100 monkeys typing.

Chronic Truth Decay

In “Revelations” (live from the Dominion Theatre in London – 1992) Bill Hicks points out – and remember he died in 1994 – that America is the bully of the world; much like Jack Palance in the movie Shane throwing a shotgun at the shepherd's feet. “Pick it up, “ Jack wheezes. “No Mister, I don’t wanna pick it up,” pleads the Shepherd. “Pick it up,” Jack repeats, squinting. As the terrified Shepherd reaches slowly for the shotgun, Palance fills him full o’ lead and tells the crowd gathered around them, “You saw him. He reached for his gun.” Bill points out how we sell arms to these countries and then invade them because they are armed. Same as it ever was. And now that we’ve bombed the shit out of Iraq, murdering countless innocent civilians, they have every reason to be pissed. Who wouldn’t be? Of course Preznit Warmonkey and his minions are screaming “We either deal with terrorism abroad, or we deal with it when it comes to us." Yes, the terrorism that YOU created by unilaterally invading Iraq. Please explain how you and your posse have made us all safer from terrorism, you monumentally incompetent gasbag. Those of us in the reality based community have been fully aware of the lies, the incompetence, the right-wing corporate agenda since the run up to this illegal war. Finally, it appears the tide is turning. Watch your back, Georgie Boy. The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they be a-turnin’. You soulless, heartless, immoral, cowardly little Punk.

How to Get Mad Without Sounding Bonkers: A Primer. So who isn’t pissed at the same old lies spewing forth from G.Dub, Rove, Cheney and Rummy? Enough to make you spit nails, idn’t it? Check in with Adam McKay over at The Huffington Post. Great sense of humor, a lot of good ole common sense. Read his bio. You’ve laughed at his stuff before and probably don’t even know it!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation. It’s easy! Join the “Summer of Truth.” Share your thoughts with “25,000 of your closest friends.” Not sure what you want to say? Start here. We must never, never forget. We must continue to remind ourselves and our fellow citizens. This is reality without the spin.

Add to Your Summer Reading List

Your Call Is Important to us: The Truth About Bullshit by Laura Penny

All these users and creators of the “cozy no-think of simple bullshit” are dumbing and wearing us down to the point where we no longer see the distinction between BS about dish soap and lies about WMD. Penny arrives at the sad conclusion that we’ve moved on from being mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. We aren’t mad, or even surprised, anymore. We’re taking it and asking the “fair and balanced” news team to deliver us more.

World War 3 Illustrated ("War is Hell" by Penny Allen) – look for it in August. Get the hard-copy July/August issue of MotherJones to see the photos. Yes, you’ll want to look away. But don't.

On an airplane over the Atlantic, the Paris-based filmmaker and novelist met a soldier going home on leave, listened to his tales, and, at his insistence—I can’t look at that! You have to look!—viewed the movie he played on his laptop of his daily routine in Iraq. The two kept in touch, and Allen compiled the images he sent her into a foto-roman with dialogue gleaned from their conversations, a cartoon rendering starker in its reality than anything allowed on the evening news. Her construction, “War Is Hell,” has since been exhibited in art galleries in the United States. Its very awkwardness—atrocity as comic strip—summons up the inadequacy of our equipment for coming to terms with what is being done in our names, with our money.

Wrong number of the day

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Dalton McGuinty's press officer?"

"Ummmmm... no."

Flogging Equine Carcasses

Rhetoric circa 2001

"I want justice," he said after a meeting at the Pentagon, where 188 people were killed last Tuesday when an airliner crashed into the building. "And there's an old poster out West that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'"

Rhetoric circa 2005

Some wonder whether Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. Among the terrorists, there is no debate. Hear the words of Osama Bin Laden: "This Third World War is raging" in Iraq. "The whole world is watching this war." He says it will end in "victory and glory, or misery and humiliation."

From "Wanted Dead or Alive" to "Osama Said So"? Our presence in Iraq is now being justified, by the the opinion of a madman we can't catch, who may or may not still be in the country we abandoned to create the "terrorist flypaper" in Iraq, and is like #1 on the FBI's most wanted?

Keee-rist!

Taunting Thwarts Terrorists

Michelle Malkin makes a point

Peaceniks are covering our kids from head to toe in emotional bubble wrap. They are creating a nation of namby-pambies.

The latest example of Hand-Holding 101 comes from the New York City public schools. According to Lauren Collins of The New Yorker magazine, the school system is introducing a new curriculum called "Operation Respect: Don't Laugh at Me" into all of its elementary and middle schools. The program is now used in at least 12,000 schools and camps across the country.

(...)

Among the mindless training exercises teachers undergo is the "Caring Being" session. Collins quotes a conflict-resolution expert in Brooklyn leading middle-school educators through the lesson: "I want you all to share a time in your career as an educator where someone did or said something that made you feel like you were not cared for or respected. . . . Now do the opposite." After drawing figures encompassing their negative and positive experiences, teachers shared their finished products, "Caring Beings," which would be used to "explore creating agreements around behaviors."

Blecchh.

(...)

Just what we need to combat throat-slitting, suicide plane-flying Islamists: young eunuchs swaying to moldy old folk music while their "Peace Place" signs flap in the wind.

Missy's right. Never let the opportunity to "Laugh at Her" pass you by.

If you don't make fun of Ms Maglalang, the terrorists win.

Cliff Notes

A shorter GWB.

September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. Be patient, any plans we develop will only strengthen the resolve of the terrorists. "Whatever the cost" does require your tax dollars. Sending more troops or pulling out troops sends the wrong message. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. Look at Libya, Lebanon, the Palestinians... do we ROCK, or what? We're spreading democracy like oleo on hot toast. Let's hear it for a crowd who's under orders not to show emotion... GIVE.IT.UP for the red white and blue!!!!! Now go sign up, Uncle Sam needs you for the branch of the military of your choosing. Remember the Alamo!!! September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. September 11th. December 7th.

Shorts, not just for eating

* The primary objective in Iraq, (after WMDs, regime change, instituting our Democracy) of instilling new freedoms (including religion) have gone well. n'est pas?

* Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. Note, subtle axis change.

* Mmmmm, nukes. Do they intend on doing the plus 1 neutron dance?

* Wow, justifying our gay bigots against their gay bigots with a, "gee, ours don't stone people"... it's all bad folks.

* Karl, need a petard?

* Ironic justice isn't nearly as blind.

* Point of order. Pelosi's right. The minute we started diverting $75 million from Afghanistan into Kuwait and Bush said he didn't really give Osama much thought, we were done. We stuck the proverbial fork in it.

* Ohio and Florida have much more in common than their issues with basic arithmetic come polling time.

* Throes; first, last, middle, upper, lower, intermediary, intermittent... they're throein' down like wacked out MoFos.

* When an administration is mad-cow stupid... then what?

Meme Fever

Dang it. DB over at 42, pegged me with this.

1. What were three of the stupidest things you have done in your life?

- Not dumping the stock in my 401K in January of 2000.
- Failing to listen to my heart, twice.
- Not completing college when credit hours were still in Reagan-era dollars.

2. At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?

- My wife.

3. If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up to five people to dine with, who would you pick?

- Jesus: I wanna know about the "lost" years.
- Mark Twain: For the social satire.
- H.L. Mencken: For obvious reasons.
- Mohammad: Some of his writings need clarification.
- Oscar Wilde: No dinner party's complete without a catty queen.

4. If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?

- Infinite wishes and give the other two to someone else.

5. Someone is visiting your hometown/place where you live at the moment. Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.

- Regret: Seasons & good public transportation.
- Avoid: Highways & trying to understand the politics.

6. Name one event that has changed your life.

- Having a kid. Nothing is ever the same again.

7. Tag 5 people.

- Nope. Not gonna do it.

The 15.... No *Ten* Commandments

In a decisive and divisive move yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas over Kentucky on who gets to keep their graven images.

In support of the recent ruling, majority members of Congress will be convening a special session to draft legislation which will ensure that the remaining eight commandments of the Decalogue be added to the laws of the land. First on the docket, Adultery.

The Progressive Progressing of Progress as it Progresses Promisingly

MR. RUSSERT: But if we only have three Iraqi battalions that are fully combat ready and we need 107 for us to, in fact, have our exit strategy of bringing our troops home, we are in for a very long haul.

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: Well, we're going to have, I think something in the neighborhood 200,000 in October, people in security forces when the constitution and the elections take place.

MR. RUSSERT: How many of those will be these combat-ready battalions?

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: Well, you can't do it that way. You simply have to sit down and say, "What are you trying to achieve with what types of units, and where are they in their progress?" And the answer is, they're progressing every week, every month, to a greater degree of sophistication. The biggest problems are not numbers. The biggest problems are the ministries, which are weak, and the chains of command down through those and the linkages between the police and the military forces, because they have to work together if they are going to repress this insurgency. And it's--most people are focusing on the metrics, the hard numbers. I would say the soft things, the ministries, the chains of command are considerably more important.

and still nowhere is the "progress" measured in finite detail or better yet, terms of tangible success.

QOTD - It ain't all Ozzie and Harriet

Longing for the days when TV only represented the idealistic society where husbands and wives slept in twin beds, cars and houses left unlocked, blacks were never seen, everything was always rosey and reality was locked in a safe somewhere... Brent Bozell offers up this gem.

It was not always like this. Go back in TV history and remember how viewers were riveted by how Dick Van Dyke juggled his career and family life on his show, or how Lorne Greene ruled the roost on "Bonanza." These were fathers you could admire. One of the reasons those shows were such wonderful successes can be found in their portrayal of the father figure. It's as easy as that.

Just that easy. With 3 channels to choose from, these shows owed their entire success to the portrayal of men in strong fatherly roles. Couldn't have had a thing to do with Mary Tyler Moore in capri pants or a young Michael Landon in chaps?

Capitalizing on a Lack of Success

Attention Deficit Disorder runs rampant with the Neocons. Maybe not, maybe they're just 3 year-olds with the attention span of a gnat and if they're not in possession of something new or shiny, they're just not happy. We've got little left to bomb in Iraq without having to be stuck rebuilding it... now what?

As with Iraq, the president has paved the way for the conditioning of the American public and an all-too-compliant media to accept at face value the merits of a regime change policy regarding Iran, linking the regime of the Mullah's to an "axis of evil" (together with the newly "liberated" Iraq and North Korea), and speaking of the absolute requirement for the spread of "democracy" to the Iranian people.

"Liberation" and the spread of "democracy" have become none-too-subtle code words within the neo-conservative cabal that formulates and executes American foreign policy today for militarism and war.

By the intensity of the "liberation/democracy" rhetoric alone, Americans should be put on notice that Iran is well-fixed in the cross-hairs as the next target for the illegal policy of regime change being implemented by the Bush administration.

(...)

The reality is that the US war with Iran has already begun. As we speak, American over flights of Iranian soil are taking place, using pilotless drones and other, more sophisticated, capabilities.

The violation of a sovereign nation's airspace is an act of war in and of itself. But the war with Iran has gone far beyond the intelligence-gathering phase.

Oh, neat. Iran's newly elected President's a hard-liner with a desire to kick-start their nuclear program. Are they taunting our Cowboy in Chief or is this what the wingers call predestination? Bush wants to be the infinite 'War President' and his god is giving it to him?

WASHINGTON -- Insurgencies can go on for years, but the violence ravaging Iraq will eventually be quelled by homegrown forces rather than U.S. and other foreign troops, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says.

The violence could even worsen as Iraqi officials draft a constitution and Iraqi citizens prepare to install a new government by the end of the year, Rumsfeld said in television interviews Sunday.

He and other senior military officials asked Americans to be patient and support their troops as the war progresses.

(...)

"That insurgency could go on for any number of years. Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years," Rumsfeld said. "Coalition forces, foreign forces are not going to repress that insurgency. We're going to create an environment that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi security forces can win against that insurgency."

Holy crap. They're running this war like Enron and planning a run-up to Iran simultaneously.

