End Of Times

All in a day: Dubya speechifies, Greenspan retires, Coretta Scott King dies.

Maybe we could reshuffle the deck here... ?

Firedoglake

Really love the work Jane is doing. That she can piss off Deborah Howell and scare supposedly liberal Senators into doing the right thing, all in a week... well, she's just gotta have my baby.

Unless:

Okay, so it's obvious there is cloture today. It sucks. But it happens in the big leagues that sometimes you lose an inning. That doesn't mean you stop playing, it just means you take a deep breath and go back to the dugout for some fresh plays.

Agh! Where to begin.

My dear Jane, your attempt here at a sports analogy, apparently using baseball as your primary reference, is, uhm, distracting. See, even in basketball or football, "plays" are almost never -- ok, never -- described as "fresh," like they're fish or fruit cocktail. As for "plays" in baseball, a manager might signal the third base coach to signal the batter to put on the squeeze play, or he may, from the dugout, waive an outfielder over toward the line or the infield in, depending upon the situation, but a team doesn't retire to the dugout to huddle up for plays that are as "fresh" as Honus Wagner. Well maybe in T-ball.

And I don't think I've ever contemplated "innings lost" before. Innings aren't counted toward the final outcome. We can lose a "game" definitely, or even a "round" (as I believe you meant to say there), but then that's the sweet science of it.

Your energy and analytical talent, as it addresses your passion, politics, is clearly evident from the reading of your blog, and which is why this dissonant note wrankled. No biggie, but it just, like, totally weirded out the junkie in me. Such is the beauty of sport, I suppose.

Of course, I would bet you'd be able to find similarly lame analogies, which I may've imparted on this site; or perhaps a grammatical or syntactical error, or a spelling mishap or thirteen.

All I can say to that is... touche!

Alito Filibuster Defeated

Interesting that every Dem believed to have an interest in running for the '08 Presidency voted "Nay," including DLC mopes Bayh, Biden, and Hillary. Maybe they've woken up to the fact that the base is not to be trifled with.

Conversely, Joementum continues to exhibit his facist sympathies, giving new meaning, perhaps, to that shop-worn political wail "Better Dead Than Red" -- as in Roe v. Wade be Daid! (Which, by the way, is no small favor to the Democrats. When the fanatics, state by state, start to impose their insane restrictions on suburbia -- and you know they will! -- it could be, as Tom Davis suggests, a political reversal of fortune for both parties. Praise Jesus!)

But isn't it curious that given the cloture vote's wide margin, that both Lieberman and Linc Chafee, the Republican from the most Democratic state in the Union, both voted to end debate when their "Nay"s could have provided them legitimate cover for their reelections respectively. My curiosity is of what might've happend had they did so, like whether a domino effect might have ensued: "Heyyy, now I gotta vote Nay, you bastard!"

And now both of them will vote against Alito tomorrow, an anticlimactic exercise in stupidity, and more so if they actually think that'll cover their wrinkly butts on election night. Like we're, what, imbeciles?

If there is a God... !!

So say goodbye to Roe v. Wade, which, by intellectual standards, was an abomination in judicial reasoning, not to mention the Exhibit-A example of the Court legislating from the bench, even if it had the best of intentions: giving a woman another option in a particularly lonely moment. But now that Roe's demise is certain -- and I do mean certain! -- it will be the progressive populi who must get up off their respective keisters and fight the fuck back!

My more immediate fears envision the impending further destruction of our environment, the government institutionalization of Christianity (or the kind envisioned by some serious assholes), and the continued lowering of standards as they pertain to, say, consumer awareness and protection; employee wages, safety and health coverage; or particularly, whether an individual has any recourse in the court when he or she is utterly screwed over by some corporate stooge.

For starters...

And speaking of worker safety, can you imagine what that old fossil Robert Byrd could possibly have been thinking? Here is a man whose state is still reeling from two recent mine disasters, which, I would argue, were made inevitable by Republicans' obsessive deregulation of industry. And what does Byrd do?? He announces his support for a man who is the ultimate corporate rubber stamp. And he did it precipitously, days in advance, almost guaranteeing the filibuster would never take off. Oh! And then there's Scalito's love for executive power: You know how Byrd loves to waive his tiny copy of the Constitution on the Senate floor whenever he expounds upon its rich Corinthean leather? I think it'd be mighty entertaining, the next time, were he to set it afire.

