Still Stupid After All These Years

I just came across a fascinating article that I felt really needed to be shared. I'm sure by now everyone is aware of the hot button that comparing Iraq and Vietnam is. Neocons froth at the mouth at the mere mention. However, there are parallels, perhaps not in how we got there, but certainly in the uphill battle our soldiers face trying to do what our government asks of them.

However, I did not realize how many of the same players (or their progeny) have hands in the political side of the war in Iraq. It's definitely worth the read.

There are magnetic "We Support Our Troops" ribbons everywhere now, which is a welcome change from the cool greeting Vietnam veterans got. Americans today understand better that to disagree with our government is not to blame the returning soldier. Yet in every way that counts, our government is not supporting our troops, both abroad and once they return.

How dare we, one of the richest nations in the world, scrimp on armor, proper maps, devices to prevent detonations of makeshift bombs, etc.? For an Administration practically begging to give away tax breaks to the rich, they sure seem eager for America's men and women to die for their cause.

grrrrrr!

It's Friday, so here's the cat photo of the day. While not mine own, cute kittens are always a welcome addition to any Cat Blog Day.

In the spirit of lighter topics, I highly recommend this link on how to create your own fake Town Hall Meeting. Thank you, Spocko, for both the link and your comments on it.

How ironic (and cynical) of Frank Luntz to reveal tricks of the trade on "The Daily Show" that are clearly applied to real life (and the Social Security Bushshit Tour). Yet the truth in jest is apparent, and I must thank Mr. Luntz for revealing to all and sundry the little man behind the curtain. Sadly, some people appear to be buying the dog and pony show. Luntz thinks it's funny, which is clearly why he agreed to participate at all.

What's even funnier? We're paying for this.

More Bushshit from Congress

5% of Bush's judicial nominees have been fought against versus 35% of Clinton's. That's right. Of the 214 nominees Bush has brought to the Senate, 204 have been confirmed. So what's the problem?

In a word - Bush. The nominees that Bush is insistent should be confirmed have already been rejected. Instead of looking for more reasonable and less radical candidates, he simply re-nominates people who don't even represent most of the more conservative amongst us... Well, he either re-nominates them, or simply appoints them when Congress is in recess.

Unfortunately, in a play to his neo-conservative fundamentalist base, Senator Frist and his cronies are about to push for the 'Nuclear Option' to reward Bush's non-partisan, petulant behavior.

In a play for power as crass as his Schiavo statements were, Frist is gunning for a fight. Here's why:

Friday's Washington Post notes that Frist "risks the ire of key conservative groups that will play big roles" in the 2008 elections if he fails to gather enough votes to proceed with the nuclear option. Manuel Miranda, a former Frist staffer who now chairs the National Coalition to End Judicial Filibusters, repeated as much this weekend. Miranda called the battle over judicial filibusters "the first primary campaign between Bill Frist and John McCain," and opined that McCain – who opposes going nuclear – "will have no presidential hopes if he pursues this course."

That's right America. Frist isn't doing this for you. This is all about his political ambitions.

So, are you intrigued about the two who just cleared committee? The ones re-nominated by Bush for being too extreme who may be the ones to trigger Frist to 'push the button'? Their names are Judges Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown.

Let me present some of Janice Rogers Brown's own words for your reading pleasure:

My grandparents’ generation thought being on the government dole was disgraceful, a blight on the family’s honor. Today’s senior citizens blithely cannibalize their grandchildren because they have a right to get as much “free” stuff as the political system will permit them to extract...Big government is...[t]he drug of choice for multinational corporations and single moms, for regulated industries and rugged Midwestern farmers, and militant senior citizens. [IFJ speech at 2,3]

I would deny [the senior citizen] plaintiff relief because she has failed to establish the public policy against age discrimination “inures to the benefit of the public” or is “fundamental and substantial”...Discrimination based on age...does not mark its victim with a “stigma of inferiority and second class citizenship”....; it is the unavoidable consequence of that universal leveler: time [Dissenting opinion in Stevenson v. Superior Court, 941 P.2d 1157,1177, 1187 (Cal. 1997)]

As for Priscilla Owen, even Bush's own go-to Attorney, Alberto Gonzalez, has gone repeatedly head to head with this woman:

"As a principal architect of the Bush administration’s legal policy, which seeks to turn back the clock on a range of civil rights, environmental, and reproductive rights achievements and to pack the federal judiciary with right-wing ideologues, Alberto Gonzales is now praising Priscilla Owen’s record as a judge," said People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas. "But the best evidence for his opinion of her record as a Texas Supreme Court Justice is what he wrote during the time he served with her on that court. As a Texas Supreme Court Justice, Gonzales repeatedly wrote or joined criticism of Owen’s aggressive right-wing judicial activism. Time and again, Justice Owen attempted to remake the law when it clashed with her ideology. We urge members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to carefully review Owen’s record on the Texas Supreme Court and to reject her confirmation to the federal appeals court."

