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August 31, 2005

Hiding and Seeking

Last night I watched what was probably the most compelling documentary film that I've ever seen. PBS's weekly show P.O.V. aired Hiding and Seeking by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky.

Most fathers should have Menachem Daum's problems. An Orthodox Jew and child of Polish Holocaust survivors, Daum has spent many years interviewing camp survivors about the impact of the Nazi "final solution" on Jewish religious faith. Daum worries his two sons' inwardly-focused version of Orthodoxy may be leading them into intolerance toward the world outside the confines of the yeshiva. He has similar misgivings over what he sees as growing insularity in Orthodox Judaism, both in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Daum grew up and reared his sons, and in Israel, where his sons have moved to immerse themselves in Talmudic studies.

So it's no laughing matter when Daum's wife, Rifka, comes home one night from a lecture with a tape of a rabbi openly preaching "hatred" of the non-Jewish world. Daum's first reaction is to try to raise an outcry in his own Brooklyn Orthodox community. But community leaders and media mostly ignore him. His second reaction is to consider the "ethical legacy" he might — and should — be leaving his children. So he flies to Israel, the audio tape in hand, to discuss the matter with his sons, who have adopted a strict Orthodox Judaism centered on study of the Torah and other sacred Jewish writings. Thus begins the difficult and revelatory journey documented by the Emmy® nominated filmmaking team of Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky, in "Hiding and Seeking."

Belief.net has a long interview with Menachem Daum that expands a bit on the documentary and it's definitely recommended reading.

What struck me both watching the documentary and reading the belief.net interview was how there are parallels between some of the ultra orthodox Jewish Yeshivas (religious schools) and the uber orthodox Muslim Mudrasa's that spawned the likes of Taliban and al Queda members. The theology is decidedly different. But, the demonizing of others to the extent of being taught that it is not only okay to hate these others but that it's what their distorted version of "god" wants.

This was clearly a post-9/11 film. It was a response to what I really felt. I felt I could understand Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. I could understand this concept of blinding yourself and losing yourself in this religion that you don’t see your connectedness to the rest of humanity. I knew it. I had never been in one, but I sort of felt I could understand where they’re coming from. And I realized that much of what drives them is very parallel to some of the less-attractive elements of the Haredi world.

Very sobering words. I think the parallel is broader than just one between uber conservative Muslim and Jewish religious gurus, though. It seems to me that any arch-conservative religious movement is capable of the same kind of dehumanization of any who aren't full-fledged members of the group. The Salem Witch Trials... the enslavement, sadistic beating and raping of black slaves... the stockpiling of weapons for Armageddon by David Koresh and his drones. Each and every one was justified by self-righteous religious rhetoric coming from religious conservatives.

That's not to say that all religious conservatives are bad or evil or even that conservative religiosity is bad or evil. My parents are religious conservatives and there is nothing bad or evil or hateful about them. But, when was the last time you heard of a religious liberal preaching racial hatred?

I'm just sayin'...

Posted by Kevin at 07:49 PM |

Bourbon Street survives

Juan Cole points out that the fact that the notoriously wicked Bourbon Street area of New Orleans survived virtually unscathed while Hurricane Katrina thrashed surrounding areas flies in the face of oft-repeated proclamations by the American Taliban (AKA: Pat Robertson & Jerry Falwell) and their ilk.

In the terms of their logic, and given today's news about Bourbon Street being saved from destruction, only three conclusions are possible.

1. God does not exist.

Or:

2. God does not use natural or man-made catastrophes to punish people for moral failings.

Or:

3. God does not actually object to people having a good time occasionally.

Hmmm... I'm partial to 3, personally.

Posted by Kevin at 01:07 PM |

I'm headed to Fairhope in 3 weeks.

Fairhope, AL:

Assuming we still have a hotel to have our conference at. This is 2 miles away from it. Great seafood; sit on the dock, about 15 feet above the water, and eat crab claws till you bust. Watch the sunset over towards downtown Mobile.

Once more, the Red Cross.

Posted by Jeff at 12:44 PM |

VoldeMarx

I guess the Gipper didn't defeat Communism after all.

Over the last couple of days, the ideology-who-must-not-be-named has begun to find itself attached to the likes of MoveOn.org, Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink and even Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday's story on Jesse Helms' new biography:

Helms suggests the South could have integrated voluntarily if the federal government had not intervened. He wrote, "I believed right would prevail as people followed their own consciences."

He claimed he opposed creation of a national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in 1983 in part because the Senate rejected his amendment that would have unsealed the FBI's files on the civil rights leader. Helms contends King's advisers included Communist sympathizers.

In other words..Helms' opposition to King had nothing to do with the fact that Helms supported racist, bigoted individuals from a region of the country notorious for undermining civil rights. It was all about King's ties to the Red Menace.

King was long dead and Communism alledgedly along with it by the time the US Senate came around to recognizing King's accomplishments.

But if only Jesse could just prove that King was Red by association. Then the bigotry and racism of North Carolina could be justified!

Not to be outdone by the likes of Jesse Helms, John Tierney trots out his own brand of VoldeMarxism to red bait fears against the anti-Iraq war movement:

Tierney researched the movement for a book and came up with some choice descriptions. "I have to say it is communist," he told an audience at the conservative think tank, also describing the groups involved as "revolutionary socialistic" and "cohorts" of North Korea, Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro's Cuba. "We're really dealing with . . . a comprehensive, exhaustive, socialistic anti-capitalistic political structure," he said.

I've been against the Iraq War since before we invaded. I thought I'd been pretty vocal about it, too. I'm starting to feel left out of the red scare.

And how dare Sheehan bring her filthy muggleness to Bush's doorstep:

Tierney singled out Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq and who camped out at President Bush's ranch this month to protest the war. "I've never heard of a woman protesting a war in front of a leader's home in my life," he said. "I've never heard of anything quite so outrageous."

Yeah. Outrageous.

Tierney's side can't be held up to accountability and scrutiny...so he's got to trot out the boogeyman...communism.

It's getting desperate out there in ProWar Land.

Posted by Carla at 11:35 AM |

Gimme a triple-venti-extra-gay-no-whip-mocha

I'm a regular Starbucks customer. I think their coffee is generally excellent: perfect temperature, great variety and very good customer service. The outlet I usually patronize has a superb manager and what seems to be a staff dedicated to doing a good job.

I've been aware of Starbucks' The Way I See It campaign, having purchased what is likely gallons of their regular caffeinated beverage. Little did I know that it was pissing off the fundies:

A national Christian women's organization is accusing the Seattle-based coffee maker of promoting a homosexual agenda because of a quote by author Armistead Maupin, whose "Tales of the City" chronicled San Francisco's homosexual community in the 1970s and 1980s.

The pissed off fundies are from Concerned Women for America. It seems the gals at CWFA don't like the "gay agenda" of Starbucks. They've apparently missed the "right wing whacko agenda" of the coffee merchant as well..given that other cup quotations stem from such brightly lit conservoluminaries as Jonah Goldberg and Michael Medved.

Darryl at Hominid Views is concerned about the Starbucks gay agenda as well. He's provided a stirring list of solid, Christian conservative quotations to aid the good ladies of CWFA as they work to clean the nation's coffee houses of the gay scourge.

While I salute Darryl's efforts, I've decided that a few extra trips to Starbucks each week are now in order. If it's pissing off the fundies...it's worth it to me to pony up the extra scratch to support a good cause.

(Hat tip to Bryan Harding at Gay Rights Watch)

Posted by Carla at 08:41 AM |

August 30, 2005

In my previous life I was Brad Pitt's toothbrush

Hey..if Tom and Katie can do it..so can I.

And now back to your regularly scheduled political bashfest.

Posted by Carla at 05:18 PM |

Abortion: just like 9/11 without the planes!

Demonstrating that older absolutely has nothing to do with wiser, retired US Senator Jesse Helms (R-Nutjob) has written a memoir to remind the American people that he didn't back down when faced with his own bigotry and complete lack of common sense:

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jesse Helms, writing with the same passion that made him the archconservative of the U.S. Senate for 30 years, renews his criticism of abortion in a memoir being published this week, comparing it to both the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Ah yes. Every time a woman decides to take responsibility for herself and control of her body..it's exactly like a terrorist flying an airplane into a building! Osama Bin Laden ordered us to have abortions so that the unborn will go to heaven and get their forty virgins. You've found us out. Does Jesse know that they get the streets of gold too? It will undercut his share just a bit but given his great compassion for the world's fetuses (as opposed to the already born children who weren't worth the scum on the bottom of his shoe), I'm sure he doesn't mind.

Helms devotes an entire chapter to his views on race relations, defending his record challenging most of the nation's civil rights legislation as a 1960s television commentator and as a senator.

"I felt that the citizens of my community, my state and my region of the country were being battered by this new form of bigotry," he wrote. "I simply could not stay silent in the face of this assault _ and I didn't."

Helms suggests the South could have integrated voluntarily if the federal government had not intervened. He wrote, "I believed right would prevail as people followed their own consciences."

The new form of bigotry which expected all men and women to be treated equally throughout the US really pissed ol Jesse off. And if we'd just waited a few more decades, maybe North Carolina would have come around to treating blacks equally on it's own! After all, people weren't following their consciences with "white's only" facilities and completely discriminating against blacks up to that time, right?

I guess if you're proud of a legacy of bigotry, discrimination and subjugation of women and minorities you should make sure you get it in writing. That way when people try to say that factions of the Republican Party never supported institutionalized racism and bigotry (and they will), Jesse's memoir will set them straight.