At least they're not screwing it up so badly that we stand the chance of losing all of our international support, right?

GENEVA (AFX) - Washington has, for the first time, acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.

The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on on condition of anonymity.

*sigh.

Well, at least the ruling majority, with their vast well of resources, supports the war and can pull from their base and backfill the sagging enlistment in the military. Apparently, they don't want liberals fighting this war for them.

Rest easy fellow Americans. Against a mastubatory backdrop of troops tomorrow night, our Leader will tell us how wonderful everything is, how splendid our efforts are and how we are the light shining in the darkness. Using of course, the same approach to truth used with; WMD, Mission Accomplished, Tax Cuts will save us all, Social Security is flailing, Cheney's health, etc... ad infinitum.

Simply Craptacular

I ONLY WISH I WAS MAKING UP THIS SHIT.

White House Stands Behind Rove Comments. Quelle Suprise! Well OF COURSE they do. Because they’re all blowing each other. “I blow you, you blow me, we’re a blow job family...." It’s just one big BLOW fest. The Rude Pundit – one of my favorite bloggers in the whole world and I WILL see his one-man show at the NY International Fringe Festival in August – makes a great point. Yesterday’s Post. Go. Now.

Cheney Says Guantanomo Prisoners Well Fed. Well, DickMeister, I’m sure they are! I’m sure they’re livin’ la vida loco and lovin’ life. Being hog-tied and lying in your own excrement is any man’s idea of paradise! What’s not to love? Good times. Good times.

U.S. doctors linked to POW `torture' Guantanamo medical records misused basis of interrogators' strategy: Report. "Since late 2003, psychiatrists and psychologists (at Guantanamo) have been part of a strategy that employs extreme stress, combined with behaviour-shaping rewards, to extract actionable intelligence from resistant captives," it states. Such tactics are considered torture by many authorities, the authors note. Medical personnel belonging to the U.S. military's Southern Command have also been told to volunteer to interrogators information they believe may be valuable, the report adds………That contradicts Pentagon statements that there is a separation between intelligence-gathering and patient care. Hmmmm. "Volunteer." How long before medical personnel are the ones being interrogated – and tortured?

Poll Finds Most Oppose Return to Draft “Most Americans don't want to see the return of the military draft, although men, older Americans and Republicans were most likely to say it's a good idea, an AP-Ipsos poll found.” NO SHIT.

Funds for Health Care of Veterans $1 Billion Short The $1 billion shortfall emerged during an administration midyear budget review and was acknowledged only during lengthy questioning of Jonathan B. Perlin, VA undersecretary for health, by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) at a hearing yesterday. "We weren't on the mark from the actuarial model," Perlin testified. Is it the incompetence of these YAY-hoos that is unconscionable? Or the Lies? Well both, plus the fact that veterans’ suffering is compounded – if they make it home at all - by this administration’s incompetence and lies.

16 to 25? Pentagon Has Your Number, and More “The Defense Department and a private contractor have been building an extensive database of 30 million 16-to-25-year-olds, combining names with Social Security numbers, grade-point averages, e-mail addresses and phone numbers.” And they began doing this in 2002. I’ll just let that sink in.

HEAR! HEAR!

Scoundrel city: Reckless Republicans use troops as human shields “Repeat after me: "War, bad; troops, good." See, it's possible to say something and to mean it as well…………. I'll tell you what endangers our troops: Greedy, cretinous toad leaders who send them 12,000 miles away to a desert to fight a war based on lies.” THANK YOU WILL DURST!

The Loneliness of a Lonestar Liberal "The activists I've met over the past month and a half in Texas are dedicated and determined. Unlike progressive-leaning places like San Francisco, New York and Washington DC, activists here face strong and often hostile opposition." Tell it, Sister! Tell it!

THIS JUST IN.....

A Premature Attack. Pro-Bush group's ad faults Democrats for criticisms they haven't yet made, about a Supreme Court nominee who hasn't been named, to a vacancy that doesn't yet exist. Gotta love it!

Just what is the state of the Dickmeister's health? Arianna is hot on the trail.

You Were Always On My Mind...

Not Fit For Human Consumption

* No defined plan for Social Security, success in Iraq, regulation of war funding, Medicaid/Medicare, restrained spending or healthcare... and they're the majority in every branch of government. This isn't your father's Republican Party.

* Good thing international relations isn't a popularity contest and it's only about being the strongest and most eager to pre-emptively bomb the shit out of a country.

* Political fiction? Yeah, just like Ohio's Franklin Mint collection?

* The Pentagon needs fresh meat. Guess we can't sustain pre-emptive measures infinitely. Good thing we have an exit plan.

* Hey, Mofo... I'm not gay, love Jesus and can't fund schools to save my F'ing career.

* It's called, enabling.

* The "culture of life". mmmm, DDT Koolaid with a Diazanon chaser.

Eminent Domain or the Erradication of the American Dream

The Supreme Court this week voted on the side of big business and against the interest of the American taxpayer.

WASHINGTON - Cities may bulldoze people's homes to make way for shopping malls or other private development, a divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday, giving local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.

In a scathing dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the decision bowed to the rich and powerful at the expense of middle-class Americans.

The 5-4 decision means that homeowners will have more limited rights. Still, legal experts said they didn't expect a rush to claim homes.

"The message of the case to cities is yes, you can use eminent domain, but you better be careful and conduct hearings," said Thomas Merrill, a Columbia law professor specializing in property rights.

Yeah, because restraint's worked so well in the past. What evil bastards would dare encroach on the private property of citizens only to pad the pockets of the already filthy rich?

"I think when it is all said and done, I will have made more money than I ever dreamed I would make," Bush told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. And he's making millions because the Ballpark at Arlington is a gigantic, taxpayer-supported, cash machine. Last year, Financial World magazine named the Ballpark the most profitable venue in baseball. Hicks didn't buy the Rangers because he wants Juan González's autograph. He bought them because he can make a lot of money at the stadium that George W. Bush takes credit for building.