Conservatives have led at least six filibusters during the Clinton years. In fact, Senator Frist himself, on 3/9/00, took part in a filibuster of Richard Paez, President Clinton's nominee to the Ninth Circuit.

Don't let their lies fool you. Frist is frothing at the bit to throw out our government's checks and balances that were designed to protect us from abusive power. He's the epitome of what's wrong with politicians today. They're so into the game, they forget who they're representing, and why.

And as for those 'liberalist activist judges' conservatives like to slam? According to the L.A. Times, 94 of the 162 active judges now on the U.S. appeals courts were chosen by conservative presidents. On 10 of the 13 circuit courts, conservative appointees "have a clear majority" AND, since 1976, "at least seven of the nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court have been filled" by conservatives.

So let me propose a new word and its definition for you:

Bush-shit (n):

1. Foolish, deceitful, or boastful language shouted loudly to justify gross and abusive behavior.
2. Something worthless, deceptive, or insincere that is presented as something beneficial to the public (such as the "Clear Skies" Act, for example).
   
3. Insolent talk or behavior, typically used by Republicans to blame others for their own wrongdoings, designed to distract and focus attention away from themselves while they rob America blind .

[syn: lying windbag, Oedipus complex]

Where There's White Smoke, There's Fire

It’s a bad sign when the new Pope has been called 'God's Rotweiler’ and the (former) Pope's 'Grand Inquisitor'.

At a time when Catholics could really use some fresh blood and new eyes, they appoint Cardinal Ratzinger, a man who speaks out often against divorce, gay marriage and isn’t even very well liked by his own countrymen for his stance against women priests, amongst other things.

But hey, he used to be more progressive. After being attacked by left-wing students who felt he wasn’t progressive enough, he evidently changed his mind… But that couldn’t be a personal reason, could it?

He was a member of Hitler’s Youth briefly when it became compulsory, but was able to leave because he was training in seminary. He enrolled in an anti-aircraft unit protecting a factory, but later deserted, and even spent a few weeks in a prisoner of war camp.

He’s said in later interviews that although he opposed the Nazis, he couldn’t resist openly – a point some historians disagree on.

I saw a movie a long time ago called Saving Grace, starring Tom Conti. He played a newly elected Pope who inadvertently ends up locked out of the Vatican and gets to see what life truly is like for some of his followers.

I’ve often wished that for a man like that to somehow become Pope (although let’s face it, if it happened, it would be a fluke *or a miracle*). He was a man who cared for those around him. In fact, he loved them, and subtly conveyed that he was honored to have the opportunity to get to know them.

Cardinal Ratzinger is described as uncharismatic, lacking in leadership skills and evidently isn’t even much interested in Rome’s inner administrative workings.

But he’s the Catholic Church’s man. God help us all.

Pave Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot

While I’ve always had strong political views, never have I cried for them until this year. There are many things that can happen in a person’s life that cause stress, but never before has the state of the nation distressed me as much as it does today.

I’ve always been proud to be American. It’s an honor. I’m in the land of the free. We may be a young nation, but our dreams are beautiful. Freedom and equality for all. Opportunities available for anyone willing to work for them.

As a little girl, I’d learn about third world countries and hear of what women endured, and think, “Thank God I’m American. That could never happen here.” My voice always counted. When I grew up, I could be anything I set my mind to be. Nothing was off-limits because I wasn’t a man.

I’d always believed in the sense of innate fairness that Americans stood for. It’s what makes us want the underdog to win, and justice to be done. Against overwhelming odds, this country has survived a host of scandals, and walked away wiser for having endured them. Hell, we used to be taught them in school.

They were the lessons upon which I based my own moral compass. McCarthy was a bad man, full of hate and fear, and transfixed the nation until a lone voice asked what many had been to afraid to say aloud, “Have you left no sense of decency?”

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream – and it was a beautiful dream. It was where we all stood shoulder to shoulder… Not as whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians – but as human beings and fellow Americans.

JFK represented America’s political Camelot, and FDR cemented a legacy of protections to keep us from having to again face the human tragedy that befell much of America during the Great Depression. The classic authors left a wealth of verbal pictorials for us to remind ourselves with… The Grapes of Wrath, anyone?

FDR understood how heavily poverty weighed on the soul, and believed that we as a nation had a responsibility to our smallest citizen to insure they would not starve, that they could have a roof over their head, and the freedom to hope.

World War II was a pivotal moment in our wartime history. There was a very real fear that we could lose, and never had there been such a clear case of good versus evil.

Vietnam has left a wealth of lyrical protest songs – soft voices questioning the right of the government to ask its’ young to die for an ever adjusting borderline drawn on some politician’s map. I was taught in school that these soldiers came back from insanity to face an unwelcoming and bewildered nation that had no concept of what they’d endured, still unclear why they'd had to go in the first place.