Posted by Carla at 08:40 AM |

August 29, 2005

We have ways of making you shut up....

Halliburton Contract Critic Loses Her Job

A high-level contracting official who has been a vocal critic of the Pentagon's decision to give Halliburton Co. a multibillion-dollar, no-bid contract for work in Iraq, was removed from her job by the Army Corps of Engineers, effective Saturday.

Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, commander of the Army Corps, told Bunnatine H. Greenhouse last month that she was being removed from the senior executive service, the top rank of civilian government employees, because of poor performance reviews. Greenhouse's attorney, Michael D. Kohn, appealed the decision Friday in a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, saying it broke an earlier commitment to suspend the demotion until a "sufficient record" was available to address her allegations.

The people writing up the performance reviews of Greenhouse were the same people she was criticizing, incidentally.

Greenhouse's lawyer is appealing to Rumsfeld..who will no doubt be sympathetic to military personnel who are screaming about the Defense Department allowing contractors to abuse the US Treasury.

Posted by Carla at 04:50 PM |

I was so much older then --

-- I'm younger than that now:

Soon these will be the good old days. Fill 'er up!

Posted by Jeff at 11:31 AM |

Lazy ass fact checking

I know it's cruel but sometimes I just can't help myself.

From yesterday's Resistance Is Futile Sunday offerings:

But there were no WMD... 500 tons of yellowcake Uranium...

1.8 tons of partially enriched Uranium...

Centrifuges...

Blueprints...

Bomb-making parts...

New construction at known WMD facilities...

Sarin gas...

Mustard gas...

Mobile biological weapons labs...

300,000 of his own people killed by chemical weapons...

But there were no WMD and there was no imminent threat...

I didn't leave out a link. The author never provided one. It appears on the blog, as you see it above.

So being me...I left a comment:

Source citation...?

(rolling eyes)

[Posted by: carla | Sunday, 28 August 2005]

Here's the reply:

typical liberal answer. I AM THE AUTHORITY. I spent 6 years working in a USAF nuclear research laboratory for the sole purpose of identifying foreign WMD capability. MY SOURCES ARE CLASSIFIED.

However, if you want to see someone else print it, try going a simple Google search for "yellowcake uranium iraq" or any other key words you desire.

MY JOB IS NOT TO FACT CHECK FOR YOUR LAZY ASS.

The burden is on you to prove me wrong, not on me to prove me right.

[Posted by: Gullyborg | Monday, 29 August 2005]

So I lazy assed fact checked:

George W. Bush is a rapist who eats the heads off of live chickens when the moon is full. I can't tell you how I know this. But I'm an authority because I say so.

MY SOURCES ARE CLASSIFIED

(It sounds just as dumb coming from you, incidentally)

The burden is on you to prove me wrong, not on me to prove me right.

Prove my assertions about Bush wrong. It's not my job to fact check your lazy ass.

(Getting more dumb all the time, isn't it?)

[Posted by: carla | Monday, 29 August 2005]

Who wants to bet that this guy still won't get it?

Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

Posted by Carla at 11:11 AM |

Waxing fondly for the Bhagwan

As a girl growing up in the 70s and 80s in a small, Eastern Oregon ranching/timber town, I was aware of the Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh.

In 1981, The Bhagwan and his followers (we called them Rashneeshees) purchased a ranch in the community of Antelope, Oregon.

Sometimes the Rashneeshees would come into our town for supplies. They always wore red or orange. And they almost always had a beaded necklace with a photo of the Bhagwan hanging down from it as a prominent charm. My neighbors clucked about their free love and commune lifestyle. In our small, conservative town it was the biggest news ever.

After a few years, the Rashneesh and his followers took over the City Council in Antelope. Later they brought in homeless people from around the US, registering them to vote in the county. Eventually it was discovered that the Rashneeshees had attempted to poison people in The Dalles, Oregon. The Bhagwan fled but was captured and arrested along with some of his followers.

Most dispersed after that. A few eventually followed the Bhagwan back to his native India.

In a move reminiscent of the Rashneeshees comes the Christian Exodus:

At a time when evangelicals are exerting influence on the national political stage — having helped secure President Bush's reelection — Christian Exodus believes that people of faith have failed to assert their moral agenda: Abortion is legal. School prayer is banned. There are limits on public displays of the Ten Commandments. Gays and lesbians can marry in Massachusetts.

Christian Exodus activists plan to take control of sheriff's offices, city councils and school boards. Eventually, they say, they will control South Carolina. They will pass godly legislation, defying Supreme Court rulings on the separation of church and state.

"We're going to force a constitutional crisis," said Cory Burnell, 29, an investment advisor who founded the group in November 2003.

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

I personally enjoy a good secession discussion. While legal experts in South Carolina are skeptical that the Exodus folks will gain a lot of steam, I'm hoping they'll succeed.

I hope they create their own theocratic nation right smack in the middle of the American south. Let them build and maintain their own infrastructure. Let them build and maintain their own defense. They can collect taxes to build a big 10 Commandments homage in their town square. They can make abortion illegal...even drowning the witches who have them like the Salem of old. Let them "reform" their gay and lesbian children...teaching them to live a life of misery.

Christian Exodus Utopia.

Nothing teaches better than doing. Just ask the former Rashneeshees.

Posted by Carla at 10:03 AM |

Coffee spew warning

Got your bib? Keyboard covered? Okay, now read this: Fafblog Interviews: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

True yet tragic, totally believable and completely absurd at the same time. Comedy gold, in other words!

Posted by Jeff at 07:35 AM |

When the Levee Breaks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia --

"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song by Memphis Minnie, famously re-worked by Led Zeppelin as the last song on their fourth album. The lyrics in Led Zeppelin's song were based on the 1929 recording by Memphis Minnie, which Robert Plant had in his personal collection.

The Led Zeppelin version features a distinctive and often-sampled pounding drum beat by John Bonham, driving guitars and a wailing harmonica, all presumably meant to symbolize the relentless storm that threatens to break the levee..."

Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good. Say a prayer for NOLA anyway, people.

Posted by Jeff at 06:34 AM |

August 28, 2005

Crossing lines

David Reinhard:

Yet Cindy Sheehan's peacenik allies have now crossed some lines -- lines that the mother of a dead soldier, of all people, ought to appreciate.

There are, you see, folks who don't want their loved ones' names on protest crosses in Crawford. Some have gone there to remove the crosses with their kids' names. Cindy doesn't speak for them. And, even if she speaks for her child, she doesn't speak for theirs.

According to The Washington Times, however, anti-war protesters have replaced the crosses that were removed.

Anti Iraq War protestors replacing crosses removed from the memorial they made crosses the line? Whether you agree or not with the protestors..they are honoring the dead with that memorial.

Punditocracy like Reinhard are deafeningly silent on Bush's own use of dead soldiers, some of whom have families that stridently disagree with the Iraq war. It's okay to be a "War President" but not okay to be an "Anti-War Mom".

Reinhard's column is a lame attempt to cry foul at those who support Sheehan's questioning of the Iraq War. Hardly a line-crosser.

I realize that the Oregonian has to have columnists that offer up conservative points of view. But is it necessary to have one that has to make an excuse for every lousy decision made by Bush and his supporters?

Reinhard's columns are nothing more than a tedious exercise in neoconbabblespeak. That is when he's not trying to pick Kevin Mannix and Karen Minnis up by their own bootstraps.

Perhaps Reinhard would be best serving his own team by cleaning up the mess on his own side of the line crossing, instead of apologizing for it:

(from Crooks and Liars, via Pandagon)

Looks like he'll need a giant pooper scooper and an extra large trash can.

Posted by Carla at 12:27 PM |

I'm on a hunt for the courage of their convictions

Frank Rich:

When the war's die-hard cheerleaders attacked the Middle East policy of a mother from Vacaville, Calif., instead of defending the president's policy in Iraq, it was definitive proof that there is little cogent defense left to be made. When the Democrats offered no alternative to either Mr. Bush's policy or Ms. Sheehan's plea for an immediate withdrawal, it was proof that they have no standing in the debate.

Instead, two conservative Republicans - actually talking about Iraq instead of Ms. Sheehan, unlike the rest of their breed - stepped up to fill this enormous vacuum: Chuck Hagel and Henry Kissinger. Both pointedly invoked Vietnam, the war that forged their political careers. Their timing, like Ms. Sheehan's, was impeccable. Last week Mr. Bush started saying that the best way to honor the dead would be to "finish the task they gave their lives for" - a dangerous rationale that, as David Halberstam points out, was heard as early as 1963 in Vietnam, when American casualties in that fiasco were still inching toward 100.

To be fair, Wes Clark has offered a plan that's a reasonable start. But he's outside the power circle.

The Democrats alledged power brokers are twiddling their thumbs. There are only so many ways to finger point at the President without offering up a way to fix the mess.

I wish I knew how the Democrats devolved into such a rudderless heap of blathering goo. I don't know if it's the lack of cultivating the best and the brightest..or too many entrenched lazies. Maybe it's some of both.

The courage of conviction is sorely lacking in the party I usually vote for.

While the other side completely screws my beloved country sideways...they sit idly by. When one of them does finally have the courage to speak up (Howard Dean, I love you man) they are roundly criticized by the power brokers and punditocracy who are afraid of losing their grip on what they have left.