In 1993, while walking through the stadium, Bush told the Houston Chronicle, "When all those people in Austin say, 'He ain't never done anything,' well, this is it." But Bush would have never gotten the
stadium deal off the ground if the city of Arlington had not agreed to use its power of eminent domain to seize the property that belonged to the Mathes family. And evidence presented in the Mathes lawsuit suggests that the Rangers' owners --

Well, glory be... the one thing Bush was successful at, was stealing property?

Next up, the Texas Legislature and Rick Perry will call a special session to expedite the TTC and steal Texas property for Spanish developers.

fetid fecunduncy

Which one of these is not like the other?

During a tense Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Army Gen. John Abizaid, who as head of Central Command is the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, declined to endorse Vice President Dick Cheney's assessment that Iraq's insurgency was in its "last throes."

Abizaid said the insurgents' strength had not diminished and that more foreign fighters were coming into Iraq than six months ago. "There's a lot of work to be done against the insurgency," Abizaid said, adding, "I'm sure you'll forgive me from criticizing the vice president."

"This war has been consistently and grossly mismanaged," Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat, told Rumsfeld. "And we are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire."

"Our troops are dying. And there really is no end in sight. And the American people, I believe, deserve leadership worthy of the sacrifices that our fighting forces have made, and they deserve the real facts. And I regret to say that I don't believe that you have provided either," Kennedy added.

"Well, that is quite a statement," Rumsfeld, flanked by top U.S. commanders, responded. "First let me say that there isn't a person at this table who agrees with you that we're in a quagmire and that there's no end in sight."

"The suggestion by you that people -- me or others -- are painting a rosy picture is false," Rumsfeld.

yeah, "catastrophic success" isn't exactly *rosy*.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday defended his recent comment that the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes," insisting that progress being made in setting up a new Iraqi government and establishing democracy there will indeed end the violence -- eventually.

(...)

"If you look at what the dictionary says about throes, it can still be a violent period, the throes of a revolution," he said. "The point would be that the conflict will be intense, but it's intense because the terrorists understand that if we're successful at accomplishing our objective -- standing up a democracy in Iraq -- that that's a huge defeat for them.

"We will succeed in Iraq, just like we did in Afghanistan. We will stand up a new government under an Iraqi-drafted constitution. We will defeat that insurgency, and, in fact, it will be an enormous success story."

Not getting a warm and fuzzy from the administration these days. Wonder what the rest of the White House is making of all this?

MCCLELLAN: We have a clear strategy for success that the President has outlined and that our commanders on the ground are now briefing Congress about today. It is vital, as they are pointing out, that we succeed. We are working to train and equip Iraqi security forces so that they will be able to defend themselves.

(...)

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think you have to look at the context of the Vice President's comments.

Q I did, I looked.

MR. McCLELLAN: And you don't point them out. What did he talk about?

Q He said there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we can selectively quote people or we can look at the context of the comments, and I think that's what is important to do. That's why I was stepping back and pointing out to you what the Vice President was talking about.

Q So he was talking about the political process moving forward, not -- let me ask you this. What is the Vice President basing his -- where is he getting his evidence? What is he basing his claim on, if the commanders on the ground are saying --

MR. McCLELLAN: It doesn't appear that you've looked at the context of his comments, and I would encourage you to do that. And I just addressed this question when you asked it.

Q I was there in this -- when he said, "in the throes of," --

MR. McCLELLAN: You were in the interview?

Q He did not mean political, he meant the whole situation in Iraq.

MR. McCLELLAN: You were in the interview? I think you should look --

Q You can't change his meaning. You guys are trying to step back now, and I don't blame you.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I disagree with you.

Go ahead though, Jessica.

Ow! My head! Make it STOP!

Those who want the troops out of the way of unnecessary harm and... ironically *also* think the war's going badly, that the insurgency is growing and that we need a successful exit plan but,... just happen to be say, Democrats or... dare I say it, Liberals... get this warm fuzzy noogie.

NEW YORK - Speaking in a Manhattan ballroom just a few miles north of ground zero, Karl Rove said on Wednesday night that the Democratic party did not understand the consequences of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."

Rove, President Bush's chief political advisor, spoke at the state Conservative Party's annual dinner. He praised the conservative movement's success, calling it "the guiding philosophy for the White House, the Senate, the House."

Rove said the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for "moderation and restraint" after the terrorist attacks.

"Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies."

He's partly right, I didn't see Iraq as a 9/11 consequence and didn't think we'd have *as* much of an issue with the insurgency if we "understood" our enemies

At least he didn't call us obstructionists.

Dick Durbin is a Pussy

Dickie,

When you make a speech that includes strong language to make a point or to get someone's attention, you have to be ready to stand by your words. Recanting due to partisan pressure simply weakens your point. You're right in that, the behavior of Americans in Guantanamo Bay is, by the text of the FBI report, reprehensible, deplorable and undermines our international credibility. Simple logic should have told you, that when you need to communicate details like;

"On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food, or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor."

and your follow-up comparisons not only dwarf the details but completely eclipse them as you and your rhetoric become the story, you've failed in your duties. Then, to get back up in front of the same governing body a week later and blubber like a puss-assed wimp because you couldn't stand the heat... you completely erradicate the important point you were so ineffectively trying to drive home. Remember, in this day and age, Democrats don't get to be stupid assholes one day, lie about it on the Today Show the next and have it all blow over by the weekend (that only works for Fristians). Every word counts and if you're not using them judiciously, please relinquish the job to someone who can handle it.

signed,

A voter with balls.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood....

What she said.

Here’s to you Harry J. Anslinger, William Randolph Hearst and the Cotton Lobby. And in a related story, my new favorite CD. HIGH-larious!

From the Sunday Portland Oregonian: "Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children--- and now, die--- I think the Republicans have done a fine job of getting government out of our personal lives."

Anyone who has ever seen some douchebag on Central Expwy talking on their cell phone (not necessarily hands free either) knows this. Hang up and drive, Numbnuts.

File under WTF?

JESUS IS LORD, SIR! SIR, YES SIR! The Few, the Proud, the Strange.

