911. He just pushed a bunch of random numbers. He was freaked out.

So his prints were on the phone and the murder weapon. Why would a guy rape and murder a woman, murder her daughter, and attempt to murder her young son, in the middle of the afternoon, and on top of that, use the victims phone to make no phone call in particular. Why?

He couldn't make the phone work. He told Charisse, "I'm going to get help for you."

Some one else at the complex heard the struggle in Charrisse's apartment and did call 911. The arresting Millington police officer testified: "I observed [Payne] through a window in the landing of a stairwell. He bent down and picked up a duffle bag, and proceeded down the stairs out the front door of the building. When I approached, the defendant seemed agitated, and did not obey commands to put the bag down. He appeared to have blood on his shirt and scratch marks on his arms."

Pervis threw his duffle bag at the officer and ran. It was the worst mistake in his life. They found him in the attic of his sisters house a few blocks away, he literally had shit his pants. He was so nervous he was foaming at the mouth.
"I didn't kill no woman" was all he had to say.

The police had there man. The prosecutor had his man.

There was no actuall semen found in the victims vagina. Just the chemical suggestion that semen had been present. There was no dna test. The victims mother testified about how much her grandson cried and missed his mother. This victim impact statement was part of the Supreme Court case.

The semen evidence was challenged by Paynes court appointed lawyer by saying, "it's inconclusive, maybe it's semen, maybe it's not." He didn't know about the boyfriend spending the night. He was quoted later as saying had he known about the boyfriends statement he could have had all the semen testimony quashed. The whole prosecution theory would have fallen apart. According to them, he raped her, and killed her to cover it up. In the middle of the afternoon. While he was waiting on his girlfriend. He just decided to do it almost on a lark it seems. Bullshit.

A large black man, covered in the victims blood, running from the police is guilty almost by definition in thedirtysouth. His all white jury knew he was guilty. The white police officers, the white prosecutor, they all knew.

His white friends in the drumline know better. But what have we done to stop his execution? Nothing.

The state of Tennessee wants it's pound of flesh. An eye for an eye they say. Doesn't matter much who's eye.

This Is Molly Ivins From 2003 In Mother Jones. One Of My Favorites

2007-02-04T11:55:00.000-06:00

The Uncompassionate Conservative

In order to understand why George W. Bush doesn't get it, you have to take several strands of common Texas attitude, then add an impressive degree of class-based obliviousness. What you end up with is a guy who sees himself as a perfectly nice fellow -- and who is genuinely disconnected from the impact of his decisions on people.

On the few occasions when Bush does directly encounter the down-and-out, he seems to empathize. But then, in what is becoming a recurring, almost nightmare-type scenario, the minute he visits some constructive program and praises it (AmeriCorps, the Boys and Girls Club, job training), he turns around and cuts the budget for it. It's the kiss of death if the president comes to praise your program. During the presidential debate in Boston in 2000, Bush said, "First and foremost, we've got to make sure we fully fund LIHEAP [the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program], which is a way to help low-income folks, particularly here in the East, pay their high fuel bills." He then sliced $300 million out of that sucker, even as people were dying of hypothermia, or, to put it bluntly, freezing to death.

Sometimes he even cuts your program before he comes to praise it. In August 2002, Bush held a photo op with the Quecreek coal miners, the nine men whose rescue had thrilled the country. By then he had already cut the coal-safety budget at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which engineered the rescue, by 6 percent, and had named a coal-industry executive to run the agency.

The Reverend Jim Wallis, leader of Call to Renewal, a network of churches that fight poverty, told the New York Times that shortly after his election, Bush had said to him, "I don't understand how poor people think," and had described himself as a "white Republican guy who doesn't get it, but I'd like to." What's annoying about Bush is when this obtuseness, the blinkeredness of his life, weighs so heavily on others, as it has increasingly as he has acquired more power.

There was a telling episode in 1999 when the Department of Agriculture came out with its annual statistics on hunger, showing that once again Texas was near the top. Texas is a perennial leader in hunger because we have 43 counties in South Texas (and some in East Texas) that are like Third World countries. If our border region were a state, it would be first in poverty, first in the percentage of schoolchildren living in poverty, first in the percentage of adults without a high school diploma, 51st in income per capita, and so on.