Liberals are not sheep. They don't walk in lock step and they can't be expected to stay on some sort of unified message. It really is antithetical to liberalism to do that, as far as I'm concerned. But our leaders on the left have to stop pussyfooting around. Stop worrying about what Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and the Wall Street Journal will say. Nobody elected them and nobody wants them to lead this country.

Russ Feingold attempted a weak whisper of a stand earlier in the month. But he seems to have gone back into his hole.

The Democrats won't succeed until they stand for something more than just "Bush is wrong". Bush being wrong doesn't fix the power vacuum left in his wake.

Posted by Carla at 08:20 AM |

August 27, 2005

Shorter Stephen Mansfield

I don't want to detract from Cindy Sheehan's grief...but I'll do it anyway.

Why is it okay for Bush and others to politicize the death of soldiers...but Cindy Sheehan can't do it because it's her kid that died? Bush can co-opt any soldier's family or dead soldier he wants..but Sheehan isn't allowed to use her own's son's death.

Neato set of convenient standards.

Posted by Carla at 05:13 PM |

One man's terrorist.....

American Movie Classics has spent the month of August playing the James Bond films. They appear to have been played in the chronological order in which they were released. Being a Bond film fan I've seen all of these films numerous times.

The villains and good guys in these films are a fascinating snapshot into the culture of their release time. Beginning with Dr. No, the villain encompasses the boogeyman: a half German/half Chinese bad guy. For 1962 this was pretty close to the pinnacle of ethnic bad dude-ness.

Oftentimes Bond was battling Soviets (and Russians). AMC will be playing one such film this week: The Living Daylights.

Besides the requisite Soviet bad guys and an imbalanced arms dealer with a Napoleon complex, Bond becomes intimately acquainted with the Mujahadeen.

The film was released in 1987. The Mujahadeen was then the Afghan resistance, bravely fighting the Soviet insurgence into their country. The character of Mujahadeen leader Kamran Shah is portrayed as an Oxford educated, multi-linguist rogue...fighting the communist scourge. Even Shah's pact with the opium dealing Snow Leopard cult is potrayed as a means to an end to defeat the Soviets.

Those were the days of Reagan: arming the Afghans..helping them fight the Evil Empire. Communists bad. Fundamentalist misogynists good.

The Mujahadeen of the 80s is the Al Qaida of today. Some of the very same individuals are involved. But now instead of being heroic and brave..they're terrorists and insurgents themselves. The enemy of my enemy....

Instead of fighting the Soviets and their arms dealers, Bond is now fighting the North Koreans, axis of evil extraordinaire. New times call for new enemies. Bond even teams up with Cubans...after befriending the former Soviets in previous films(who've seen the error of their ways and are now free market capitalist mobsters).

Culturally some of us seem to need these monsters. We're not anything until we're better than somebody else. Sectors of our civilization seem to thrive on looking down from the moral high ground...thumbing their nose at the communistathiestislamicfundamentalistthuggery of the evil empire of axis.

I suppose Bond would cease to exist if we Give Peace A Chance.

Beatles...Bond...Beatles...Bond...

Not that tough of a choice.

Posted by Carla at 04:41 PM |

Saturday linkfest: good stuff to read and think on

I'm not ready for prime time yet today. I had a lousy night's sleep and my kid is still sick. My cup is empty for the moment.

There's lots of good stuff out today. I recommend the following clickage:

Facts meet fantasy and facts lose by Amanda at Pandagon

The New York Times Falls Off The Wagon by Arianna Huffington at The Huffington Post

HAITI: DEATH IN DAYLIGHT by The Heretik

NPR Finally Admits It Has Been Bought by Champollion at Rising Hegemon

More on Global Warming by Ron Beasley at Middle Earth Journal

Beat The Press by Jeff at Pen and Sword

Posted by Carla at 09:04 AM |

August 26, 2005

Why don't the Democrats have a plan for Iraq?

Democrats aren't a group that tends to stick to a message. As with most things, they're divided as a group on what to do about Iraq.

The Republicans use this lack of Democratic sheepleness as a tool to say that the Democrats don't have a plan to deal with Iraq.

Wesley Clark proves the naysers wrong:

From the outset of the U.S. post-invasion efforts, we needed a three-pronged strategy: diplomatic, political and military. Iraq sits geographically on the fault line between Shiite and Sunni Islam; for the mission to succeed we will have to be the catalyst for regional cooperation, not regional conflict.

Clark doesn't just point fingers and say "they're doing it wrong!" either. He lays out a fix:

Adding a diplomatic track to the strategy is a must. The United States should form a standing conference of Iraq's neighbors, complete with committees dealing with all the regional economic and political issues, including trade, travel, cross-border infrastructure projects and, of course, cutting off the infiltration of jihadists. The United States should tone down its raw rhetoric and instead listen more carefully to the many voices within the region. In addition, a public U.S. declaration forswearing permanent bases in Iraq would be a helpful step in engaging both regional and Iraqi support as we implement our plans.

On the political side, the timeline for the agreements on the Constitution is less important than the substance of the document. It is up to American leadership to help engineer, implement and sustain a compromise that will avoid the "red lines" of the respective factions and leave in place a state that both we and Iraq's neighbors can support. So no Kurdish vote on independence, a restricted role for Islam and limited autonomy in the south. And no private militias.

In addition, the United States needs a legal mandate from the government to provide additional civil assistance and advice, along with additional U.S. civilian personnel, to help strengthen the institutions of government. Key ministries must be reinforced, provincial governments made functional, a system of justice established (and its personnel trained) and the rule of law promoted at the local level. There will be a continuing need for assistance in institutional development, leadership training and international monitoring for years to come, and all of this must be made palatable to Iraqis concerned with their nation's sovereignty. Monies promised for reconstruction simply must be committed and projects moved forward, especially in those areas along the border and where the insurgency has the greatest potential.

On the military side, the vast effort underway to train an army must be matched by efforts to train police and local justices. Canada, France and Germany should be engaged to assist. Neighboring states should also provide observers and technical assistance. In military terms, striking at insurgents and terrorists is necessary but insufficient. Ten thousand Arab Americans with full language proficiency should be recruited to assist as interpreters. A better effort must be made to control jihadist infiltration into the country by a combination of outposts, patrols and reaction forces reinforced by high technology. Over time U.S. forces should be pulled back into reserve roles and phased out.

Not only is this a comprehensive plan, it can be orchestrated. Clark believes it isn't too late to implement these ideas and repair the situation. I'm not so sure he's right. But it's evident that the former General believes that salvaging Iraq means a complete change of attitude on the part of the Administration.

Bush likes to remind us that we need to "stay the course". Since there was no course laid out to begin with (except to invade), these guys are just flying by the seat of their pants hoping something salvagable eventually shakes out.

Flying by the seat of your pants is cool when you're..say..trying to find a good place to chow down an elitist liberal meal. But for war? Not so much.

So where is the Republican plan for Iraq? I've looked all over the place today and I just can't find it anywhere.

I looked here. Nope, no plan for Iraq. Here? No dice.
I even checked to see if these guys had something.

Nada.

Lord knows it's not anywhere over here.

Kinda like the WMD.

Posted by Carla at 02:41 PM |

Catholics and the Constitution

Our friend Tom Carter has a very interesting and thought provoking post up about Catholics and abortion.

As I've written elsewhere, I'm pro-choice. I arrived at that position reluctantly, given the moral and legal ambiguities involved. This most difficult policy choice must be even more troubling for those whose thinking is guided by certain religious doctrines.

In particular, the contradiction of Catholics who profess to be pro-choice has interested me for some time, especially since John Kerry claimed in 2004 to be pro-choice but to believe that life begins at conception. This was obviously the act of a cynical politician who hoped to present himself as an observant Catholic while pandering to a significant pro-choice constituency. Nonetheless, it illustrates the contradictory beliefs of pro-choice Catholics.

Sister Joan Chittister, a Benetictine Nun, points out that it's a much broader issue than just pro-choice Catholics by pointing to other Papal decrees and Catholic laws which many of Kerry's Catholic and Protestant political opponents are hypocritically ignoring or otherwise violating.

John F. Kennedy gave his own eloquent answer to the question of where his loyalties as a Catholic politician lay.

Tom brings up a very interesting and timely issue, though. Judge Roberts is Catholic and is in que for a position on the Supreme Court. Where do his loyalties lay? Is he an obedient Catholic or will he judge cases that might come before the court on their constitutional merits alone?

What about other Catholics in the federal government, particularly in Congress? Are they agents of the Pope or are they representatives of the people as the Founders intended them to be?

Are voters inevitably left to weigh the choice between a prospective Catholic politician or judge's apostasy and their dedication to the Constitution?

If we go with the dedication to upholding the constitution, aren't we left with a known apostate? And if so, doesn't that say something about that individual's lack of character?

If we choose to go with strength of character, vis a vis obedience to Catholic law, doesn't the constitution then become nothing more significant than an advisory document? And if so, given that they are sworn to uphold the constitution after being elected or confirmed, doesn't THAT say something about that individual's lack of character too?

What is a voter to do?

Posted by Kevin at 12:01 PM |

Flashbacks x 2

Walkin' on Sunshine, Katrina & the Waves. They also did Going Down to Liverpool, which I like. But of course we won't be hearing that one on any pharmaceutical ads... but speaking of wanting to self-medicate:

Bulk of This Season's Storms Still to Come

A very active Atlantic hurricane season is underway, and with more storms projected, NOAA today increased the number of storms in its 2005 hurricane season outlook. NOAA expects an additional 11 to 14 tropical storms from August through November, with seven to nine becoming hurricanes, including three to five major hurricanes.