Take my house, please. Like I have a choice.

Lowering the Bar

* The absence of an apse, nave, vaulted ceilings, stained glass and the odd flying buttress makes the UN building, pagan? So by that logic, if the UN moved itself into say, St John the Divine... it would become holy?

* Will Saddam be allowed to call witnesses? Will that list be comprehensive? Relevence of his WMD sources to the trial?

* When I'm not hosting a mindless gameshow or posing as a right-wing pundit, I'm also on the board of Regnery publishing. Who am I? (scroll to bottom of link for answer)

* If the flag burning amendment doesn't include penalties for those; who let the stickers fade out on their cars, who fly it improperly from their rear window, who keep it up outside at night unlit, who wear it at the SuperBowl, who make shirts, boxer shorts and Ted Nugent's wardrobe... it truly will be, an absolute waste of of Congress' time. Goodbye freedom of speech, I hardly knew ya.

* We created the ultimate terrorist training camp. If you can't beat em, invite em. Reminiscent of Afghanistan circa 1979?

* Karl Zinmeister sends us good tidings of great joy from Iraq. So much so that when compared to the criteria stated by the White House for troop removal, it could begin... as early as next week.

* The "End Times" are what you make of it. Worrying about flammable gay flags is a waste of your time.

Patriotism 101

For those who've not been paying attention:

Patriotic: An individual who holds unwavering blind faith in the reason(s) we went to war in Iraq and an equally strong support for remaining in country until such time as the adminstration deems appropriate while ignoring the cost overrun and the ever shifting success targets.

Unpatriotic: Everyone else.

U.S. Troops Facing Increased Violence. More American soldiers have been killed since the handover of sovereignty on June 28 than during the initial invasion. The numbers show that "18 months after the invasion, the fighting appears to be intensifying rather than waning." In total, 1,713 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and over 12,600 have been wounded. [Washington Post, 9/9/04; Brookings Institution, "Iraq Index," Updated 5/26/05; Los Angeles Times, 6/17/05]

So what does a Patriot sound like?

"I want those families to know: One, we're not going to leave them - not going to allow their mission to go in vain; and two, we will complete the mission, and the world will be better off for it," Bush said. (...) "I think about Iraq every day. Every single day, because I understand we have kids in harm's way," the president said. "And I worry about their families; and I obviously, any time there's a death, I grieve."

The top U.S. combat commander in Iraq says American troop levels likely will remain steady through early next year and that drawdowns likely will not depend on political developments in the nascent Iraqi government. (...) “I would be opposed to announcing a timeline in advance, because that’s not conditions-based. That’s not based on the conditions on the ground. That is an arbitrary decision just based on a calendar. And I don’t think that necessarily meshes with the conditions that we might see here in-country.”

WASHINGTON - As Americans in growing numbers call for a reduction in the U.S. military presence in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that it was uncertain when the Pentagon could start drawing down its estimated 139,000 troops there. His comment cast doubt over a recent prediction of significant troop reductions within a year.

In March, Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. officer in Iraq, said he expected "fairly substantial reductions" in the number of American troops there by March 2006. But Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday that he has not received a recommendation from U.S. commanders in Iraq about future troop levels and did not know when he might.

Di Rita says U-S troops won't leave Iraq until the mission is successfully completed. He says increasingly, the definition of success rests on a self-sufficient Iraqi government and vital economy.

D. CHENEY: We'll leave as soon as the task is over with. We haven't set a deadline or a date. It depends upon conditions. We have to achieve our objectives, complete the mission. And the two main requirements are, the Iraqis in a position to be able to govern themselves, and they're well on their way to doing that, and the other is able to defend themselves, and they're well on their way to doing that. They just announced that in the last day or two here, there've been stories about a major movement of some 40,000 Iraqi troops into Baghdad to focus specifically on the problem there. (...) So I think we're making major progress. And, unfortunately, as I say, it does involve sending young Americans in harm's way. But America will be safer in the long run when Iraq and Afghanistan as well are no longer safe havens for terrorists or places where people can gather and plan and organize attacks against the United States.

Unpatriotic America Haters

"Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse," Sen. Hagel told U.S. News and World Report magazine. "The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

"The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution," Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. "We need a new plan that sets fair and realistic goals for self-government in Iraq, and works with the Iraqi government on a specific timetable for the honorable homecoming of our forces."

While not the first member of Congress to call for a withdrawal of the troops, Kennedy is the first senator to do so. And his remarks continued what has been a long and blistering assault on the administration's Iraq policies.

Republican National Committee spokesman Brian Jones criticized Kennedy's timing. "Its remarkable that Sen. Kennedy would deliver such an overtly pessimistic message only days before the Iraqi election," said Jones. "Kennedy's partisan political attack stands in stark contrast to President Bush's vision of spreading freedom around the world."

So, simply put... if you want to keep troops in harms way, you're a patriot and if you want to bring them home, you hate America. How does that translate to the men and women serving us in Iraq?

Hump Day Quickies

* Governmental oversight ceases to be oversight when it's heavy-handed and invasive.

* George W Bush, planning inevitable failure since 1999.

* Memo to Bill Frist, "You're Dubya's bitch and don't you forget it".

* Religion, the avenue by which, total strangers can drive right up into your personal business, declare you evil and do fuck-all to assist in your time of need.

* Delusions of competence.

* Where the short bus will be dropping off students on the information highway.

* NCLB, not just a slush fund for journalists anymore.

Too Wet To Plow

QOTD

"Texas must be the next stop on the 'Howard Dean Insult and Alienate America Tour'," according to a prepared statement from Texas Republican Party Chairwoman Tina Benkiser. "In Texas, Dean will find what everyone else already knows – that under a decade of Republican leadership, we are one of the most diverse and prosperous states in the country.

"I recommend that Howard Dean enjoy our Southern hospitality for a short time while taking note of the fact that Texans have rejected his liberal Democrat ideas and that Democrats don't win elections in Texas."

Under a decade of Republican leadership we now have failing schools, plans for a Spanish built highway, higher insurance, regressive taxes and are hyper-focused on cheerleaders and gays. mmmm, progress.