Ach! This is depressing. As depressing as when the "fab five" came down with their decisions in Bush v. Gore. You think maybe Sandy-Baby'd like her vote back on that one?

Four -- count 'em -- FOUR rubber stamps now for the most fanatical element in this country: Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and now Alito. Take a drink whenever they don't vote unanimously on a decision, you'll stay cold sober.

Christ! This means Anthony Kennedy is now the swing. And he has a rusty hinge.

Brrrr...

Alphabetical by Senator Name
Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Chafee (R-RI), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Not Voting
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Not Voting
Harkin (D-IA), Not Voting
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Yea
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

Questions That Get You Kicked Out of the Pressroom - #8

You've been photographed at least 3 different times, and my suspician is more, flipping the bird at whomever. My question is this: Do you think that's what Jesus would do?

Sunday Drift

Winding it down. I'd like another day off as one seems insufficient. Feeling self-centric at the moment as the business of the world at hand depresses the living shit outta me. Dems bending over and grabbing their ankles is no way to run an opposition party...

No, no... ! Run away run away... !

So anyway, you know how when you rent a movie you pick one you thought you wanted to see but when you get home you get caught up in the reruns of Law'n Order and before you know it, it's beddy bye? Do that for a coupla nights straight and your rental is due back. Well thank the gah'ds Blockbuster liberalized their return policy (Hear that, Republicans? They went liberal!!), and so my rental of March of the Penguins sat on my table for three weeks; half-way thru I was allowed to rent others, like Crash (excellent!), Saving Face (charming), and Serenity (fuckin' awesome!). The cash-out fellah noted I still had Penguins, which he suggested I could opt to purchase for $9.95 or return at a $1.50 late charge, which I didn't have to pay then -- like, hey cool!

It didn't go unnoted by me he didn't mention Network, which I had rented at the same time as March of the Penguins. Maybe because it was in their older movie section, i.e., not 2-day or 1-week return mandated, or maybe it was a computer, or brain, glitch. Whatever the case, maybe I could just assume there's no penalty for a verrrry late return, heh! Yeaaahh, that's it!

So I finally watched March of the Penguins last night. Simply put, it was astounding, which, of course is one of the word-blurbs right on the cover. No hype that "astounding," as it was indeed astounding!! Incredibly spartan existences these birds live, and yet they hold a profound sense of duty and family. It touches the soul.

Haven't seen it? Do.

That is all.

Say It Ain't So, Joementum

The man's name is Ned Lamont:

Ned is considering running because, like most Connecticut Democrats, he is tired of being represented by a senator who is not willing to stand up to the President on the war — and on the rest of his extreme right wing agenda which is so harmful to our country.

Tell Ned to run!

Ralph Nader: All Is Forgiven

Is good to be UNreasonable:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

Given the road now travelled by Al Gore, the man Nader most torments, or did, the prognosis for the Democratic party is upbeat, i.e., looking well past the ugly capitulation by Senate Democrats involving Scalito (Please! Gi'me a car crash, somebody!)...

Uhm, that's upbeat assuming Al runs for the presidency again.

Yew Shorr Got Purdy Lips, Boy!

Must see!!

dd d d d d d d d...

Metaphysician, Heal Thyself

Aaron Brown, late of CNN, makes an interesting point:

Journalists have fallen short in presenting important news in ways that allow viewers to see how it matters in their lives. But viewers must take up the battle as well, he said. "It's not enough to say you want serious news. You have to watch it. It isn't enough to say you want serious debate. You have to engage in it."

I confess I don't watch NewsHour as much as I'd ought, although I am religious about watching Olbermann while convinced the show's plug'll be pulled before the November elections, a la Phil Donahue.

1,000 Words

If ever Andre Agassi's assertion "Image is everything!" ever applied more than it does at the White House, recollection fails:

In his press conference today, President Bush suggested that the existence of photographs of himself and Jack Abramoff are no big deal and generally pooh-poohed the press's focus on the story. But our reporting suggests that the White House is actively involved in covering up and possibly destroying photographic evidence of the two men together.

Oh, now I remember: the next generation of video footage and photographs of atrocities committed by American soldiers and civilians at Abu Ghraib... all in the name of America -- of course, not yet made public.