Katrina, don't you have a brother named Dennis?

Posted by Jeff at 11:37 AM |

Today is the 85th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment

On August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted and women in the US were finally allowed to vote. Women's suffrage activists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton did not live to see women get the vote. Activists went on hunger strikes, staged protests, and were jailed.

Hunger-striking activists in jail were often force-fed.

"Dr Gannon told me I must be fed. …I was held down by five people…Gannon pushed the tube up left nostril…It hurts nose and throat very much and makes nose bleed freely…Operation leaves one very sick." Lucy Burns in a note smuggled out of jail, where she was leading a protest against jailed suffragists treatment in 1917.

The anti-suffrage rhetoric got downright paranoid, much of it mirrors the anti-feminist propoganda out there today, with allusions to Nazism thrown in.

Antis also used uglier tactics. Scare leaflets and ads linking suffrage with socialism, communism, atheism, and anarchy, as well the very popular cartoon postcards (usually depicting a dominating caricature of a woman smoking a cigarette while her submissive husband did the wash and cared for the children) were common, as were anti suffrage jokes and cartoons in newspapers and periodicals like Judge and Life.

The activists who wanted merely the right to vote were arrested during a demonstration. Their treatment in jail belied the idea that women are handled with kid gloves.

On October 20, Alice Paul was arrested and sentenced to seven months in the District jail. In what proved to be a tactical error, her captors decided to make an example of the "ringleader." She and her companions were treated most roughly indeed. Held in solitary confinement and denied counsel, Miss Paul was several times forcibly fed. (Force-feeding has little to do with nutrition; a tube is forced up the nose and down the throat of the victim and liquid poured through it into the stomach. It is a painful procedure and can cause illness or even death.) In a final attempt to discredit Paul, she was confined to the psychopathic ward. On November 14, 30 women in Occoquan Workhouse were beaten, threatened, and mistreated in what came to be known as the "night of terror." The subsequent storm of critical publicity was such that the Administration itself soon called for the release of all suffrage prisoners.

So for anyone who's reading this and not bothering to vote because "it makes no difference", think again. I wasn't excited about the options in the last Presidential election, but that wasn't the only thing I voted for. There was a recall campaign in my town, local elections, and statewide elections.

Voting matters. You have a voice.

If it didn't matter, why would crackpots like the Christian Party be so eager to repeal it?

Posted by at 10:44 AM |

"Non-plussed"?

tr.v. To put at a loss as to what to think, say, or do; bewilder.

It's been a real WTF?!? Week anyway (why wasn't it on my calendar?), after Rev. Pat's call-for-assassination show; Alabama Senator Curtis Lee's State Capitol AfterHours Tour and followup retirement announcement; and even my horoscope today is freaky -- "Tonight, you shine brighter than a butterfly-shaped nightlife colored pink, blue and yellow that's plugged in to keep the night frights away."

Ms. or Mr. Horoscope Writer, what are you smokin' and did you bring enough for everyone?

But this washes all those away. Read this and you will experience non-plussed, right down to your soul:
Tale of dead soldier and his little girl was elaborate hoax.

Posted by Jeff at 06:31 AM |

August 25, 2005

Oh yes...I'm the great pretender

Oh-oh, yes I’m the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I’ve played the game but to my real shame
You’ve left me to grieve all alone

WH spokesperson David Almacy said that the reason that Pres. Bush is in Crawford is because of a renovation to the West Wing, and that "The only week he had officially off was this last week" (San Bernadino Sun/PoliticalWire).

The pretending President on a pretend vacation.

You really can't make this stuff up.

Posted by Carla at 02:24 PM |

Captain F-Up

At least John Bolton is consistent.

Ya gotta give him that.

Posted by Carla at 12:15 PM |

Damn Commies!

Reduce! Reuse! Recyle! (Everybody else!)

"It's India and China deciding to give up bicycles and drive cars" -- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), on the problem with fuel in the U.S. (Iowa City Press-Citizen).

Posted by Carla at 12:03 PM |

The good news from Iraq got it's ass kicked.

I'm mostly busy doing the mom thing today so posting may be a bit light. However....never let it be said that I let a busy day go by without taking a shot at the well deserved.

For those in the wingnuttery portion of the congregation wondering why we're not hearing the "good news" from Iraq, I have a project for you.

1. Go to Chrenkoff's blog.

2. At the top next to the "blogger" logo, you'll find a search window. Type in the word "Haditha". Your results should look something like this.

Haditha is a city in Iraq, nestled in the Al Anbar Province within the Sunni Triangle. Chrenkoff has a laundry list of stuff that American soldiers have been doing in Haditha to rebuild infrastructure.

So why aren't we hearing about this? Why is poor Chrenkoff the only guy reporting on these massive infrastructure improvements?

Probably because Haditha is completely out of US control:

A three-day visit by a reporter working for the Guardian last week established what neither the Iraqi government nor the US military has admitted: Haditha, a farming town of 90,000 people by the Euphrates river, is an insurgent citadel.

That Islamist guerrillas were active in the area was no secret but only now has the extent of their control been revealed. They are the sole authority, running the town's security, administration and communications.

A three-hour drive north from Baghdad, under the nose of an American base, it is a miniature Taliban-like state. Insurgents decide who lives and dies, which salaries get paid, what people wear, what they watch and listen to.

The Guardian story linked above about Haditha gives a brutal outline of the new sheriff in town, and it ain't pretty:

Last year the US trumpeted its rehabilitation of a nearby power plant: "The incredible progress at Haditha is just one example of the huge strides made by the US army corps of engineers."

Now insurgents earn praise from residents for allegedly pressuring managers to supply electricity almost 24 hours a day, a luxury denied the rest of Iraq.

The court caters solely for divorces and marriages. Alleged criminals are punished in the market. The Guardian witnessed a headmaster accused of adultery whipped 190 times with cables. Children laughed as he sobbed and his robe turned crimson.

Two men who robbed a foreign exchange shop were splayed on the ground. Masked men stood on their hands while others broke their arms with rocks. The shopkeeper offered the insurgents a reward but they declined.

DVDs of beheadings on the bridge are distributed free in the souk. Children prefer them to cartoons. "They should not watch such things," said one grandfather, but parents appeared not to object.

One DVD features a young, blond muscular man who had been disembowelled. He was said to have been a member of a six-strong US sniper team ambushed and killed on August 1. Residents said he had been paraded in town before being executed.

The US military denied that, saying six bodies were recovered and that all appeared to have died in combat. Shortly after the ambush three landmines killed 14 marines in a convoy which ventured from their base outside the town.

Twice in recent months marines backed by aircraft and armour swept into Haditha to flush out the rebels. In a pattern repeated across Anbar there were skirmishes, a few suspects killed or detained, and success was declared.

In reality, said residents, the insurgents withdrew for a few days and returned when the Americans left. They have learned from last November's battle in Falluja, when hundreds died fighting the marines and still lost the city.

Now their strategy appears to be to wait out the Americans, calculating they will leave within a few years, and then escalate what some consider the real war against a government led by Shias, a rival sect which Sunni extremists consider apostasy.

Civil war, here we come.

Kinda tough to cherrypick the good news when the bad news is kicking the good news' ass.

In other Iraq related news, T-Rex has an unfrigginbelievable CNN story about how some in the Bush Administration knew the Iraq intelligence was complete bullshit...while they were shoveling at the UN prior to the invasion.

And finally, Billmon finds another casualty of the Bush Administration's garbage pail of used propaganda tools. This time in the form of an activist for women's rights in Iraq.

Posted by Carla at 09:15 AM |

August 24, 2005

Quote o' the day

"Nobody wants to hear about his impressive pulse rate and body-fat percentages when American boys and girls are dying" -- USA Today sports columnist Ian O'Connor,on Bush.

(via E&P)

Posted by Carla at 03:12 PM |

Pat Robertson is a LIAR

Televangelist, head of the highly influential (among Republicans at least) Christian Coalition and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson today claimed that his statement about assasinating Chavez was taken out of context

"I said our special forces could take him out. Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping," Mr Robertson said on his The 700 Club television program.

"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted."

You are a LIAR, Pat. Here's what you said:
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it."

Of course conservatives will now strategize on how to downplay and dismiss what Robertson said. It's what they did when he openly suggested that it'd be a good idea to friggin' NUKE the State Department building in Washington DC a couple years ago. Had a Muslim cleric said the very exact same thing, word for word, you know that he'd either have ended up in jail or, more likely, been shipped off to Gitmo.

Will conservative Republicans EVER hold their own to the same standards that they very loudly proclaim that others ought to be held to?

Maybe. And maybe a blizzard will blow thru Hades some day. Both seem to have about equal chances of happening...

Posted by Kevin at 12:13 PM |

Oh yes...they've got us beat on "values"...

Being a liberal..I understand that my values are different than those of conservatives. Commenting to this post, Cengel took the time to inform me that conservatives have liberals "beat" when it comes to values.

Now it's entirely possible that Cengel and I have a different understanding of the definition of "values". But if this is an example of the kind of values that has we liberals beat....

Capitol shut down after senator, woman flee old House chamber

The Associated Press

A state senator has issued an apology after a police incident report showed his pre-dawn visit to the state Capitol with an unidentified woman caused the building to be shut down for security reasons last month.

Sen. Curt Lee, a Jasper Republican, issued the statement yesterday in which described the incident as a "lark," but he did not return telephone calls seeking additional comment.

This is from Alabama, incidentally.