When the 1999 hunger stats were announced, Bush threw a tantrum. He thought it was some malign Clinton plot to make his state look bad because he was running for president. "I saw the report that children in Texas are going hungry. Where?" he demanded. "No children are going to go hungry in this state. You'd think the governor would have heard if there are pockets of hunger in Texas." You would, wouldn't you? That is the point at which ignorance becomes inexcusable. In five years, Bush had never spent time with people in the colonias, South Texas' shantytowns; he had never been to a session with Valley Interfaith, a consortium of border churches and schools and the best community organization in the state. There is no excuse for a governor to be unaware of this huge reality of Texas.

Take any area -- environment, labor, education, taxes, health -- and go to the websites of public-interest groups in that field. You will find page after page of minor adjustments, quiet repeals, no-big-deal new policies, all of them cruel, destructive, and harmful. A silent change in regulations, an executive order, a funding cutoff. No headlines. Below the radar. Again and again and again. Head Start, everybody's favorite government program, is being targeted for "improvement" by leaving it to the tender mercies of Mississippi and Alabama. An AIDS program that helps refugees in Africa and Asia gets its funding cut because one of the seven groups involved once worked with the United Nations, which once worked with the Chinese government, which once supported forced abortions.

So what manner of monster is behind these outrages? I have known George W. Bush slightly since we were both in high school, and I studied him closely as governor. He is neither mean nor stupid. What we have here is a man shaped by three intertwining strands of Texas culture, combined with huge blinkers of class. The three Texas themes are religiosity, anti-intellectualism, and machismo. They all play well politically with certain constituencies.

Let's assume the religiosity is genuine; no one is in a position to know otherwise. I leave it to more learned commentators to address what "Christian" might actually mean in terms of public policy.

The anti-intellectualism is also authentic. This is a grudge Bush has carried at least since his college days when he felt looked down on as a frat rat by more cerebral types. Despite his pedigree and prep schools, he ran into Eastern stereotypes of Texans at Yale, a common experience at Ivy schools in that time. John F. Kennedy, the consummate, effortlessly graceful, classy Harvard man, had just been assassinated in ugly old Dallas, and Lyndon Johnson's public piety gave many people the creeps. Texans were more or less thought of as yahoo barbarians somewhere between the Beverly Hillbillies and Deliverance. I do not exaggerate by much. To have a Texas accent in the East in those days was to have 20 points automatically deducted from your estimated IQ. And Texans have this habit of playing to the stereotype -- it's irresistible. One proud Texan I know had never owned a pair of cowboy boots in his life until he got a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard. Just didn't want to let anyone down.

For most of us who grow up in the "boonies" and go to school in the East, it's like speaking two languages -- Bill Clinton, for example, is perfectly bilingual. But it's not unusual for a spell in the East to reinforce one's Texanness rather than erode it, and that's what happened to Bush. Bush had always had trouble reading -- we assume it is dyslexia (although Slate's Jacob Weisberg attributes it to aphasia); his mom was still doing flash cards with him when he was in junior high. Feeling intellectually inferior apparently fed into his resentment of Easterners and other known forms of snob.

Bush once said, "There's a West Texas populist streak in me, and it irritates me when these people come out to Midland and look at my friends with just the utmost disdain." In his mind, Midland is the true-blue heartland of the old vox pop. The irony is that Midland along with its twin city, Odessa, is one of the most stratified and narrow places in the country. Both are oil towns with amazingly strict class segregation. Midland is the white-collar, Republican town; Odessa is the blue-collar, Democratic town. The class conflict plays out in an annual football rivalry so intense that H.G. Bissinger featured it in his best-selling book, Friday Night Lights. To mistake Midland for the volk heartland is the West Texas equivalent of assuming that Greenwich, Connecticut, is Levittown.

In fact, people in Midland are real nice folks: I can't prove that with statistics, but I know West Texas and it's just a fact. Open, friendly, no side to 'em. The problem is, they're way isolated out there and way limited too. You can have dinner at the Petroleum Club anytime with a bunch of them and you'll come away saying, "Damn, those are nice people. Sure glad they don't run the world." It is still such a closed, narrow place, where everybody is white, Protestant, and agrees with everybody else. It's not unusual to find people who think, as George W. did when he lived there, that Jimmy Carter was leading the country toward "European-style socialism." A board member of the ACLU of Texas was asked recently if there had been any trouble with gay bashing in Midland. "Oh, hell, honey," she drawled, "there's not a gay in Midland who will come out of the closet for fear people will think they're Democrats."