I forget who said it recently, but America is a land with a great big, luminous bubble covering it, where the world can see in but we can see only our reflections.

This administration is a freakin' nightmare.

Welcome Home NYTimes

Today's editorial: Senators in Need of a Spine

"A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court."

Please note also, the Washington Post actually endorses Alito.

And what does that tell you about the Post, Heavynews, wherever u r?

#2 Reason Not To Go To The Theatah

The #1 reason is getting capped by a Confederate spy...

Looks like Tom Cruise is doing everything he can to queer his fiance's movie career:

The Sundance Film Festival is all about discovery, but what filmmaker Jason Reitman found out during a screening of "Thank You for Smoking" was unusual even by Sundance standards: The Katie Holmes sex scene in his movie had vanished.

What producer, with options to cast any number of hollywood hotties, is gonna wanna deal with Miss Quasi-Cruise now?

Oh, heyyyy! Ya' think maybe that's how Katie got preggers?

I love this stuff!

Wakey Wakey, Hillary!

Nice piece by Arianna:

But does the Democratic base really love Hillary? The latest straw poll taken by MyDD would seem to indicate otherwise. Hillary came in seventh. That's right, seventh, placing behind -- in order -- Feingold, Clark, Warner, Edwards, Richardson, and Undecided." Sure, MyDD is just one blog, but it's an influential one -- and, increasingly grassroots and netroots are becoming one and the same.

Got another email from Hillary, meanwhile, and am now convinced I can't be nasty enough in my replies to make her go away.

Gearin' up for the Left-of-center Civil War -- Yeahhhhoooo!!

The United States of Islam

Apparently nobody ever told Dubya to be careful what he wished for:

''If neighboring Islamic countries, including Iran, become the target of attacks, we will support them,'' al-Sadr was quoted as saying. ''The Mahdi Army is beyond the Iraqi army. It was established to defend Islam.''

"Freedom and liberty" is a tricky concept, especially for an autocrat who spouts its virtue solely to obscure his thumb as he struggles mightily to plant it on the masses. Nevermind the fact whenever George Bush says "We're spreading freedom!" it sounds like he's spreading manure, particularly when "freedom" and "liberty" are being systematically undermined here, I've held before the notion that a long-term salution may be just what Dubya has implemented (although not in the way he intended), i.e., blow up the region and let it reform as a genuine democracy, that is according to the wishes of its people and not those of the western corporate/military industrial complex, something the Arab world has never had before... and for that matter, us too!

Of course, that'd likely mean a radical Islamic state; and for the first 25-50 years after finally establishing self-determination, hostitlity toward the Great Satan would be little dissipated, and, as such, would likely involve a concurrent period of domestic oil prices bordering on the obscene -- unacceptable to our dear leader for life, even if the American driver will long have evolved unto alternative-energy locomotion.

It could be as much as a half-century after American troops are withdrawn from the region before the masses could be in position to overthrow their most recent oppressive rulers, the clerics, and as Iran was about to do before Dubya became King. Maybe then we could all have a drink and sing songs together.

Unless, of course, the reigning superpower of that day -- China!-- manipulates the Arab leadership, much in the same punitive manner as America had dispensed. A delicious irony, to be sure, but it would also consign the world to riding the energy-addictive dreary-go-round until the year 2525... If man is still alive...

But as it stands today, Iran is well on the road to obtaining the bomb, a development I don't find so alarming inasmuch as it would only protect them from an American or Israeli attack much in the way North Korea is now protected. And contrary to today's anti-Iranian fear-mongering (a now overly familiar soundtrack), I would contend that a nuclear-protected Islamic state would be far less inclined to lash out at its enemies due to having considerably more leverage, and would consequently desire to conduct actual business with, say, an oil-addicted clientele. To quote the Church Lady: Whooooo could it beeeee?

And now an Iranian pact with Muqtada Al-Sadr, who clearly would represent an unfettered majority population in Iraq, while adding Syria to the equation, would appear to shoot the Neocons' hegemonic view for the region to shit, the healthiest of developments, I would argue.

It'll take a long time to bear fruit, I grant you, and likely not in our lifetimes. But how long a time will it require before a rapproachment can be reached if American troops stay in the region for decades?

Sold!