Maybe paying lip service to values really works. But I like to believe people are smarter than that..and eventually catch on after awhile.

There are an awful lot of conservatives getting caught with their values around their ankles lately.

I wonder how much longer conservatives can go to that "values" lip-service-well...and expect it to pay off.

Posted by Carla at 10:10 AM |

Goat Hill Club welcomes new honorary member

The Goat Hill* Club, not affiliated in any way with the Mile High Club, is prepared to vote in new honorary member state Senator Curtis Lee:

Senator, woman triggered state Capitol lockdown

The Alabama Capitol was locked down in the early morning hours of July 22, a Friday during the recent special legislative session, after a Capitol employee discovered two people, one of whom was later identified as a state senator, in the Old House Chamber, according to documents from the Alabama Department of Public Safety.

The employee told Capitol Police that he saw the two people run from the chamber and out of the building, according to an incident report obtained by the Mobile Register.

Using video surveillance cameras and security records generated by card-key entrances at the State House and Capitol, officials identified one of the people as state Sen. Curt Lee, according to the documents. The records describe the other person only as a "white female."

On their initial incident report, Capitol Police officers concluded that "no evidence of a criminal offense took place" because Lee, a Republican from Jasper, has access to the building at all hours. The final version of the report reads: "The case status is marked closed and the case disposition is unfounded."

snip

Lee issued the following statement to the Register late Monday afternoon:

"I visited the House and Senate chambers of the Capitol at an early hour on July 22, 2005. On a lark, I had suggested to a colleague who works in the Senate that we visit the Capitol, which I think is a very beautiful place since it was renovated a number of years ago.

"Although I am authorized to go into the Alabama State House and the Capitol at any time, I realize that doing so at such an early hour led to security concerns and an 'incident report' being filed at the Department of Public Safety. Absolutely nothing inappropriate occurred, and I have been told that the Department of Safety has closed its investigation.

"I now realize that visiting the Capitol at such an early hour of the day was a mistake, and I regret the decision to do so because of the security concerns it may have raised. I apologize for any inconvenience or concern that my actions might have caused."

According to the incident report, Jessie James Lee, a Capitol employee who began his July 22 shift before 6 a.m., reported to Capitol Police at 5:40 a.m. that he had seen a "white male and a white female" in the Old House Chamber on the second floor of the building. Jessie James Lee is not related to the senator.

"Mr. Lee stated that upon discovery both subjects ran down the second floor east hallway and exited by using the elevator," the report states. "Mr. Lee further stated that he observed both subjects leaving out of the bronze doors on Union Street and driving off in a dark-colored sport utility vehicle."

snip

Surveillance tape showed Lee and the accompanying female parking the sport utility vehicle on McDowell Lee Drive on the north side of the State House and later exiting the Union Street doors to the Capitol and driving off, the reports states.

snip

"The user attempted to access the attorney general's floors in the State House and was denied entry. The entry to the Capitol was indicated to be the tunnel entrance," the report states, referring to a tunnel that runs underneath Union Street between the two buildings.

snip

More images from the camera system showed some of the pair's movement through the buildings, according to the report. Capitol Police Sgt. Mike Tew, the report states, reviewed still shots from the camera system and "identified the suspect as Senator Curtis Lee of the Alabama Senate."

The report does not make clear whether Capitol Police ever questioned the senator. Lee was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He is married to the former Brandy Murphy. The couple has one child.

Through spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt, the Department of Public Safety denied the Register's request to see the video surveillance at the Capitol and State House on the night of July 21 and the morning of July 22.

Public Safety officials, Earnhardt said, believe that releasing such video records could compromise security measures used at the Capitol and State House by revealing camera locations.

Hat tip to War Liberal. The events occurred nearly a month ago; news story came out last week.

Not to put words in anyone's mouth, or ideas in anyone's head, and not that it's any of my personal business, but...! When public officials go 'larking' about, it's in my interest as a taxpayer to know what kind of person might be making decisions with my tax dollars. Are they liars, thieves, hypocrites? Or do they just have... poor impulse control?

Questions Mrs. Lee might be asking: "What's 'a lark'? Who were you 'larking' with? How do you know her? Why were you there at that hour of the morning? What could you be showing her at that time that she couldn't see during a regular tour? Why did you run from security, if you weren't doing anything wrong/inappropriate? And finally, what kinda fool do you think I am?"

*Andrew Dexter, one of the founders of the town, had held on to a prime piece of property in long anticipation of the capital's eventual move to Montgomery. Dubbed "Goat Hill" for its use as pasturage, the site retained that affectionate appellation despite attempts to dignify the spot with names like "Lafayette Hill" (after the 1825 visit of the Marquis de Lafayette)...

Posted by Jeff at 09:52 AM |

Comes fully loaded!

It's long been said that all soldiers come fully equipped with bullshit detectors. Older vets may need extra equipment, though:

Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars. [AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac]

Posted by Jeff at 09:18 AM |

August 23, 2005

Grief and politics

Amanda Marcotte of wrote an excellent article on Cindy Sheehan's stand in Crawford, Texas.

[W]e had to laugh when the people setting up the stage tested the sound system by playing the most earnest and unintentionally comical protest song I have ever heard. At one point, the lyrics even referred to a "smear campaign," which made us laugh so hard we never did hear what he tried to rhyme with "smear campaign." And then I started to cry, because it was so painfully earnest I could only imagine that it was like twisting the knife in the hearts of those present who had lost sons or daughters in Iraq.

It drove home how it must feel to be Cindy Sheehan -- everywhere you looked, there were references to the war dead. You couldn't escape the grief for even a moment. The only thing people had to distract them from their grief and sorrow was hard work. To be in the middle of this, I thought, must feel like someone is rubbing salt in your wounds without end, and all for the purpose of getting President Bush to stop for even a moment to consider how many lives his little adventure has ended or ruined.

Go, read the rest. And check out the snazzy pics Amanda posted of Camp Casey, the headquarters of the counter protest, and the counterprotest itself.

Posted by at 05:46 PM |

What if Hugo Chavez was a fetus?

Now there's a conundrum.

(as seen in comments here.)

Posted by Carla at 03:04 PM |

When you lose the Osmonds...

Uber conservative Utah isn't lost to Bush yet.

But when Salt Lake City can draw 2500 to an anti Iraq war protest, things ain't rosey.

Posted by Carla at 10:29 AM |

Ixnay on the uminationsray

Having been born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I'm sometimes a bit baffled by my southern neighbors. And I don't mean Californians (who do sometimes baffle me..but not for the purposes of this particular post).

The cultural gulf that exists between us is expansive, especially in the political realm. The poles of the polls on Bush's approval rating highlight the gulf:

Rhode Island: Approve 29%,Disapprove 68%

Idaho: Approve 59%, Disapprove 36%

The excellent Elayne Riggs notes the mutual contribution to the gulf. But her summation of the contribution of the North is interesting:

And yes, we Northerners and/or liberals pride ourselves (hmm, pride, isn't that one of the seven deadly sins?) on being so much more enlightened than our conservative/Southern brethren, but we can't help using fancy words (I mean, "ruminations?" honestly) and breathlessly blogging about our summer vacations in Europe and the expensive foods we encounter. We're feeding into this divisiveness every bit as much as they are.

Cynical translation: Southerners don't like it when you demonstrate the fact that you're well traveled and well educated.

This irritates the snot out of me.

Intellectual expansion and exposure to people outside your native culture is a GOOD thing. It's not an elitist attempt to virtually step across the throats of those who either can't or choose not to do it. Greater understanding, in general, shouldn't quarantine an entire section of the country as snobbish pariahs.

Conservatives laid out the idea of higher education as elitist and snobby. They have tried to make liberals ashamed of trying to make more for themselves intellectually. If that creates a chasm between the North and South..perhaps it's time for the South to do a little navel gazing. Why is it not okay to be smart? Why is it not okay to be well traveled? Why is staying in the cocoon of your little community better than moving outside yourself and creating a greater understanding?

In the meantime, conservatives are stealthily placing their ideologues into our institutions of higher learning. So it's only "elitist" to be smart if you're a liberal.

If that North/South cultural gulf requires a "dumbing down" in order to create a bridge...then I say it's a bridge too far. Liberals shouldn't be backing down from being smart and well educated. They should be dragging our Southern neighbors along with them..even if they're kicking and screaming.

Posted by Carla at 10:04 AM |

No Exit (Strategery, that is...)

(Or, spinnin' wheel keeps a-spinnin' around!)

Bush Defending His Iraq War Policy

President Bush, defending his Iraq war policy in the face of anti-war opposition and slumping approval ratings, says pulling out before the mission is complete would dishonor the memory of all the Americans who fought and died in pursuit of freedom.

Translation: "Death before dishonor, as long as it's someone else's kids doing the death part. 9/11. Support our troops in the noble cause. 9/11. Stay the course... Terra... 9/11. You can't get fooled 9/11 again!"

Pres. George H.W. Bush with Brent Scowcroft, A World Apart, 1998:

In Chapter 19, which discusses the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War (also known as "Desert Storm," the military operation to liberate Kuwait from occupation by invading Iraqi forces), they wrote:

"Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under the circumstances, there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different — and perhaps barren — outcome."

A world apart, indeed.

Posted by Jeff at 06:17 AM |

August 22, 2005

Battle Hymn of the Patriots

[Background music: Battle Hymn of the Republic]

Besting evil is hard work. It requires leadership and moral certitude of the highest calibre.