I hear those songs again now. They play a lot more frequently on the radio, and these voices from the past resonate in my heart. The past is alive here and now, and we are living in dark ages once again.

Buy your big screens now, because July 1^st the FCC requires all televisions over 36 inches to include digital receivers (the rest will be required to by 2007). Eventually, all digital TV transmissions will include a “broadcast flag” that will indicate shows that can’t be copied freely. Even the luxury of recording your favorite television show to watch at your leisure may soon be obsolete – unless you’re willing to pay extra.

If you need to file for bankruptcy, even if you’re facing extraordinary medical expenses or have been laid off, do it before October 12^th, 2005 (an estimated 180 days after Bush signs the bankruptcy bill into law, which will probably happen sometime today), or it’s likely that filing for bankruptcy will not only provide no economic relief, but you will end up having to pay additional legal fees as well. Paying credit card company debt will be able to compete with (and even surpass) a debtor’s child support payment obligations.

The GOP Leader Tom DeLay is so corrupt you need a website to graph out exactly who he’s in bed with, how much he’s profited, and who is in bed with him. Senator Bill Frist is gearing up to portray Democrats as “against people of faith” for blocking Bush’s judicial nominees… You know the ones – they were already rejected once.

The estate tax has just been permanently repealed. Who benefits? The super-rich. Have I mentioned that the U.S. National Debt Clock is at $7,801,824,563,532.62? We're still at war in both Iraq and Afghanistan, right? Why are we making tax cuts permanent again?

The Federal Budget is so outrageously out of balance that even religious leaders decry that it is a Moral Document, and as such fails on every count. We are America. How can our government favor military spending and tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations yet give the cold shoulder to the poor, the dispossessed, the infirm, and children?

The rich are getting super-rich, the poor are getting destitute, and just how much of the money I pay on gas ends up in Bush’s cronies’ pockets? Whatever it is our government has become, it’s not America.

As a little girl, I once visited the Sequoia National Forest. I remember standing at the base of one of these incredible trees as I tried to grasp the significance of how old they were. One of them, I read, nicknamed “General Sherman”, was already a few hundred years old when Jesus walked the earth.

I vividly recall listening to the woods creak and groan in the gentle breeze as I looked around, and for the first time I truly believed I stood in the presence of something sacred. I was amazed that anything living could last this long – untouched and unbent. Nature became something magical and mysterious to me, and it has been ever since. The Bush Administration wants to log it.

I have not been happy with the way things have been going in this country for a few years now. While I didn’t vote for him, I supported Bush after 9-11. I thought he could do a lot of good for this country, if he meant what he said. It turns out, he didn’t.

The more I learn, the more horrified I become. I keep waiting for the day when the rest of my fellow citizens raise their own eyes to see the truth as it stands before them, but it hasn’t happened.

I’m waiting for you, dear reader. Please, stop listening to the lies and take a good look around you. Believe your eyes. It’s as bad as it looks, and these are dark times indeed. We need all of your voices, raised in concert, to remind this government that it isn’t about money - it’s about people. It’s about the poor, the sick, the jobless and our children. It’s about caring for something other than the almighty dollar. There’s more to life than that. There’s more to America than that.

The State of the Union

Mrs. Schiavo's death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schindlers and with Terri Schiavo's friends in this time of deep sorrow. -- Tom DeLay

Read the above quote carefully. There is a reason why Tom DeLay is called the Hammer. This man has no scruples, no values, no ethics, and above all, is a hypocrit. He seized upon a woman's tragedy, and has been exploiting it to help revive his own career. Shame on you, Mr. DeLay. Or perhaps the question needs to be asked:

"Have you no sense of decency?"

April 1, 2005

Tom DeLay
Majority Leader
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Majority Leader DeLay,

I was stunned to read the threatening comments you made yesterday against Federal judges and our nation’s courts of law in general. In reference to certain Federal judges, you stated: “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”

As you are surely aware, the family of Federal Judge Joan H. Lefkow of Illinois was recently murdered in their home. And at the state level, Judge Rowland W. Barnes and others in his courtroom were gunned down in Georgia.

Our nation’s judges must be concerned for their safety and security when they are asked to make difficult decisions every day. That’s why comments like those you made are not only irresponsible, but downright dangerous. To make matters worse, is it appropriate to make threats directed at specific Federal and state judges?

You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B). That law states:

“Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished [by up to six years in prison]”

Threats against specific Federal judges are not only a serious crime, but also beneath a Member of Congress. In my view, the true measure of democracy is how it dispenses justice. Your attempt to intimidate judges in America not only threatens our courts, but our fundamental democracy as well.

Federal judges, as well as state and local judges in our nation, are honorable public servants who make difficult decisions every day. You owe them – and all Americans – an apology for your reckless statements.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Lautenberg