Looks like the Sox will be replacing Centerfield Jesus with a breakfast cereal. Underheralded here, as Sox fans are used to shortstops who can mash, is the impending signing of Alex Gonzalez:

“He’s one of the best in the business,” McKeon said. “The guy’s a vacuum cleaner. He’s a magician. He can make that (double play) coming across the bag like no one you’ve ever seen. I’ve had a lot of great shortstops play for me but this guy was right up there with the best. He should have won a Gold Glove every year but he doesn’t have the charisma that others have and he doesn’t sell himself. But Boston will love him.”

Sold!

WaPo Finally Gets A Clue

This should've been printed over a year-and-a-half ago, yet another example of the Post trying to out-avoid the Times in covering the death of a republic:

Four times over the past year Sancho told computer specialists to break in to his voting system. And on all four occasions they did, changing results with what the specialists described as relatively unsophisticated hacking techniques. To Sancho, the results showed the vulnerability of voting equipment manufactured by Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems, which is used by Leon County and many other jurisdictions around the country.

Oh wait! Isn't "all the news that's fit to print" sitting on this story still?

We Are All Terrorists - Reprise

Those of you thinking Americans, who think Bush is doing good for America... you're next!

"Neither you nor anybody in that (Quaker) church had anything to do with terrorism," said Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla. "The fact is, the Truth Project may have a philosophy that is adverse to the political philosophy and goals of the president of the United States. And as a result of that different philosophy, the president and the secretary of defense ordered that your group be spied upon.

"There should not be a single American who today remains confident that it couldn't happen to them."

Impeach the Bastard!

The Other Bubble Boy

The New Republic's Michael Crowley writes a fascinating year-after analysis on John Kerry and where he is in his own mind (Jesus! Did I just use the words "fascinating" and "John Kerry" in the same sentence??):

Perhaps it was an insignificant moment. Or maybe it symbolized something important: a general sense among Democrats that no one is particularly interested in hearing from John Kerry anymore.

One could argue the same holds true for Hillary Clinton... Joe Biden... Joe Lieberman... Diane Feinstein... Ted Kennedy... Evan Bayh...

Tom Cruise Stays In The Closet

Because it's so easy to win slander & libel cases in England:

Don't you think this has gone on long enough? It's time for you to come out of the closet. You're not fooling anyone.

Speculatively, I hedge (although Tom couldn't win a whole helluva lot from my estate), if it weren't true, I don't suppose he'd fight it so hard. Eh?

And you'd think he'd change his last name...

Making Google

I know, avoiding Google's the trick. But anyway...

Click on Advanced Search; With The Exact Phrase: "barking up trees"; With At Least One of The Words: "blog", and you get this in first position (out of 147 results):

Barking Up Trees
Barking Up Trees. Coming To You From The Occupied Capital of America ...
Rawstory & Brad Blog are working together to bring to light, or at least a brighter ...barkinguptrees.blogspot.com/ - 158k - Cached - Similar pages

Not exactly sure why that particular post stands out, but okay.

Now if Google can continue to hold out against the White House grab on it's search database.

Fuckin' Yahoo!

Endorsement #1

Paul Hackett for U.S. Senate. Faithful readers know my reasons.

Newcomers, welcome! Here's why.

Molly Ivins Rocks... !

I have long loved Molly Ivins, after reading two of her books -- Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? and You Got to Dance With Them What Brung You -- but time and internet media saturation divereted me to other loves for a while. But I thought I'd check out her latest column as she hits on a favorite note:

I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.

Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.

I've said it before, Hillary's mis-timing her pro-forma run to the middle. The progressive base has to nominate her first, and her DLC-lovin' ways just ain't gonna cut it this day & age. This is why taking Joe Lieberman down this election cycle in the Dem primary is paramount. We want... no, need Dems who are spoiling for a fight with the corrupt facists running America today. If Lieberman tanks in Connecticut, d'be best you dump all your DLC stock.

Meanwhile, bringin' you back, Molly!

Emphasis His

It bears repeating here, thanks to R.J. Eskow:

1. Did Jack Abramoff directly give money to Democrats? 2. Did Abramoff direct clients to give money to Democrats?3. Were Democrats aware of any wrongdoing or impliedquid-pro-quo in those donations?

We know the answer to #1 is "no." I still don't know the answer to #2 - I know that Abramoff clients gave money to Democrats, but haven't seen documentation that it was done at his direction. I certainly haven't seen evidence to support #3. If the answer to #3 is no, than the Post has misled its readers, at the very least by implication - and the paper's ombudsman repeated the mis-statements instead of investigating them.