The machismo is what I suspect is fake. Bush is just another upper-class white boy trying to prove he's tough. The minute he is questioned, he becomes testy and defensive. That's one reason they won't let him hold many press conferences. When he tells stories about his dealings with two of the toughest men who ever worked in politics -- the late Lee Atwater and the late Bob Bullock -- Bush, improbably, comes off as the toughest mother in the face-down. I wouldn't put money on it being true. Bullock, the late lieutenant governor and W's political mentor in Texas, could be and often was meaner than a skilletful of rattlesnakes. Bush's story is that one time, Bullock cordially informed him that he was about to fuck him. Bush stood up and kissed Bullock, saying, "If I'm gonna get fucked, at least I should be kissed." It probably happened, but I guarantee you Bullock won the fight. Bush never got what made Bullock more than just a supermacho pol -- the old son of a bitch was on the side of the people. Mostly.

The perfect absurdity of all this, of course, is that Bush's identification with the sturdy yeomen of Midland (actually, oil-company executives almost to a man) is so wildly at variance with his real background. Bush likes to claim the difference between him and his father is that, "He went to Greenwich Country Day and I went to San Jacinto Junior High." He did. For one year. Then his family moved to a posh neighborhood in Houston, and he went to the second-best prep school in town (couldn't get into the best one) before going off to Andover as a legacy.

Jim Hightower's great line about Bush, "Born on third and thinks he hit a triple," is still painfully true. Bush has simply never acknowledged that not only was he born with a silver spoon in his mouth -- he's been eating off it ever since. The reason there is no noblesse oblige about Dubya is because he doesn't admit to himself or anyone else that he owes his entire life to being named George W. Bush. He didn't just get a head start by being his father's son -- it remained the single most salient fact about him for most of his life. He got into Andover as a legacy. He got into Yale as a legacy. He got into Harvard Business School as a courtesy (he was turned down by the University of Texas Law School). He got into the Texas Air National Guard -- and sat out Vietnam -- through Daddy's influence. (I would like to point out that that particular unit of FANGers, as regular Air Force referred to the "Fucking Air National Guard," included not only the sons of Governor John Connally and Senator Lloyd Bentsen, but some actual black members as well -- they just happened to play football for the Dallas Cowboys.) Bush was set up in the oil business by friends of his father. He went broke and was bailed out by friends of his father. He went broke again and was bailed out again by friends of his father; he went broke yet again and was bailed out by some fellow Yalies.

That Bush's administration is salted with the sons of somebody-or-other should come as no surprise. I doubt it has ever even occurred to Bush that there is anything wrong with a class-driven good-ol'-boy system. That would explain why he surrounds himself with people like Eugene Scalia (son of Justice Antonin Scalia), whom he named solicitor of the Department of Labor -- apparently as a cruel joke. Before taking that job, the younger Scalia was a handsomely paid lobbyist working against ergonomic regulations designed to prevent repetitive stress injuries. His favorite technique was sarcastic invective against workers who supposedly faked injuries when the biggest hazard they faced was "dissatisfaction with co-workers and supervisors." More than 5 million Americans are injured on the job every year, and more die annually from work-related causes than were killed on September 11. Neither Scalia nor Bush has ever held a job requiring physical labor.

What is the disconnect? One can see it from the other side -- people's lives are being horribly affected by the Bush administration's policies, but they make no connection between what happens to them and the decisions made in Washington. I think I understand why so many people who are getting screwed do not know who is screwing them. What I don't get is the disconnect at the top. Is it that Bush doesn't want to see? No one brought it to his attention? He doesn't care?

Okay, we cut taxes for the rich and so we have to cut services for the poor. Presumably there is some right-wing justification along the lines that helping poor people just makes them more dependent or something. If there were a rationale Bush could express, it would be one thing, but to watch him not see, not make the connection, is another thing entirely. Welfare, Medicare, Social Security, food stamps -- horrors, they breed dependency. Whereas inheriting millions of dollars and having your whole life handed to you on a platter is good for the grit in your immortal soul? What we're dealing with here is a man in such serious denial it would be pathetic if it weren't damaging so many lives.