Thankfully there are a multitude of true patriots in the blogosphere, willing to go that extra mile in an effort to thwart the evils that permeate from the traitorous rightwing ideologues.

Often for little or no pay, these dedicated women and men pixel forth, leading the citizenry of America away from the ethical and moral decay of conservatism.

They are the standard bearers for truth, justice and the American way. Their brave allegiance to the very foundations of Constitutional liberty is an inspiration to us all.

For more heavy doses of soothsaying truth telling:

Democratic Veteran
Politblogo
Sivacracy
Adam Jacob Muller
The Impolitic
Loaded Mouth
Cinematic Rain
Sadly, no!
Buck Mulligan
John M Burt
Crispen

Posted by Carla at 04:03 PM |

Trumped again

Even with a blogswarm...The right Reverend Pat still kicked our asses. Who'd a thunk it?

Posted by Carla at 03:55 PM |

You've got to be carefully taught...

What's that fetid stench eminating from under the beds of good conservative boys and girls?

It's never too early to start preparing the young people of this country to hate half of their fellow citizens, eh?

A joke you say? Nope.
This adorable little tidbit of brainwashing "literature" presents two waifish, freckled brothers who open a lemonade stand. Their success is duly thwarted by the monster liberals who force them to pay taxes, take down their Jesus picture and sell broccoli.

The publisher notes are an exercise in immense conservative platitudeness:

Would you let your child read blatantly liberal stories with titles such as "King & King," "No, George, No," or "It's Just a Plant"? Unless you live in Haight-Ashbury or write for the New York Times, probably not. But with the nation’s libraries and classrooms filled with overtly liberal children’s books advocating everything from gay marriage to marijuana use, kids everywhere are being deluged with left-wing propaganda.

"Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed" is the book conservative parents have been seeking. This illustrated book — the first in the "Help! Mom!" series from Kids Ahead — is perfect for parents who seek to share their traditional values with their children, as well as adults who wish to give a humorous gift to a friend.

Hailed as "the answer to a baseball mom's prayers" by talk radio host Melanie Morgan, "Liberals Under My Bed" has already been the subject of coverage in The Wall Street Journal and Harper’s magazine. Written by a self-proclaimed "Security Mom for Bush" and featuring hilarious full-color illustrations by a Reuben Award winning artist, it is certain to be one of the most talked about children's books of the year.

Written by a security loving, baseball kvetching mom whose surely headed down to Camp Casey to spit in the face of Cindy Sheehan. As soon as Sheehan returns after caring for her ailing mother, of course.

the first in the "Help! Mom!" series from Kids Ahead — is perfect for parents who seek to share their traditional values with their children

Hate is the new conservative traditional value. And they're so proud of it that they've put it in children's book form, to make it nice and easy to swallow.

Nevermind that taxes are part of our responsibility for living in the greatest nation on earth. Nevermind that shrugging civic duty by paying them undermines our infrastructure and throws our nation into massive indebtedness. It's only duty to our country being tossed aside like shoveled dog crap....and Grover Norquist is holding the shovel.

Some of you may recognize that the title of this post is taken from You've Got To Be Carefully Taught, a song from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific:

You've got to be taught To hate and fear, You've got to be taught From year to year, It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

And here is your very first textbook.

(From Political Wire via Shakes' Sis)

Posted by Carla at 03:16 PM |

Sufferin til Suffrage

They said, uh, "See ya later, alligator,
And don't forget my ... my mashed potatoes,
'Cause I'm going downtown to cast my vote for president."

If you're a penis-free Iraqi..don't forget the mashed potatoes:

GERECHT: In 1900, women did not have the right to vote. If Iraqis could develop a democracy that resembled America in the 1900s, I think we'd all be thrilled. I mean, women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they're there. I think they will be there. But I think we need to put this into perspective.

That's American Enterprise Institute's Reuel Marc Gerecht (who also happens to be Project for a New American Century's director of Middle East Iniative) on Meet the Press, which utterly failed to have a liberal on to counter the knee deep bullshit from Gerecht and Larry Diamond, former Coalition Provisional Authority advisor.

When the Bush Administration decides to lower expectations in Iraq, they're not screwing around. The newly goal (adjusted for the myriad of f-ups) is now early 20th Century America.

Not only did we bomb Iraq back 100 years for no reason, we're gonna try to make it palatable by insisting that if we just gain some perspective on how much it sucks..it won't really suck.

Setting aside the 100 year setback for a moment, trying to assuage public concern with statements like, "I mean, women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy." is utter crap. Half the population has no right to vote but somehow democracy is going to flourish along?

Posted by Carla at 12:18 PM |

Liberals rule, conservatives drool

The blindingly patriotic liberal blog Hughes for America provides today's latest excellent analysis from the liberal blogosphere. It's a must read if you wish to keep your "I'm not a traitor" cred.

As you are no doubt aware, the vast majority of liberals are superior intellectually, morally, financially and sexually to conservatives.

All liberals are better looking than conservatives. This is of course due to the fact that conservatives keep having to pull their heads out of their asses. Creates wrinkles, you know.

Keep the faith good people (just liberals, but they're the only "good" ones anyway) of America. We here at PK will continue to provide the biting analysis and general brilliant commentary you've come to know and love. And we'll also continue to link to just the liberal blogs so as not to pollute your simpleton minds with other ideas.

Sieg Heil, baby.

Posted by Carla at 08:27 AM |

August 21, 2005

Lioness

At the end of last week, my 12 year old daughter was sick with a mysterious fever. It would come and go...but mostly it hovered at just a few tenths above normal so I didn't take her to the doctor. Last Thursday it spiked to 102.5 but was gone the next morning.

By Monday it was still hanging in at right around 100 degrees so I took her in to see the pediatrician. He noticed some swollen nodes and a few spots on her throat, but her urine was clear. He'd had a couple of other older kids in with fevers that went away after a week..so let's not get excited. Give it a few days. If the fever isn't gone by Friday let's have blood tests, he says.

Friday arrives. 101.4 with a rocket. So off we go to the hospital out-patient lab for blood tests.

My glorious redhead..the only true left-footed defender in the league, who takes down girls twice her size rather then let them get to the goal, shivers and sobs in my arms with unabated fever.

At that moment, thousands of years of feminine evolutionary instinct kicks in. These assholes need to figure out what's wrong with my child and they need to do it now.

There is a raw and intense energy that comes along with motherhood. At least it has for me. When both of my children were born I felt that intense bonding as they nursed at my breast. The sight of their perfect skin, blue eyes and their special infant scent assaulted my nervous system..forever imprinting them to me in the deepest way possible. These are my cubs...I love them and protect them and nurture them. I'm their mama lioness.

When my son was in third grade he would walk home the four blocks to our house. After awhile some older boys who also walked home that route started bullying him. When I discovered what was going on, I felt a white hot anger burst open inside of me. My cub is in danger.

Logic kept me from stepping in and ripping the bullies from neck to toes..but the instinct of the lioness was most definitely awake and ready to strike. The situation was eventually resolved. But those extremely intense feelings of protection and defense are as strong even today...and he's 14. When a mother says that she would easily give up her life to spare her child...she really means it.

So Friday when the blood tests results come in we head to the pediatrician's office. He checks the results and explains the diagnosis: mononucleosis. The illness in which a nagging fever, horrible sore throat, exhaustion and enlarged spleen/liver can keep the patient down anywhere from two weeks to two months. There is nothing to be done but take ibuprofen and benadryl (for throat swelling) and get as much sleep as possible. Just wait it out.

My beautiful cub with the gorgeous red hair is lying on my couch watching "Meet the Fockers". She should be outside on this sunny, warm day riding her bike and playing with her friends. She should be going to soccer practice. She should be going white water rafting on Wednesday with her brother for his birthday. Instead we helplessly wait for this wretched virus to work it's way out of her system.

And for the lioness with a sick cub, there is nothing worse than waiting.

Our species is perpetuated in large part because of the lioness. Not to take anything away from men..who have their own necessary role as a parent. There is however something unique about a mother's bond with her child. Nothing eclipses the protective sensibilities of the female as she nurtures and watches over her child. Nothing compares to the agony she feels against her own helplessness to provide the magic bullet to fix everything and make it all better.

Posted by Carla at 05:01 PM |

The failure to assassinate

The smell of ambivalence is in the air.

All this work by the right to commit character assassination against a mom who lost her son in Iraq...and all they get is more static about how Iraq is a huge mistake and "oh man does this President suck".

As the inimitable Frank Rich notes, even the dimmest bulbs start to hear "Wolf!" when they keep going back to the same playbook:

The most prominent smear victims have been Bush political opponents with heroic Vietnam résumés: John McCain, Max Cleland, John Kerry. But the list of past targets stretches from the former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke to Specialist Thomas Wilson, the grunt who publicly challenged Donald Rumsfeld about inadequately armored vehicles last December. The assault on the whistle-blower Joseph Wilson - the diplomat described by the first President Bush as "courageous" and "a true American hero" for confronting Saddam to save American hostages in 1991 - was so toxic it may yet send its perpetrators to jail.

True to form, the attack on Cindy Sheehan surfaced early on Fox News, where she was immediately labeled a "crackpot" by Fred Barnes. The right-wing blogosphere quickly spread tales of her divorce, her angry Republican in-laws, her supposed political flip-flops, her incendiary sloganeering and her association with known ticket-stub-carrying attendees of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Rush Limbaugh went so far as to declare that Ms. Sheehan's "story is nothing more than forged documents - there's nothing about it that's real."