There y'go, Naahm! (At the risk of sounding like Cliff Claven... )

"Liberal" Rags - Not!

It seems the Washington Post likes trying to 1-up the New York Times in hideous antidisestablishmentarianism, and, to quote Les Nessman, "I use that word correctly" -- or at least I think I do.

Right after the Times shat the bed with the gross mismanaging of their out-of-control Lois Lane the Post exhibited their post-Katie Graham stripes when the its editors blew like windsocks in the hot air of right wing windbags complaining about Dan Froomkin's White House Briefing column, and which led Post ombudsperson Deborah Howell to conclude it as being too liberal and consequently should be renamed.

But then the Times did 'em one better again, telling the world the Bush administration had been wiretapping hundreds -- later concluded to be tens of thousands and perhaps millions -- of Americans without obtaining warrants from any court. The pathetic wretchedness of it all is the Times apparently knew about it as far back as before the 2004 presidential election, useful information as it might've been to any who would seek the removal from power a neo-facist administration.

And now the Post again, once again involving this ombudsperson Howell, a Texan (Aw, gee! Really?) with an evident rightward bent (Uh, yah!). In this case she apparently insists on passing along, without any supporting evidence, the assertion that Democrats have also been receiving monies from Jack Abramoff. So far no evidence to-date implicates a one. The backlash in cyperspace has spilled out and into the traditional media.

Admittedly, the degree to which the Post has lowered its standards of journalistic integrity cannot compare to the Times' egregious trashing of the public's right to know, but it's pretty damned disappointing nonetheless.

I summarize here as I thought of my cousin. Unlike old buddy Heavynews, Cuz was never a progressive. In fact, he's the gold standard of a "good ol' boy"; confederate as the day is long. I like the guy very much, because as most fun-loving good ol' boys, he's not without charm. But he always pushes the now-very ignorant assertion that the Washington Post and the New York Times are "liberal" rags. And they decidely are not. What they are are establishment entities with corporate souls. And that, Ladies & Gentleman, is the essence of 21st Century American conservativism.
----------
Update (1/21): R.J. Eskow spells out in detail the nasty turn the Post has taken since Katherine Graham got her titty caught in the big ringer in the sky.

eMailing Keith Olbermann

yo keith:

am wondering why NBC is sitting on the Andrea Mitchell/Christiane Amanpour story:

http://barkinguptrees.blogspot.com/2006/01/christiane-amanpour.html

i watch Countdown nearly every night for i see it as an oasis in a desert of corporate-controlled pap dispensed as "news," but which contains little of anything "new"... if that isn't too awkward, i acknowledge i might've run out of the room right at the time you acknowledged NBC news president Steve Capus as the "worst person in the world," so i'm prepared to be stood corrected...

so how 'bout it, big guy... ? how does andrea mitchell know whether or not christiane amanpour has been wiretapped, and why isn't NBC persuing it with daily developments transparent to we(us?) who give a damn... ?

and what about you, sir... ? i very much enjoy your wit & iconoclasm and expect to see that which no other network program covers, particularly those courageous moments when the muckraker might bite the hand that feeds...

what -- is it they won't let andrea appear to explain herself... ?

or maybe "NBC News" has changed it's name to "NBC News Blackout"... ?

i want to know... i deserve to know... i buy the pharmaceuticals advertised...

i eagerly await your reply...

g.

Dump Lieberman Campaign Picking Up Steam

The consensus within the Democratic wing of the Democratic party is to get him in the primary:

Myrna Watanabe, chair of the Harwinton, Conn., Democrats, is planning to propose a similar resolution to the committee in her northwest Connecticut town. She has been publicly critical of Lieberman recently and is hoping the other committee members will agree to admonish him in a letter. "They are disgusted with Joe," she says, "and pretty disgusted with the war."

And you knoooooow I'll be tracking this one.
----------
Update (1/18): Kos says Lieberman has no easy ride.

Be Careful What You Say You Wish For

In case you missed it, democracy broke out in South America again:

Michelle Bachelet, a pediatrician and former health and defense minister, soundly defeated her opponent; billionaire tycoon Sebastian Pinera in Chile's presidential run-off Sunday. Bachelet's 53.5 percent to Pinera's 46.5 percent marked a trend throughout Latin America of leftist electoral victories. Leftists now run Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela, with the inclusion of Chile, the political sentiment of the region is unmistakable.