Bush's lies now fill volumes. He lied us into two hideously unfair tax cuts; he lied us into an unnecessary war with disastrous consequences; he lied us into the Patriot Act, eviscerating our freedoms. But when it comes to dealing with those less privileged, Bush's real problem is not deception, but self-deception.

RIP Molly Ivins

2007-02-01T12:22:00.000-06:00

She used to tell people she had "a scorching case of cancer." She was fearless, and brilliant - and funny. Really funny.

She told the truth.

I'll probably post one of my favorite articles of hers later.

I Missed Jeff Tweedy Here And Nashville This Week But He Said This:

2007-01-19T01:27:00.001-06:00

Handshake Drugs

I was chewin' gum for something to do
The blinds were being pulled down on the dew
Inside, out of love, what a laugh
I was looking for you

Saxophones started blowing me down
I was buried in sound
Taxicabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
The handshake drugs I bought downtown

Livin' poorly, I felt like a clown
I looked like someone I used to know
Was feelin' alright
And if I ever was myself
I wasn't that night

It's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be, exactly
What you want me to be

Oh it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me
To be
Exactly what you want me to be

Oh I was chewin' gum for something to do
The blinds were being pulled down on the dew
Inside, out of love, what a laugh
I was looking for you

Oh the saxophones started blowin' me down
I was buried in sound
The taxicabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown

Felt like a clown
They were translating poorly
I looked like someone
I used to know
And if I ever was myself,
I wasn't that night

Oh it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be
Exactly what you want me to be

Exactly what do you want me to be?
Exactly what do you want me to be?

It Is Time To Go Home

2007-01-13T16:30:00.000-06:00

Saddam is dead. The regime has been changed. The weapons of mass destruction that weren't there in the first place still do not threaten us. Our troops should be redeploying not deploying. If May 2003 was the end of "major combat operations" is January 2007 the begining of more? Or is this the president grasping at so many straws? And for what? His own legacy? So he can say years from now that it was not he who lost in Iraq? That he did not precipitate a withdrawal? That he held steadfast while the majority of those in uniform indeed the majority of the citizens of the country he claims to be protecting here at home or helping there in Iraq told him otherwise?

The president finally admitted to himself and the nation that this is not an open ended commitment. Everyone knows we are leaving eventually. And we should. Sooner rather than later. As Richard Clark has pointed out on more than one occasion; there will be chaos in the streets when we pull out. And this is true whether we pull out tomorrow or a year from tomorrow or two years from tomorrow. This civil war in Iraq will end eventually and someone will win, but it's not going to be the US. We should leave now.

Supporters of the war are keen to ask me and people like me "what plan do you have for Iraq if you don't like the president's?" This brings to mind a scene of two people tethered together contemplating jumping over a cliff. One says to the other we should go over and enjoy the view. The other having no faith in the parachute cautions against. On the way down, after the parachute fails to open, the first asking the second well what do YOU want to do!

Of course the "plan" that so many on the other side says doesn't exist is to leave. That is the plan. Get out and get out now. Thanks to us Iraq is FUBAR. More troops are not going to fix it. It is broken and we can't fix it. The truth is it was broken before we invaded. Getting rid of Saddam and replacing him with chaos and sectarian violence did nothing to fix anything it just broke it even more. So instead of smashing the bits even further, let's just stop - and reassess.
And recuperate. And try to heal our own country.

Sometimes Other People Say It better (Keith Olberman)

2007-01-05T23:47:00.000-06:00

If in your presence an individual tried to sacrifice an American serviceman or woman, would you intervene?

Would you at least protest?

What if he had already sacrificed 3,003 of them?

What if he had already sacrificed 3,003 of them — and was then to announce his intention to sacrifice hundreds, maybe thousands, more?

This is where we stand tonight with the BBC report of President Bush's "new Iraq strategy" and his impending speech to the nation, which it quotes a senior American official, will be about troop increases and "sacrifice."

The President has delayed, dawdled, and deferred for the month since the release of the Iraq Study Group.

He has seemingly heard out everybody… and listened to none of them.

If the BBC is right — and we can only pray it is not — he has settled on the only solution all the true experts agree, cannot possibly work: more American personnel in Iraq, not as trainers for Iraqi troops, but as part of some flabby plan for "sacrifice."

Sacrifice!

More American servicemen and women will have their lives risked.

More American servicemen and women will have their lives ended.

