Imbecilic is Putting it Mildly

At this point calling the right wing fringe imbeciles is being kind. Take a gander at these quotes below. No commentary is even necessary. The idiocy is downright glaring.

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

-- Karl Rove, quoted by ABC News, describing Sen. Barack Obama to Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club.

Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was visiting the White House today. Before beginning a meeting that would include the topic of a recent typhoon that caused much damage in her country — including flipping a ferry killing all 800 passengers — President Bush, in his fashion, couldn’t resist starting off in a light mood.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval Office. We have just had a very constructive dialogue. First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that -- in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the -- of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.
PRESIDENT BUSH: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.

Goodbye George Carlin

George Carlin, legendary comedian and witty observer of social mores, died Sunday at the age of 71. Below is a clip of his legendary "Seven Words" act. Enjoy.

You Weren't Really Using Those Civil Liberties, Were You?

Wow, my disdain for the lame Democratic party has been renewed. The one time that they stood up to the fascist regime known as Bush, Inc. since they took the majority in 2006 was the moment they refused to pass retroactive immunity for the telecom companies. But those of us citizens with any brains left in our cynical brains knew deep down that the Democrats would end up caving. Oops, I mean compromise. How many times do we have to take this president and his boy-who-cried-wolf act seriously? This dork-in-charge actually wants to take credit for the fact that since September 11th, 2001 there has not been another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, although the number of terrorist attacks globally has certainly increased since our invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. He might as well take credit for the fact that the earth hasn’t been destroyed by a meteor on his watch either.

I wish I had more time to write about this gang rape of our constitution, but it’s nearly ten o’clock and this morning my son Justin arose at 5, so I feel like I need to get some sleep in order to be prepared for tomorrow’s parenting duties. Besides, there are much more erudite bloggers than I that have been analyzing the Democrats official position of caving-in to the lame-duck president with the lowest approval rating since they starting gauging approval ratings. Here are a few bloggers to check out on this and other issues:

Bob Cesca's Goddamn Awesome Blog! Go!

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

The Political Carnival

That last link (Political Carnival) is actually Cliff Schecter's blog. Cliff recently wrote a book called The Real McCain, which documents the long history of flip-flopping of John McCain and proves that the word "Maverick" is merely a product label. Cliff also knows how to school the Republican blowhards when he's matched up on the talking head shows. Here's a clip below with Cliff doing a little truth-telling about the scandalous Republicans.

Our Infamous Reading President

From yesterday’s N.Y. Times:

Bush also said he never saw the award-winning network television show "The West Wing" about a fictitious U.S. president, preferring instead to watch sports and read books.
"I seriously don't watch TV. You know, I watch sports, but I'd much rather read books. And I do. I read a lot," he said according to a transcript released by the White House.

This president seems to feel the need to proclaim his reading prowess whenever possible. Remember a summer or so back when he and Karl Rove were having some kind of reading competition? It was during an interview with Brian Williams when he claimed to have read Camus and “three Shakespeares . . . I got an eclectic reading list,” he said. I can recommend the book I just read last week: All Quiet on the Western Front. It might give him a better idea of the brutality of war, since he spent his term of duty during the Vietnam War in Alabama. And then he didn't even show up for duty as required. Maybe if he knew the true human cost of this war he concocted then he wouldn't suggest that if only he were younger he might join those boys over in Afghanistan, because it seemed like a "romantic" adventure. This is a guy that grew up with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth (before starting to insert his foot there regularly.) He got his guaranteed spot in Yale just like his daddy. He was given the presidency in 2000 by a corrupt government, and not elected by the people -- although enough Americans actually did vote for him to make one question the collective sanity of this overfed nation of ours.

But enough about our infamous reading president. Below is a recent ad with a number of citizens proclaiming their reasons for voting Republican this fall. Be careful . . . you may just be swayed by their rationale.