But this time the Swift Boating failed, utterly, and that failure is yet another revealing historical marker in this summer's collapse of political support for the Iraq war.

Or in other words: the country is finally on to you, W.

Of course they'll keep on trying. They spent all that money on a smear machine and they're damn well going to use it. The glad handing blogosphere of indispensible rightwing blogdom alone is worth at least Bill O'Reilly's harassment lawsuit fines (although it likely doesn't scratch the surface of the Limbaugh drug defense fees).

The logs in their own eyes not withstanding, James Wolcott remembers the verbal assaults from the establishment against those who rightly protested Vietnam as well:

"Dr. Spock's chief claim to recent attention has been in making a holy fool of himself over the Vietnamese war--something I would have expected a stand-up Christian like [Catholic convert Malcolm] Muggeridge to appreciate. Getting arrested, marching, signing things--these have their silly side after awhile. But, as Angus Wilson has said of a similar situation, what else is one to do?" --Wilfrid Sheed, "Spock Mugged" (1973)

Everything old is new again.

Posted by Carla at 11:43 AM |

August 20, 2005

Kerry: We don't need no stinkin' GOP Lite

Senator Kerry today said that America doesn't need a second Republican Party.

He's right! I am a long-time Independent and have zero interest in becoming a Democrat. But, the simple fact of the matter is that I want a choice!

When I get tired of beer and decide that I want a nice glass of wine or a mixed drink I don't reach for light beer! The same goes for elective office. I want a damn choice not two slightly different versions of the same damn thing.

I keep hearing self-described "centrists" saying that the Democratic party needs to move to the center. What in the hell is that supposed to mean? That the Dems should become GOP Lite? Why in the bloody hell would I want to vote for GOP Lite if I don't want the full calorie version? It's stupid! More than that, it is, I believe, reflective of a less than "centrist" ideological premise. And I say that because over and over I read comments or blog posts by self-described "centrists" which advocate most of the same exact positions that the GOP advocates. It's nothing more than GOP Lite. And they are some of the loudest ones clamoring for the Dems to become GOP Lite.

Screw that! Give me a damn choice! I am bloody F-ing tired of the way that the GOP is running this country. I voted for Republicans over Democrats by a 2 to 1 margin for years after I left the Republican Party to become an Indie.

From 1990 until 2002 I voted for mostly Republicans even though I had left the Party.

No more! I don't trust them. I don't agree with their chickenhawk foreign policy where they babble on about how Arabs should have "liberal democracies" while they steadfastly pursue a decidedly conservative version of democracy at home! I strongly oppose their church/state agenda. And I sure as hell don't agree with their BS trickle-down economic voodoo psychobabble that leaves my children with the bill for a massive public debt.

Kerry was a lame-ass candidate. My support for him was never more than lukewarm. Largely because he only looked less beholden' to Big Business when compared head-to-head with Bush. But you know what... He hit the damn ball out of the park today!

Give me an F-ing choice!

Posted by Kevin at 07:41 PM |

Tossing rightwing radio an anvil

Irritating lefty sage, James Carville:

"When your opponent is drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil."

It might be time to start ordering anvils by the gross.

Perhaps it's the stale, same-liberal-bashing/new-day antics that have finally worn people out. Rightwing talk radio has started tanking in places throughout the US.

In conrast, Air America is showing a general upswing in ratings. In Portland, AAR (KPOJ) is making huge progress, increasing it's ratings and overtaking the flagship of local rightwing radio wingnuttery, KXL.

Poor Lars. If he wasn't such a dick...I might feel sorry for him. Instead for him, I'm ordering a special anvil. The extra heavy kind.

Posted by Carla at 08:10 AM |

August 19, 2005

Chickenhawk with a side of biscuits and gravy

Since it's never worked to bring peace for the Israelis when they escalate military action against the Palestinians, Charles Krauthammer is all for it:

The first problem is that while the fences do prevent terrorist infiltration, they do nothing about rockets. For months Palestinians have been firing rockets from Gaza into towns within Israel proper. The attacks are momentarily in suspension, but with the enhanced ability to smuggle in weapons from Egypt, and with no Israeli patrols looking for them, the attacks will resume and get far worse.

What to do? Something Israel should have done long ago: active and relentless deterrence. Israel should announce that henceforth any rocket launched from Palestinian territory will immediately trigger a mechanically automatic response in which five Israeli rockets will be fired back. There will be no human intervention in the loop. Every Palestinian rocket landing in Israel will instantly trigger sensors and preset counter-launchers. Any Palestinian terrorist firing up a rocket will know that he is triggering six: one Palestinian and five Israeli.

An eye for an eye makes everyone blind, Chuck.

Nevermind that every time Israel makes a move, the Palestinians retaliate. And vice versa.

There is no moral high ground in this situation. Both sides have acted horrifically throughout the history of this conflict. Pretending that Israel is some sort of sitting duck awaiting Palestinian attacks is interesting historical revisionism. But then that's what extremists like Krauthammer do...reinvent neato versions of their own truth in an effort to fit their f-d up ideology.

Krauthammer also makes the Condi Rice Mistake..pretending that suicide bombings and Palestinian rocket launches can be treated the same as the US/Soviet Cold War:

This policy would echo, though in far more benign form, America's Cold War deterrence policy of "massive retaliation." That was all somewhat theoretical, but the Soviets apparently thought otherwise when they backed down during the Cuban missile crisis. In Gaza, the issue is not theoretical. Once Israel leaves, there is no way to dismantle the rockets. Deterrence is all there is. After but a few Israeli demonstrations of "non-massive retaliation," the Palestinians themselves will shut down their terrorist rocketeers.

Which part of that strategy has worked in Iraq so far? When the US goes into an area and launches a hard core military action....exactly when does that wipe out the insurgency? Krauthammer is trying to use 30 year old strategy to deal with a modern-era problem.

And for the terminally obtuse.. threatening suicide bombers with death doesn't seem like much of a deterrant.

Posted by Carla at 07:26 PM |

Friday Gardenwhore Blogging: Red tomatoes edition

Awhile back I opined about the dearth of red tomatoes here at Casa Carla.

No more.

The Oregon Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are going gangbusters. I've been eating them off the vine for just about 10 days. These are scrumpdillyicious.

I'm also getting nice sandwich size tomatoes from my Early Girl vines. These don't have as good a flavor as the later ripening varieties and they're also a little smaller. But they're hella good compared to the crap I can buy at the grocery store.

On my deck in the back, I've got this really sexy lilly growing in a pot:

I got the rhizomes from a grower that I went to college with. I used to have a stick with the name of the lilly, but I can't seem to find it. If anyone knows it's name..please tell me in comments.

Posted by Carla at 01:32 PM |

Hagel smacks down Cheney

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska expressed serious reservations about the Iraq quagmire and the Bush administration's grasp of the situation.

Hagel mocked Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion in June that the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes," saying the U.S. death toll has risen amid insurgent attacks.

"Maybe the vice president can explain the increase in casualties we're taking," the Nebraskan told CNN.

"If that's winning, then he's got a different definition of winning than I do."

Hagel is an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War and Cheney is a chickenhawk who "had better things to do" when his country was at war.

"The casualties we're taking, the billion dollars a week we're putting in there, the kind of commitment we've got -- we're not going to be able to sustain it," he said.

Iraq and Vietnam still have more differences than similarities, he said, but "there is a parallel emerging."

Hagel also refused to back down from his June assertions that "the White House is completely disconnected from reality" and "the reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

Senator Hagel also criticized President Bush's refusal to meet with Ms. Sheehan.

"I think the wise course of action, the compassionate course of action, the better course of action would have been to immediately invite her in to the ranch. It should have been done when this whole thing started. Listen to her."

Indeed.

Posted by Kevin at 09:57 AM |

August 18, 2005

We fight for democracy, we don't practice it. Now go home!

While Cindy Sheehan tends to her mother who suffered a stroke, neocons continue to aspirate on their own spittle because she has the gall to protest the war.

Everyone knows that good American mothers love sending their kids off to die for shifting reasons. Ted Webb understands this, and while he's not upset at all with Cindy Sheehan, she should shut up because she's a traitor and pathetic.

You would think I am upset with Cindy Sheehan, I am not. I understand a mother's grief when it comes to losing a child. It must be the very worst thing one can endure.

Remember, as you read this rant, that Webb is not upset with Cindy Sheehan. Really.

However, her son Casey was a second hitch member of the military. What did you expect from a soldier? When you sign for the military, you risk the chance that you may end up giving your life for your country. I respect her son and the ultimate sacrifice he made.

Her beef isn't with the fact that he died, it's that he died for a lie. But you'd have to actually listen to what she said to get that.

Now back to Cindy. She has become a parody of Air America, the liberal radio network. Cindy is reading from the same talking points memo Al Franken does. In Cindy’s mind, the only way out of Iraq is to quit. She demands we get out. Wait a minute did any of you vote for Cindy Sheehan to make such decisions for us? I didn’t.

Remember, he's not upset with Sheehan. He's just really upset that she has the gall to question our King President, who knows exactly what he was doing. And since he was elected he is infallible. That's the way it is for all Presidents (except for Bill Clinton).

Cindy joins the ranks of Hanoi Jane Fonda and Michael Moore, two who long ago lost any sense of credibility. Cindy Sheehan is pathetic. Her living son has asked her to please come home, her husband has filed for divorce, and the entire nation is looking on in disbelief.