More American families will have to bear the unbearable, and rationalize the unforgivable — "sacrifice" — sacrifice now, sacrifice tomorrow, sacrifice forever.

And more Americans — more even than the two-thirds who already believe we need fewer troops in Iraq, not more — will have to conclude the President does not have any idea what he's doing - and that other Americans will have to die for that reason.

It must now be branded as propaganda — for even the President cannot truly feel that very many people still believe him to be competent in this area, let alone "the decider."

But from our impeccable reporter at the Pentagon, Jim Miklaszewski, tonight comes confirmation of something called "surge and accelerate" — as many as 20-thousand additional troops — for "political purposes"…

This, in line with what we had previously heard, that this will be proclaimed a short-term measure, for the stated purpose of increasing security in and around Baghdad, and giving an Iraqi government a chance to establish some kind of order.

This is palpable nonsense, Mr. Bush.

If this is your intention — if the centerpiece of your announcement next week will be "sacrifice" — sacrifice your intention, not more American lives!

As Senator Biden has pointed out, the new troops might improve the ratio our forces, face relative to those living in Baghdad (friend and foe), from 200 to 1, to just 100 to 1.

"Sacrifice?"

No.

A drop in the bucket.

The additional men and women you have sentenced to go there, sir, will serve only as targets.

They will not be there "short-term," Mr. Bush; for many it will mean a year or more in death's shadow.

This is not temporary, Mr. Bush.

For the Americans who will die because of you… it will be as permanent as it gets.

The various rationales for what Mr. Bush will reportedly re-christen "sacrifice," constitute a very thin gruel, indeed.

The former Labor Secretary, Robert Reich, says Senator McCain told him that the "surge" would help the "morale" of the troops already in Iraq.

If Mr. McCain truly said that, and truly believes it, he has either forgotten completely his own experience in Vietnam… or he is unaware of the recent Military Times poll indicating only 38 percent of our active military want to see more troops sent… or Mr. McCain has departed from reality.

Then there is the argument that to take any steps towards reducing troop numbers would show weakness to the enemy in Iraq, or to the terrorists around the world.

This simplistic logic ignores the inescapable fact that we have indeed already showed weakness to the enemy, and to the terrorists.

We have shown them that we will let our own people be killed, for no good reason.

We have now shown them that we will continue to do so.

We have shown them our stupidity.

Mr. Bush, your judgment about Iraq — and now about "sacrifice" — is at variance with your people's, to the point of delusion.

Your most respected generals see no value in a "surge" — they could not possibly see it in this madness of "sacrifice."

The Iraq Study Group told you it would be a mistake.

Perhaps dozens more have told you it would be a mistake.

And you threw their wisdom back, until you finally heard what you wanted to hear, like some child drawing straws and then saying "best two out of three… best three out of five… Hundredth one counts."

Your citizens, the people for whom you work, have told you they do not want this, and more over, they do not want you to do this.

Yet once again, sir, you have ignored all of us.

Mr. Bush, you do not own this country!

To those Republicans who have not broken free from the slavery of partisanship — those bonded still, to this President and this Administration — and now bonded to this "sacrifice" — proceed at your own peril.

John McCain may still hear the applause of small crowds — he has somehow inured himself to the hypocrisy, and the tragedy, of a man who considers himself the ultimate realist, courting the votes of those who support the government telling visitors to the Grand Canyon that it was caused by the Great Flood.

That Mr. McCain is selling himself off to the irrational Right, parcel by parcel, like some great landowner facing bankruptcy, seems to be obvious to everybody but himself.

Or, maybe it is obvious to him — and he simply no longer cares.

But to the rest of you in the Republican Party.

We need you to speak up, right now, in defense of your country's most precious assets — the lives of its citizens who are in harm's way.

If you do not, you are not serving this nation's interests — nor your own.

Last November should have told you this.

The opening of the new Congress tomorrow and Thursday, should tell you this.

Next time, those missing Republicans, will be you.

And to the Democrats now yoked to the helm of this sinking ship, you proceed at your own peril, as well.

President Bush may not be very good at reality, but he and Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rove are still gifted at letting American troops be killed, and then turning their deaths to their own political advantage.

The equation is simple. This country does not want more troops in Iraq.

It wants fewer.

Go and make it happen, or go and look for other work.