Elsewhere

* Dana Milbank receives his requisite spanking for Friday's White House "reach-around".

* Even 'Enemy Combatant' training is authentic. Bush is still proud of our work in Guantanamo... which means it's all sanctioned, right?

* Oh, goody. The Lame Duck Tour 2005. Should be almost as productive as the Social Security Tour they just wrapped up.

* Nothing says conversion like an assisted one way trip.

* Shedding light on atrocities and telling the truth is not; slander, libel, treason, anti-American or aid to the enemy.

* We aren't going after Osama because;

1. We'd be out of people to blame?
   
2. You can't rally troops around an emotion?
   
3. Increased terrorism post arrest would cheapen his role as "mastermind"?
   
4. He's smarter than us?
   
5. We've lowjacked him and are using him as a tracking device?
   
6. He doesn't have cool gold guns that look swell in the Oval Office?
   

Vast Irony

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think Mr. Bolton ought to get an up or down vote on the Senate floor. That's my call to the Senate. I nominated John Bolton to be the ambassador to the United Nations for a reason. I'm sharing this now with my friends here. The American people know why I nominated him, because the U.N. needs reform, and I thought it made sense to send a reformer to the United Nations. The U.N. is an important organization, and the American people, I think, will take -- will understand how important it is when the U.N. is reformed and is held to account. And so we want more accountability and transparency and less bureaucracy. And John Bolton will help achieve that mission. And so I think it's time for the Senate to give him an up or down vote, now. And I'm not sure if they've made the decision to have that vote. I think tomorrow there is going to be an up or down vote, if I'm not mistaken, Tom.

Democrats complain that the administration has refused to give them access to information they need to make informed decisions on whether Bolton is the right man for the job.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., have sought access to the names of the U.S. officials mentioned in 10 communications intercepted by the National Security Agency and requested by Bolton.

Last week, the Democrats said they want National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte to check their list of three dozen "names of concern" with the names of U.S. officials in the secret communications Bolton sought.

More transparency, accountability and less bureaucracy, huh? Since, friggin' when?

Why the NYT Ignored the Downing Street Memo

Still wandering in the abandoned wilderness of "International Male" net shirts, pierced left ears and red bandannas in the back pocket, the paper of record has found its GAYDAR broken and themselves isolated from the rest of the world.

Desperate to claw themselves back to a level of relevancy, they dedicated an entire article to their frustration.

Well, how about that guy you see in the locker room, changing out of his Prada lace-ups, Hugo Boss flat-front pants and Paul Smith dress shirt and cuff links into a muscle T-shirt and Adidas soccer shorts. Does he wear that wedding ring because he was married in New York - or in Massachusetts?

How about him? Is the issue the fact that he's not returning your furtive glances? Maybe he thinks you're a troll and about to swipe his Pradas.

The result is a new gray area that is rendering gaydar - that totally unscientific sixth sense that many people rely on to tell if a man is gay or straight - as outmoded as Windows 2000. It's not that straight men look more stereotypically gay per se, or that out-of-the-closet gay men look straight. What's happening is that many men have migrated to a middle ground where the cues traditionally used to pigeonhole sexual orientation - hair, clothing, voice, body language - are more and more ambiguous. Make jokes about it. Call it what you will: "gay vague" will do. But the poles are melting fast.

OMG! What a tragedy, not only can we as a nation not figure out if we're winning a war or not, but we can't differentiate the gay men from the straight ones. Imagine the negative affect this is going to have on the knuckle dragging neanderthals who live, simply to gay bash.

"I don't have a clue anymore," said Brad Habansky, whose four-month-old men's store and salon, Guise, in the tony Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, specializes in fashionable men's wear. "Some of the straight guys who come in, I never would have thought were straight, and some of the gay men, I never would have guessed either."

Confused as he is, Mr. Habansky can at least relate. "A lot of guys think I'm gay," he said. He added that it is his gay customers who need the most convincing that he's straight.

After emerging sweaty and out of breath from the changing rooms, Mr. Habansky noted "It's not so much the ambiguity as it is the lack of consistency on my part".

"The codes have broken down completely," said Valerie Steele, the director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. "The other night I was at a dinner sitting next to someone who was talking about how he couldn't tell anymore, that he just didn't have any gaydar. And it was so funny. I couldn't tell if he was gay or straight."

"So I stood up and screamed *COCKSUCKER*, because you know those gay agenda recruiters are always looking for good advertisement." "Had anyone been offended I was prepared to offer apologies, blame the atrocious Chardonnay and offer my services."

"The lag time between gay innovation and straight appropriation is nonexistent now," said Bruce Pask, the style director of Cargo magazine, who is gay. "They're picking up the trends as fast as we are."

THERE'S A MOLE!!!!!!!!!! Everyone knows the GQ models are straight.

Ms. White of Cosmopolitan said that her teenage son and her husband, who used to shop with her, have been going out stag and bagging some interesting choices. "My husband came home with a sheared beaver coat," she said. "He said he thought it was shearling. He never would have been shopping for that, but the salesguy whipped it out, and . . . " Beaver or not, the coat stayed. "He loved it too much," she said. "It's definitely gay vague."

Ma'am, if your husband could get a nice sheared beaver at home, he wouldn't be draggin' a new one home.

Of course there are still places that gay men will go that straight men will not. The Speedo swimsuit is still off limits to even the most vain heterosexual American men, as is knowing the words to Kylie Minogue's latest hit single.

Barbara Streisand concerts, the 5th consecutive showing of "All That Jazz", the Judy Garland roundup and the "Body Shop".

But the best way to weed them out is...

And Alice Eisenberg, who works the door at several New York gay bars, said her supersensitive gaydar remains infallible. Last weekend she surprised onlookers when she stopped a gay-vague guy, complete with a fedora, in line at the Boys Room, an East Village bar, asking him, "You know this is a gay bar, right?"

"The jeans were right, the loafers were right, and he had a good body," she recalled. "But the shirt was completely untucked, and I think it was Old Navy."