The Choice is Clear

The presidential race this fall shouldn’t even be close. One only needs to watch a speech by Barack Obama back-to-back with a speech by John McCain to see the glaring gap between intelligence and ignorance; between compassion and heartlessness; between hope and warmongering. John McCain sees nothing wrong with keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years. His reasoning is that we have kept troops in South Korea, Japan and Germany for “peacekeeping” purposes, so we should be prepared to keep forces in Iraq for the same reasons. Part of their impetus for invading Iraq in the first place was to establish a permanent U.S. military presence right in the center of the Middle East. There are now “negotiations” going on between the U.S. and Iraqi government to lay out the military plan for years to come. Basically what this means is that the U.S. is pressuring Iraq to agree to military terms favoring an U.S. presence in their country for the unforeseen future. This includes the building of 58 permanent military bases. Just last week on the Today Show John McCain was being interviewed by that intrepid journalist Matt Lauer. Lauer asked that, since he McCain supports the notion that the surge is working, can he reasonably start to predict when U.S. troops might come home. McCain’s response: “No, but that’s not too important.” Not too important?!! He went on to say that what is important is the safety of our men and women there on the ground in Iraq. Well John, what could be safer than bringing them home? Below is a clip from YouTube with John’s cold-hearted answer. If your right-wing response is: “Context!” then find the rest of the interview online. The rest of his answer is even more appalling, because he makes clear that his Iraq policy is a permanent U.S. military presence. When we these old fools stop killing innocent people in the name of fossil fuels? We got a veteran who is practically a fossil himself — who admitted the other day that he doesn’t know how to use the computer, and has almost proudly admitted that he doesn’t know anything about the economy — promising to continue to run our country into the ground.

Have you noticed how creepy John McCain's smile has become since he sold his soul?

I finally bit the bullet and ordered some Obama paraphernalia. In fact, right now to my right there is a 24x36 poster of Barack Obama adorning my wall. I also got a few bumper stickers (Independents for Obama), a few buttons (Veterans for Obama), and I a yard sign that I need to get up before my right-wing father comes out for a visit next month. I’m now officially a “hopemonger.” I even upped my donation when I ordered the merchandise and if I can stop buying books for a couple of weeks I’ll probably donate again.

Speaking of books, I finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front this evening. It’s novel about the front lines of World War I as told by a young German soldier just out of high school. At times the scenes felt quite familiar to me, because of seeing films like A Very Long Engagement, and reading books like By a Slow River by Philippe Claudel. I’ve learned from various blurbs and reviews that All Quiet on the Western Front is considered a great anti-war novel. (It doesn’t say that anywhere on the book itself, although in several places it exclaims that it’s one of the great war novels of all time.) It can be easily viewed as anti-war, because the realities of war would make any sane human be against ever having to fight another war. The bonds that grow between the classmates as they mature under fire is quite poignant. In the end it’s heart wrenching as young boys are treated as meat in a grinder in order to fulfill the military maneuvers dreamed up by some chicken hawk ensconced in comfort miles from the front. It’s the way wars have always been fought and are still fought today. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld never served in the military. George W. Bush was given a cushy stateside position in the National Guard through his daddy’s connections. Yet these militaristic cheerleaders have no compunction sending off soldiers to die, because of their schemes and lies. They are against the new G.I. Bill, because they don’t want to treat soldiers like humans. They would rather treat them like cannon fodder. It’s the only way they can send thousands to their deaths and still cash their oil company checks.

It’s nearing midnight and I’d like to spend a little time trying to chose the next book that I’ll read before I go to sleep. Justin is currently sleeping soundly. We’ve been having sleep issues with him lately. Now that he’s in his “big boy bed” bedtime has become quite a chore. But that’s a topic for my other blog.

Dream Ticket

I’m so sick of hearing about the “dream ticket” and having the pundits hammer home again and again the idea of Hillary Clinton as Barack Obama’s running mate. This is an insane idea and just another example of media driven politics. Just because it would be great fodder for the news industry for the next five months doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. In fact, if the mainstream media are talking an idea up the vice presidential dream ticket, then it’s probably an idea which should by resisted with all your might. Hillary Clinton has run a campaign based on ego, power and greed and putting her on the ticket with Barack Obama would be self-defeating, and frankly and insult to the extraordinary campaign that Obama has run. My own guesses are far as his VP choice are just a few: Sen. Jim Webb and Sen. Chuck Hagel. Yes, Hagel is a republican, but he is against the war and therefore on the outs with the lockstep Republicans in his party. Choosing Hagel would also be a shining example of bi-partisanship and would attract a lot of those disgruntled Republicans that used to ride John McCain's Straight Talk Express until it derailed, as McCain reveals himself to be just an older more addled version of George W. Bush.