Yet you Democrats must assume that even if you take the most obvious of courses, and cut off funding for the war… Mr. Bush will ignore you as long as possible, or will find the money elsewhere, or will spend the money meant to protect the troops, and re-purpose it to keep as many troops there as long as he can keep them there.

Because that's what this is all about, is it not, Mr. Bush?

That is what this "sacrifice" has been for.

To continue this senseless, endless war.

You have dressed it up in the clothing, first of a hunt for weapons of mass destruction, then of liberation… then of regional imperative… then of oil prices… and now in these new terms of "sacrifice" — it's like a damned game of Colorforms, isn't it, sir?

This senseless, endless war.

But it has not been senseless in two ways.

It has succeeded, Mr. Bush, in enabling you to deaden the collective mind of this country to the pointlessness of endless war, against the wrong people, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

It has gotten many of us, used to the idea — the virtual "white noise" — of conflict far away, of the deaths of young Americans, of vague "sacrifice" for some fluid cause, too complicated to be interpreted except in terms of the very important sounding, but ultimately meaningless phrase, "the war on terror."

And the war's second accomplishment — your second accomplishment, sir - is to have taken money out of the pockets of every American, even out of the pockets of the dead soldiers on the battlefield, and their families, and to have given that money to the war profiteers.

Because if you sell the Army a thousand Humvees, you can't sell them any more, until the first thousand have been destroyed.

The service men and women are ancillary to the equation.

This is about the planned obsolescence of ordnance, isn't, Mr. Bush? And the building of detention centers? And the design of a 125-million dollar courtroom complex at Gitmo complete with restaurants.

At least the war profiteers have made their money, sir.

And we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.

You have insisted, Mr. Bush, that we must not lose in Iraq, that if we don't fight them there we will fight them here — as if the corollary were somehow true, that if by fighting them there we will not have to fight them here.

And yet you have re-made our country, and not re-made it for the better, on the premise that we need to be ready to "fight them here," anyway, and always.

In point of fact even if the Civil War in Iraq somehow ended tomorrow, and the risk to Americans there ended with it, we would have already suffered a defeat — not fatal, not world-changing, not, but for the lives lost, of enduring consequence.

But this country has already lost in Iraq, sir.

Your policy in Iraq has already had its crushing impact on our safety here.

You have already fomented new terrorism and new terrorists.

You have already stoked paranoia.

You have already pitted Americans, one against the other.

We… will have to live with it.

We… will have to live with what — of the fabric of our nation — you have already "sacrificed."

The only object still admissible in this debate, is the quickest and safest exit for our people there.

But you — and soon, Mr. Bush, it will be you and you alone – still insist otherwise.

And our sons and daughters and fathers and mothers will be sacrificed there tonight, Sir, so that you can say you did not "lose in Iraq."

Our policy in Iraq has been criticized for being indescribable, for being inscrutable, for being ineffable.

But it is all too easily understood now.

First, we sent Americans to their deaths for your lie, Mr. Bush.

Now we are sending them to their deaths for your ego.

If what is reported is true — if your decision is made and the "sacrifice" is ordered — take a page instead from the man at whose funeral you so eloquently spoke this morning — Gerald Ford: Put pragmatism and the healing of a nation, ahead of some kind of misguided vision.

Atone.

Sacrifice, Mr. Bush?

No, sir, this is not "sacrifice." This has now become "human sacrifice."

And it must stop.

And you can stop it.

Next week, make us all look wrong.

Our meaningless sacrifice in Iraq must stop.

And you must stop.

Billions Of Dollars And 3000 Soldiers

2007-01-05T01:48:00.000-06:00

I feel safer.

There's no way they can hijack a plane now!

Hail To The Godfather!

2006-12-25T11:11:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2006-12-25T10:36:00.000-06:00

and Happy Chanukah, From the Fonz!

The (phony) War On Christmas

2006-12-01T17:41:00.000-06:00

Last year I didn't even know there was a war on Christmas until Fox News told me. But this year I won't be caught flat footed. So watch your asses! This year will be different. Anyone saying "Merry Christmas" to me will be greeted with an icy stare and a stern warning. See you on the field of honor Bill O'Reilly. Ha!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

2006-11-23T09:00:00.000-06:00

Even to you all in the Godless North who put bacon in the dressing. (or stuffing as you heathens call it)

This Is What A World Without Habeas Corpus Looks Like

2006-11-17T23:21:00.000-06:00

Summary justice carried out on the streets of Saigon. The guy with the gun is the Chief of Police in Saigon. Judge. Jury. Executioner. And he was on our side.