Nope, not upset at all. I'm sure you can't imagine losing a child, Ted, since you wouldn't jump to call Sheehan pathetic if you had. And that nation looking on in disbelief? That nation is gathering in candlelight vigils to show solidarity with Sheehan. But oh, well. I'll bet Webb believes there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as well, and that Saddam was behind 9/11.

One year ago, Cindy described her meeting with President Bush as much different than she remembers today. What happened in one year? Has the death of her hero son caused her to flip? Perhaps some of the extreme left have found someone to launch a campaign off of?

Thought here Cindy, shut up and go home. You are embarrassing the memory of your son Casey.

Actually, Ted, anyone with at least half a brain has opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq from the get-go. The extreme lefties you're talking about are other grieving parents--that's who's joining Sheehan, and that's who's organizing the candlelight vigils around the country. Funny, that--they felt angry over the fact that their kids were maimed and killed for ever-shifting reasons. WMDs! Terrorism! Democracy! Who knows? Who cares? We're fighting for "freedom" or something else, but it doesn't matter. Our Preznit says we've gotta do it and do it we will like good little sheeple.

Cindy doesn't have to shut up and go home. It's this novel thing about living in a democracy--she can actually protest. She can criticize the President. That's part and parcel of living in a democracy, but it does seem to be a stretch for Bush's shills to actually know what freedom means.

Posted by at 07:59 PM |

Handbook of Southern Manners

For those of us living in the uncultured, coarse, Christian hating Pacific Northwest, the Handbook of Southern Manners should come in handy. It's about time we northerners learn how to lynch, smile while spewing completely offensive crap and worship ourselves for the war we lost.

In the Introduction, one overall general offense is listed:

While concern for our conduct toward others is down, the assertion of our Constitutional rights is up. There is also a serious increase in negative political ads and the use of vulgar language. We do business with little thought for others. What happened to the time when a man’s word was his bond and you could do business on a handshake? Some say civility is in a permanent state of change. On the contrary, the basics stay the same indefinitely, and have since the earliest times of recorded history.

Translation: As long as your Constitutional rights are being stripped from you with a smile and a handshake, shut your vulgar mouth and take it.

More Introduction gems:

Therefore, we must first recognize the raw logic that demands the exercise of common courtesy, and then move on to the art form that makes it more than a perfunctory exercise. Good manners are an essential ingredient in a healthy society because they smooth relations with the people with whom we interact and prevent a host of problems. More than this, good manners make life more pleasant and enjoyable. Such courtesies actually honor God by giving respect to that part of His universe that was created in His image: humans. When good manners are practiced sincerely, the respect that flows outward creates self-respect, something the Socialists and others of their kind try to generate through false and demeaning government-sponsored programs and clichés.

Translation: Socialists don't have manners because manners come from God. Socialists are unGodly heathens..so therefore any manners they might have must have come from Satan.

From the Maintaining Your Honor and Integrity chapter:

Family is important to Southerners probably more so than to others living in these united states. Our tradition is such that we tend to be “clannish.” Stand by your family. The bonds you have with family are such that no matter what, you will always have them. As a dependent living with your parents, you should always defer to their authority. Once on your own, you are the boss, but you should still show respect for your parents and all they have done to raise you.

Translation: We love our families so much that we have the highest divorce rates in the nation. But don't look at that. Look at how we smile our charming smiles while we're stabbing you in the back.

I have a great deal of family in the South. I love them all. But if this is how folks below the Mason-Dixon are expected to comport themselves...don't expect much in the way of respect from those of us up North. Most of us don't take kindly to being smiled at while trying to tie a noose around our necks.

And it's United States, not united states. Country names are capitalized. Especially the one to which you pledge your allegiance. Supposedly.

Posted by Carla at 03:44 PM |

Headline bad-song flashback cringe alert!

RUN JOEY RUN!

Anyone recall that one? I just can't help it because...

TV Show Host Scarborough Weighs Senate Bid

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Congressman turned political talk show host Joe Scarborough has a choice to make: renew his contract with NBC or challenge Katherine Harris for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Scarborough said Wednesday that he has already talked with Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and plans to meet with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and White House officials next week about whether to get into the race to unseat Democrat Bill Nelson.

The GOP really doesn't want Katherine Harris to run. So they're feeling out Joe Scarborough. Google "Lori Klausutis" and read. Then you'll understand just how desperate they are.

Take it away, David Geddes --

Daddy please don't, it wasn't his fault, he means so much to me

Daddy please don't, we're gonna get married...just you wait and see.

She called me up, late last night, she said Joe, don't come over
My dad and I just had a fight, and he stormed out the door
I've never seen him act this way, my God, he's going crazy
He says he's gonna make you pay, for what we've done...

Run Joey run Joey run Joey run Joey run Joey run!

Posted by Jeff at 01:55 PM |

The importance of being honest

If you've ever bothered to check my PK bio, you'll note that I'm not a registered Democrat. I'm registered as "non affiliated". Kevin gleefully pokes at me over this, knowing that it's not an oversight on my part. He likes to think of this lack of affiliation as an "inner Indy" crying to get out from under my Democratic leaning tendencies.

In reality I haven't registered as a Democrat for a couple of reasons.

1. I thought (stupidly) at the time I registered that if I wasn't affiliated the parties wouldn't solicit me. In hindsight that was an immense brain fart. Now I'm an equal opportunity target.

2. The Democrats piss me off just enough to keep me from expending the necessary energy to haul my ass down to the county seat. Perhaps this is part of the inner Indy. But it's also a larger issue that I think is worth addressing.

A lot of Democrats have trouble wrapping their brains around the practice of being straight forward.

Witness the squeamish response to Cindy Sheehan by some in the Democratic quarter. Agree or disagree with her motives, Sheehan has put herself out there, straight shooting from the hip. Her candor is the root of her appeal. Yet there are a dearth of the regular democratic opportunists at Camp Casey. Those who like tend to show up for face time are strangely missing.

It's as if honesty is a communicable disease that could rub off and send them down the road to eternal decency.

There are obvious exceptions. Democratic Senator Russ Feingold seems to have made peace with his inner honest guy. He not only speaks up as an honest broker, he consistently gives off the impression of being forthright. It's more than just an occasional brush with truth.

Part of George W. Bush's appeal is that some think he believes in what he's doing. (There are more than a few who think he's lied his ass off about a lot of policy issues. I'm not in a position to argue with them, because quite frankly I agree.) But it's quite clear than many think that Bush exudes honesty. That he offers a straight arrow moral leadership which doesn't waver.

It's that "not wavering" part that gives Bush his greatest appeal, in my view. Whether or not Bush really buys his own schtick is an unwinnable argument unless we can crawl inside his cranium (scary) and make that determination. Bush pulls off the hubrisly afflicted bravado because he comes across to many (and until recently the majority) as a truthful, folksy guy. He looks like he's standing up for what he believes in.

A lot of Democrats don't do that. They try to adopt Republican talking points or push to the right for short term political gain. As if abandoning abortion rights will all of a sudden make voters beat a path to the Democratic door. Or if Dems would only take take Yglesias' advice and wax esoteric about Intelligent Design. Or pander for votes like my Congressman (David Wu-Oregon) did by voting for the heinous bankruptcy bill.

All of this comes across as completely dishonest to me. David Wu is a progressive who votes to make it harder for those in financial trouble to file for bankruptcy..without first demanding legislation on predatory lending practices...? No. And if this were his only nonprogressive voting act I wouldn't have a gripe, most likely. But it isn't.

If Democrats want to win they have to stop pandering and start standing up for their progressive values. There's no reason to vote for a Democrat who plays a Republican on the voting floor. People don't want a great pretender. They want someone who at least attempts to be an honest broker and a straight forward leader.

Posted by Carla at 10:55 AM |

The Onion cannot survive

Not when real news and satire are impossible to tell apart. "Here's lookin' at you, kid" has taken on a whole new meaning:

The Japanese company behind Kidsbeer, a nonalcoholic beverage that looks like the real thing, is apparently shipping 75,000 bottles of the stuff a month. From The Japan Times:

"Children copy and mimic adults.

"If you get this drink ready on such occasions as events and celebrations attended by kids, it would make the occasions even more entertaining."

The Kidsbeer label captures a nostalgic mood as it was modeled after classic beer labels.

"Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink," reads the product's advertising slogan.

Hey, here in Amurka we got (toy) guns for kids, (drive-able toy) cars for kids, why not (non-alcoholic) beer, too? Don't they still make those candy cigarettes?

Posted by Jeff at 10:54 AM |

Rabid Pinko Commies.

KCNA

Kim Jong Il Receives President of Washington Times Corporation

Pyongyang, August 16 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il Tuesday received Joo Dong Mun, president of the Washington Times Corporation, on a visit to Pyongyang. On the occasion the president offered his congratulations to Kim Jong Il on the 60th anniversary of Korea's liberation.

Kim Jong Il welcomed the Pyongyang visit of the president, had a cordial talk with him and posed for a photograph with him.

Apparently the Moonie Times' unconditional support of Bush isn't undermined by it's ties to Communist dictators.

Long live the Fatherland, baby.

Posted by Carla at 10:22 AM |

August 17, 2005

Wohoo!!

Our friend "A Vet" from Voice of a Veteran is back from his long sabbatical. Spread the word.

Posted by Kevin at 04:09 PM |

Support Cindy Sheehan. Support Peace.

Support Cindy Sheehan, the Gold Star Mom. Join a vigil for peace--you can find one here.

Thanks to The Heretik for photoshopping goodness.

Posted by at