Not quite the kind of democracy Dubya and his handlers had in mind, I'll warrant; the kind where the damned people decide on who runs the show, novel concept that.

Dr. Kissinger, a Sal Allende on line one for you.

Al Gore For President

A former vice president of the United States delivers what should be deemed a major speech in which he essentially calls the sitting president a criminal, and declares the foundation of our government, the Constitution, in crisis -- and the major networks are... where??

Listen to the WMP/QT, courtesy of Crooks & Liars, of Gore orating like he never did in 2000, juxtapose that with the abject capitulation this past week by our minority representation on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and one can only conclude there's no where else to turn.

Personally, I'm convinced Congress will never again change over to Democratic control if it doesn't happen this year. And if it doesn't I'd lay odds that with respect to the 2008 presidential race, either it will be suspended or the 22nd Amendment will be repealed -- and with the latter, the guarantee of another term for Dubya.

And to all you police state apologists and/or insufferably complacent oblivions, don't get too cozy; facism is relentless and it needs feeding.
----------
Update (1/17): Olbermann led off last night's Countdown with the Gore speech, hurrah! Now if we can get back to what NBC discovered about Dubya wiretapping Christiane Amanpour?

Count Me In

My brother the lawyer, thinking of his family's best interests, has forwarded this bit of paperwork:

New Living Will Form

I, ___________________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if THEIR lives depended on it. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for (please initial all that apply):

____ a Bloody Mary,
____ a Margarita,
____ a beer,
____ a steak,
____ lobster or crab legs,
____ the remote control,
____ a bowl of ice cream,
____ a vodka tonic,
____ chocolate,
____ sex, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better.

When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the members of any Legislature enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery.

It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own business and instead, pay attention to the future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Signature: ________________________

Date: ________________________

Witness: ________________________

Giving Bulemia A Good Name

If you missed the Ann Coulter sex poster advertised in my little window above, it's because I filtered the thing. I mean, oh my Christ, what rutting hog, or young Republican who'd never get laid otherwise, could even tolerate touching her with somebody else's 10-ft pole? She's not even decent enough to consider having as "face down/go t'town" -- >GAH!<

However, one might go with the proverb "In case of poisoning, induce vomiting."

Crashed & Burned

Okay, that didn't play as expected. Two-time champs Patriots looked, from my perch, extremely mortal last night. Kevin Faulk carries a football like a pocketbook; Adam Vinatieri blew out his "clutch"; Tom Brady was no magic man on that intercept in the endzone, but didn't Ben Watson show what future superstars are made of, coming 150 yards diagonally to knock Champ Bailey out at the one -- and Daniel Graham's wondering why his playing time's gone down.

More than a quarter of the Murphy's Pub patrons, and slightly less than half, wore "official NFL" Patriots jerseys. 65 percent wore either Brady-12 or Bruschi-54; four or five wore Vinatieri-4 (all chicks [including companion Katie], as no straight guy'll wear a kicker's number -- especially one as pretty as Adam V.); there was one Seymour-93, a Bledsoe-11 -- no, two Bledsoes; although one was a strange looking, wirey dude wearing the throwback red w/#11 on it but no name (Hell, it could've been an homage to Tony Eason. In that case the guy's a froot!), a Tatutpu-30 (although Mosi never wore the blue in his day), and a Williams-99. My guess on the latter is the guy wearing it was named Williams.

Over-capacity crowd with some pushing & shoving, and a cop giving a stern lecture to me as one who, uhm, >ahem< pushed back a little too hard. Stouts, what can I say.

Spared the rest of the playoffs tieing up my daylight hours, I look forward to blowing off the Superbowl.

Gayme!

Pats/Broncos 8 p.m. 2nite...

The Scene: Murphy's Pub, Old Town...

Total Pats crowd upstairs...

Hoooahh!

Surfin' USA

Al Gore's Call To Arms Against the Tyrant Bush: In Defense of the Bill of Rights
Let's see if the M$M gives it any play...

Dems Mull Outright Ban on Lobbying Gifts
Gee, ya' think... ? Could these two stories be a preview of an actual, honest-to-Gahd multi-pronged plan for winning back control of Congress... ? Nahhh... !