The guy thanked her, turned and fled. ed: Back to Kansas

Because, no self-respecting gay man would ever be caught in public in an Old Navy shirt. It wasn't that this guy was straight, I mean he was in the line to the "Boys Room", he had forgotten to go home and change out of his ambiguously straight camouflage and into something a little more, 'pret a porter'.

I Got Served

Dan Nexon caught me unaware with the "5 books I liked enough as teen/young adult to read again as an adult" meme.

The neat aspect of this exercise is that, in a manner, I've already started revisiting some of my childhood literary loves through purchases for my son. My reading was wide, vast and varied as a child and virtually impossible to nail down favorites. The ones that stick out as memorable "have to buys" to read to my kid or those that made the largest impression are;

1. Chronicles of Narnia. Fantasy books were explicitly forbidden in my house and when it came to escapism reading, C.S. Lewis was my only hope. I've read the entire series upwords of 10 times, the last of which was in my early 20's. Eagerly awaiting the movie now.

2. The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald. I think it was the trouble making and conniving that attracted me to the series. You can't though, go wrong with anything illustrated by Mercer Mayer.

3. The "Soup" Series by Robert Newton Peck. Again, early 20th century tales of young boys with long leashes. Both the weave of the story and the authentic language helped create a world of adventure that's reminicsent of "Huck Finn" without the underlying cultural commentary.

4. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. You can't do better in a book about a boy and his dog(s). Much of the realism for me was, that the story took place very close to where I grew up. Still, even today, I can't read it without being brought to tears.

5. The Encyclopedia, Generic. I had two sets, both of which were published way before I was a zygote. We lived so far away from a library that when the fiction stream dried up, the fall back was always the Encyclopedia (usually the Colliers). Between agressive reading of the out-dated reference library and digging through the big bag of Louis L'Amour books my dad's friend would leave for me (Lonesome Gods is the best) I was always reading something.

Books read as a teenager that directly affected the way I think.

1. A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
2. 1984, George Orwell
3. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
4. The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
5. The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley
6. Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
7. HHGTTG, Douglas Adams

Now, I pass this to Amber, Mr. 42 & the Grouch.

I See Stupid People

Eagerly seizing the opportunity to flaunt their utter and infinite stupidity.

This is what a complete moron looks like. Only an arrogant, misogynist, asswipe who doesn’t have a uterus can make these outrageous statements. I repeat, I only wish that stupidity was painful. (Knee to the groin, nail-gun to the eyeball, anvil to the cranium painful.)

Fashion Statement. Texans should be SO proud.

My hero and the best goddamn journalist alive today, Ms. Molly, has had a lot of practice reporting on stupid people. She's been covering Texas politics her entire life.

Bringing shame upon our entire gender, a Stepford wife proving that this level of immeasurable stupidity occurs after a lifetime of patriarchal programming.

Clarence Page over at the Chicago Tribune provides us with this handy list of monumentally stupid people.

Violence against women is perpetrated by cowards.

Statistic: 1 in 4 women will be sexually assaulted before she reaches the age of 18. Until the human race accepts the fact that this is a crime of violence that has nothing to do with sex, this statistic is unlikely to change. Until women and girls are free from the guilt, embarrassment and stigma associated with this crime – a crime AGAINST them – they will be unable to speak openly and honestly about the abuse they have suffered. And until that happens, men – most often the victim’s father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, brother - will continue to abuse. And get away with it.

The story of one extraordinarily courageous woman, and the callous behaviour of our Commander & Thief, prompted this post. Dubya cares about nothing except remaining in power while lining his own pockets. He cares about no one except the corporate interests whose votes he purchased. He is a detestable, foul little man. He sickens me.

Mukhtaran Bibi, a woman who was sentenced by a tribal council in Pakistan to be gang-raped because of an infraction supposedly committed by her brother, was raped by four men, then village leaders forced her to walk home nearly naked in front of a jeering crowd of 300. With the backing of a local Islamic leader, she fought back and testified against her persecutors. Six were convicted.. But then a court ordered her attackers released and authorities put Ms. Mukhtaran under house arrest - to stop her from speaking out. Armed police prevent her from stepping outside and cut her phone line. On Friday, just as all this was happening, President Bush received Pakistan's foreign minister in the White House and praised Pakistan President Musharraf's "bold leadership."

For an update on Mukhtaran Bibi's story go here.

What The Pave, Meant

Happy Father's Day. Gift ideas for the men who have everything.

* An "I was there when Exellence in Broadcasting jumped the shark" T-shirt.

* A .357 magnum that not only compliments bedroom decor but brings out the color in your wife's eyes when she's carrying it.

* A legacy that will endure in the history books. Nothing compounds annually like lies.

* Free advice from the Christocratsgovernment on how to live your life.

* The de-criminalization of cronyism, no-bid contracts and torture.

* Relationship and tolerance counseling from our buddies in Pakistan.

* A lesson in lexicon manipulation that allows you to napalm your manufactured enemies with inpunity and call it something else.

* The opportunity to note in your calendar the moment in time that science was veto'ed as a concept. (now if they'd just stop using it to build bombs too)

* The comfort and relaxation that comes from knowing the truth, may, some day, actually be told. (via Atrios)

* and finally, a big bundle of celebrated triumph that may allow you as a father, the opportunity to bid your son or daughter farewell as they're shipped off to fight someonelse's war.

Parenting Tip

Do NOT read the Downing Street Memo to your child before bedtime.

Misplaced Myopia

QOTD

The sound of Scotty-boy choking on his own bile.

Q Well, I'm just wondering what the metric is for measuring the defeat of the insurgency.

McCLELLAN: Well, you can go back and look at the Vice President's remarks. I think he talked about it.

Q Yes. Is there any idea how long a 'last throe' lasts for?

McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Steve....

Elsewhere

* Beltway blinders and other non-diagnosable maladies.

* Lies and the lying liars. Kudos on consistency.

* Just crown the duck and be done with it.

* Yeah, what he said!

* Oh, dear god. Manipulating financials is one thing... casualties is a completely different story.