Would I Vote For Him? *

2006-11-15T10:22:00.000-06:00

See here's the thing. I'm a liberal partisan hack. So I'm not supposed to like any Republicans. And as soon as they announce they may run for president, I'm supposed to join the rest of the pack and start attacking. This is the part of the political process that makes me most uncomfortable. Make no mistake, both sides do it. One of my closest dearest blogging buddies has had an anti-Hillary flyer on her blog for at least the last year. It's what we do. We're partisans.

There is no denying Rudy Guiliani has some things going for him. He at least seems like a good leader. We all saw him in the days after 9/11. Plus he's not a crazy religious nut. I don't buy the whole McCain is a maverick shtick any more. McCain came to Memphis earlier this year during an early straw poll for the GOP in '08. He did nothing but carry the water for Bush on the war. This after his savage treatment by the Bush campaign during the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina in which push pollers suggested McCain fathered an illigitimate black child.

We'll have to wait and see if Guiliani tries to position himself as more of a conservative in the next two years. The extremist still control the GOP as of right now. So the chances of Guiliani getting the nomination are still pretty slim. But it's early yet. Would I vote for him? Well, let me put it this way: he damn sure can't do any worse than the current president.

* I do reserve the right to attack Guiliani in the future.

Happy Endings?

2006-11-14T10:04:00.000-06:00

The point here Teddy is no, there is nothing wrong with you being gay. There's nothing wrong with you being confused about it. There's nothing wrong with you not wanting to hurt or embarrass your family. Clearly you have issues to work out.

When you were, um, BUSTED, your first reaction was - "this might just be election year politics." After all it was you and your group who campaigned openly (haha) for anti-gay marriage amendments across the country. And it was you who said directly into the camera in that "Jesus Camp" documentary - "We don't have to have a debate about homosexuality, the scriptures tell us it's wrong." And then looking in the camera deadpanning, "I know what you did last night. If you send me $1000 dollars I won't tell your wife." It was kind of creepy BEFORE we knew you were a complete hypocrite. Now it's just sad. (ok and funny)

Like the old saying goes: He who lives in ass houses shouldn't throw cocks.

Ted Haggard. You're Fired!

Lassie Come Home!

2006-11-13T19:36:00.000-06:00

So then we get this guy, Rick Santorum, Senator from Pennsylvania. He said this -
"In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality —" yeah yeah yeah.
And it's not just the whole "man on dog" thing. It's also that "we found the WMD's in Iraq" thing.
Rick Santorum. You're Fired!

An Open Letter To Blonde Sagacity

2006-11-13T09:10:00.000-06:00

Oh Blondie please!!!!!

Your question is this verbatim: Why are the terrorist and the democrats celebrating the same victory? Of course by the articles you sited by "terrorist" you mean any Arab person in the middle east right? Because lets face it, the Palestinians, Iranians, Sunni insurgents in Iraq, clerics in Saudi Arabia, mullahs in Afghanistan, and Imans in Pakistan, and Al Queda all hate the US. Or do you really believe that it's not US policy they hate but rather the Republican party? I'm asking because at this point I really don't know what you mean. In any case I think it's obvious why the democrats are celebrating, because we won. Now, you want to link the two. That is to say you want to imply that there's something wrong with the majority of the country voting for Democrats the way they did because of the way it was perceived in some quarters over seas. Why aren't you asking about the public opinion polls in Europe that show most people there are glad the Democrats won as well? Cause it doesn't get people as riled up? Or is it because when it comes to our internal politics the relevancy of those opinions outside this country don't matter. And we know they don't. Most people voted for Democrats because they are sick of the war in Iraq and they want a change. Most people know Bush lied to get us there. And they know he has no plan to get us out. Now you and the rest of the neo-cons want to equate this with being "soft on terror." It is not. And while you're busy linking one political party with terrorism ask yourself this: What party ran an add featuring a ticking sound with images of Bin Laden and explosions and terrorist training videos? You know which one it was. The fact is, your whole party's platform is terror - and Fear. Fear Fear Fear!!!! Even in defeat you can't give it up. Because you want people to be scared. Fear is the Republican party's main weapon. Fear. But the rest of the country is on to you. So to answer your question: Why are the terrorist and the democrats celebrating the same victory? The answer is we're not, the only victory they celebrate is the satisfaction they get when they see you, and people like you, scared and pointing fingers at your own countrymen. Just like the neo-cons, Fear is what the terrorist all about.

Go Hogs Go!

2006-11-13T08:13:00.000-06:00

Yes that's right, I was born in Arkansas. Home of Bill Clinton, and the University of Arkansas Razorbacks! If they lose to Missippi State next weekend because I jinxed them by putting them on my blog, I'm throwing this computer out the window.

And mom if you're reading this, I probably won't be home for Thanksgiving because I'm going to the Arkansas/LSU game in Little Rock. (If my tickets come through, **cough** Rick **cough**)

What's That Smell?

2006-11-11T10:13:00.000-06:00

It's macaca! Yes George, you can take your seat next to Jack Abramoff, Randal "Duke" Cunningham, Bob Ney, David Safavian, and Tom Delay. (I know I'm leaving some people out.) I know you're not charged with a crime like these guys, but hey you have a pretty impressive list of crappy dealings in your own right. I can't decide what my favorite is. Maybe it's that time you cut the head off a deer and shoved it in that black families mail box. Or maybe it was the time your henchmen tackled that first year law student for asking you if you spit in your first wife's face. Maybe it was that time you spit in your first wife's face. Or maybe it was when you told a reporter not to cast aspersions about your mother when he ask about her Jewish heritage. But I think my favorite is when you called that kid with the video camera "macaca" and added "welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Especially since that kid was born and raised in Virginia, and you weren't. Aren't you from California, home of Nancy Pelosi? You may not be going to jail, but you still suck!
George Allen - You're Fired!

The Man With The Unfortunate Mustache

2006-11-10T11:19:00.000-06:00

Why would George Bush renominate Bolton to the UN? Is this his idea of bi-partisanship? Why was Bolton given a recess appointment in the first place? The man who said this: "There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is only the international community, which can only be led by the only remaining superpower, which is the United States."[35] He also stated that "The Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost ten stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference."
These neo-cons have stained our country with their ridiculous and hypocritical ideology. North Korea test a nuclear bomb, all of the sudden the UN looks pretty damn good.

John Bolton. You're Fired! And take your mustache with you.

Thanks For Your Service Rummy!

2006-11-09T11:21:00.000-06:00

You're Fired! Now go away!

Thank You Harold Ford Jr.

2006-11-08T10:56:00.000-06:00

You ran a good campaign. Last year, when you announced for the Senate, there was barely a rumbling outside of Tennessee. The conventional wisdom then was, Bill Frist would give up his seat to another Republican, and no serious effort would be needed to protect it from some young, inexperienced, black man with family issues from Memphis. But something happened on the way to the polls.

Ford was able to innoculate himself early on from the misdeeds of his uncle, the bribe taking John Ford by simply stating, "I love my family, but I'm my own man." Instead he made the race about his record. A record which for me at least was a little too conservative. As a member of the House, Ford voted both for the war and the bankruptcy bill. I am left wondering had Ford been a middle aged white man with a wife and two kids, would the outcome have been different? I know of at least two incidences of people voting for Democtatic Governor Phil Bredesen and Democratic House member John Tanner but unable to vote for Ford because he is black. I'm not playing the race card here, this is absolutely true. And I suspect it is true among a lot more voters in Tennessee. But I won't go so far to say Ford lost because he is black. Corker also ran a great campaign. He should be congratulated.

But my main point is this: Ford did the country a great service. By running such a well focused and agressive campaign he forced the RNC to dump millions of campaign dollars into what was once considered a relatively safe race. Money that obviously now, may have been better spent elsewhere. Although one could argue that the RNC got their money's worth, they won. But did they win Tennessee at the expense of Montana or Virginia? (As of this writing there is no official winner in either Senate race)

So Ford deserves kudos. He demonstrated that the Dems can compete in the dirty south. There are fewer and fewer "safe" seats for the GOP across the country. The Nixonian Southern Strategy is in its "final throes, if you will" to borrow a phrase from Chaney.

So thank you Harold Ford Jr. Even in defeat, you have done your country a great service. And thank you American electorate, you have restored accountability and checks and balances to our national government.