* Somebody pop the White House bubble and let some reality in and truth out.

* Iraqi War planning timeline, complete with Downing Street Memo references. Print and distribute randomly.

Your thought for the day.

The complementarian rather than egalitarian position in male-female relations has many implications. Today, unless women gain jobs and athletic scholarships commensurate with their percentage of the population, feminists scream discrimination. Viewed biblically, however, occupational differences in male-female ratios seem less a function of bias than of biology, the way God made us.

Friday's Earworm.

Some days KMFDM just fits the bill.

"Terror"

DAY AFTER DAY INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE BEING DEPORTED,
INTERROGATED AND TORTURED- PUT THROUGH THE THIRD DEGREE

FUNDAMENTALIST FORCES ARE UNDERMINING THE INTEGRITY
OF LIBERAL AND DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL STRUCTURES

RADICAL ANARCHISTS, FASCISTS AND TERRORISTS ARE RESPONSABLE
FOR THE VIOLENCE

OUR SOCITIES ARE SATURATED WITH BLOODLUST,
SENSATIONALISM AND VIOLENCE AS A RESULT OF ALIENATION FROM ONESELF'S REALITY

HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE TOLERATE MASS MURDER

HAND-CUFFS AND SHACKLES WON'T FRIGHTEN US
NEITHER CATTLE-PROD NOR ELECTRICAL-WHIP WILL SILENCE US
WE SHALL USE ALL PEACEFUL MEANS TO OVERCOME TYRANNY

PERSIST AND MARCH ON
THEY CAN'T USE OUR SHAME AGAINST US

REGARDLESS OF RACE, SOCIAL STATUS OR GENDER
WE'RE ALL AFFECTED

I TRIED TO KEEP MY FAITH ALIVE
I'M CLOSE ENOUGH TO TRIP THE WIRE
I CANNOT KEEP MY HATE INSIDE
I'M GONNA SET MYSELF ON FIRE
I GET CLOSER BEAT BY BEAT
TO GET THE THING I REALLY NEED
I'M FUCKING TERRIFIED
WILL YOU BE EVER SATISFIED

79th Blastocyst Regiment of Fighting Snowflakes or How to Avoid a Draft *and* Preserve the Sanctity of Life

Every sperm is sacred. Every sperm is great. If a sperm is wasted, God gets quite irate.

"The right-to-lifers believe that the right to life begins with conception and ends at birth". - Barney Frank.

As indicated by the front-running issues championed by the Congressional majority, priority is given to the unborn, the slightly fertilized and the brain dead over the contributing citizens without health care, jobs or a secure future. Let's play with this for a bit.

Fighting for the blastocysts and the unborn is the utmost priority but ensuring a successful future for those that are born but unwanted isn't as important. Sending young men and women off to die for oil a lie democracy the hell of it, is more important than ensuring they don't have to subsist on food stamp and WIC assistance. Guaranteeing higher education for all graduating students isn't as important as building new prisons or offering solid employment for at-risk teens.

Time to re-prioritize.

We've got enlistment plummeting beyond reforecasted estimations, a war on terror that appears to have an infinite horizon, and a government tied closely with churches that seems to think every unwanted fetus should be carried to term, let's juxtapose the concepts.

The church is anti-abortion and supports the administration which supports the infinite war which requires a larger military. Long term planning is in order and time for the cabal to step up to the plate.

The church can put their money where their mouth is and support all pregnant mothers through the full term of their previously unwanted pregnancy. They will then provide room, board and pre-education for the child until the age of five. The military will then be responsible for the child through graduation after which the individual will have completed basic training and be a fully trained troop, ready to serve at the government's whim.

This eliminates the need for a draft, closes the gaps in a volunteer military, vastly reduces abortions, addresses the 9 brief months when a life is truly sacred, elminates "unwanted babies", allows the churches to be the wholy owned subsidary of the government they appear to desire and could reduce the need for base closures nation-wide all in one fell swoop. It might reduce the need for abstinence only planning but that can be addressed later.

Now, it's up to you the reader to guesstimate how facetious I'm being.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back Into The Water

Crapatopia

* James Sensenbrenner hates democracy and open debate. Think he'll shut debate down if he manages to bring this to the floor?

* I think it's fair now, to assume that Bill Frist applies the same level of scrutiny to legislating and supporting his constituency that he does when providing pro-bono diagnostic services to invalids.

* Whatchugit when yer ferrus. Oil. Black Gold. Texas Tea.

* Super. How long before the Vatican boycotts 2000 year old legacy date palms?

The Judean date is chronicled in the Bible, Quran and ancient literature for its diverse powers -- from an aphrodisiac to a contraceptive -- and as a cure for a wide range of diseases including cancer, malaria and toothache.

Reading Townhall So You Don't Have To.

* John Stossel blames Clinton for Medicare funded Viagra. Surge in popularity, maybe... funding, probably not.

* Brent Bozell is angry at the media for not grilling Clinton in interviews as hard as Bush is being grilled. Forgetting who's making policy apparently.

* The Virgin Ben is proud of his virginity and his ability to speak with authority on everyone else's morality. He forgot to blame Clinton for the surge in blowjob popularity.

Subtle Nuance

Slightly paraphrasing Bill Maher, "Flying a flag on your car is literally the least you can do."

The ribbon phenomenon, what a fantastic use of unregulated capitalism. The companies unable to compete in the rush for government contracts can still make a quick buck with no sacrifice. My complaint though isn't with the ubiquitous yellow ribbons, cammo ribbons, red white & blue ribbons... ad nauseum. What stands out is the wording.

The ribbons say;

"Support the Troops".

not

"I Support the Troops".

Isn't it odd that the message being communicated is a directive and not a declarative? It's a command to random strangers to do something and not a statement that the individual displaying the ribbon has actually done something. These are the same people who think a tax cut during war time is fiscally smart and probably wouldn't cross the street to piss on a man on fire. As long as the focus is on telling others what they should be doing, there's no need for personal sacrifice?

The ones that have "made in China" printed on them are the bestest!!