Dems To Cave On Filibuster
1 step forward, 1-&-a-half steps backward, a step or 2 sideways... And there ya' have the hokey-pokey... !

Awww just blow up the Congress ferchrissakes... !

On The Other Hand: PM Carpenter Says Blow Up The Supreme Court

The Court has no enforcement powers, the Bush regime is quite aware of that, and the powers-that-be on Capitol Hill are no more interested in reining in this out-of-control administration than the Reichstag was in telling Hitler to cool it. Hence by abolishing the Supreme Court we would properly and cleanly kill the pretense that we, as a nation, are still committed to “no-man-above-the-law” platitudes.

Huhh huhhuh huhh... You said "Hitler."

Swift-boating Murtha
Swine haveth no shame...

Can't Drill In Alaska? Who Says?
Bush flips Congress the bird yet again...

Another Repo Rep Bites The Greasy Skids
But not before doing his part in delivering Ohio to Bush in '04 (against the will of the people)...

Another Screwball Runs For Governor in Minnesota
A vampire with a moral code; who knew...

And Now For Something Completely Different
The Maryland Senate shows what Democrats in power can do...

New England Patriots In Denver 2MorrowNite!!
Prediction: Pats 24 Broncos 13...

For starters...

Friday Night's Alright For Fightin' Too...

... unless you're a Democrat. And contrary to the beliefs of chums and chum alike, I haven't been a Democrat since I left Massachusetts in '91. I was too much a ruffian and cannot abide people with milquetoast manners, whereas the current crop in the Senate look to wallow in the fetid wetness of it all.

Not only is it sad to see the nation's oldest party led by unprincipled and limp members (of Congress), it's fucking alarming. It means a de facto if unceremonious end of the two-party system in America, and all we have left are corrupt swine and assorted looters. Biden and Schumer and Feinstein, et. al, will >yawn< vote against Alito, but it appears there's no fight in them to filibuster, and consequently no evident fight in standing up for what they say they believe.

So blow up the Congress already, wouldja please?

Towel Snaps Lieberman's Tookus

Let's hear it for the grassroots:

Fearful that grassroots groups like MoveOn and DKos are organizing to oppose him in the upcoming election, Joe Lieberman has been feeling the heat. He's been meeting with the DFA hoping to keep them out of it, and Bill Scher now says that according to DFA reps he is claiming that "filibuster is definitely on the table."

F'in' A, I say!

Questions That Get You Kicked Out of the Pressroom - #7

If you're not the stupidest president in American history, who is?

Mirror Mirror...

Welcome Finland and France and Britain and Brazil; Singapore, Australia and Spain, you too. We be blogging 'round the clock, or we would if we could. Lord knows the mind toils and it doth spin. And more is the pity.

I imagine your sadness all of you who look at us, America. You had hope and even envy. How you must view us now. This vile bastard we call der president has diluted that which we pretended we were. But then again he's served a useful purpose, lifting the veil of our public relations, our Madison Avenue marketing front that is "America," representative of all that is good: baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. The land of the free, the home of the brave, human rights and justice for all.

Fraud!

The corporations and conglomerates want you to believe it, feed it to you as pablum, because it profits them so. These souless mechanisms of civilization.

But don'tcha know? Dubya didn't invent torture here. Before he stopped sniffing his blow (or assuming he stopped), we had this place called School of the Americas, located in Fort Benning, Georgia. Do ye' not recall nuns being tortured in Central America during the reign of Ronald Wilson Reagan (666)?

And what of the fall of Saigon? The March on Birmingham? Of Jim Crow? Of breadlines and Plessy v. Ferguson? Of 40 acres & a mule? Of civil war? Of Manifest Destiny (and how's that for a fancy name given to ethnic cleansing)?

We are a most unclean lot; ashamed, or at least we should be.

We are doomed. You are doomed. The whole trial is out of order!

We will repeat the past. We have not learned from history.

We are Americans.

[crickets chirping]

Waiting for the Dems to cut the shit and filibuster the prick already.

And Speaking of Annoying...

Seems I'm not only a terrorist, but I'm also a criminal:

Buried deep in the new law is Sec. 113, an innocuously titled bit called "Preventing Cyberstalking." It rewrites existing telephone harassment law to prohibit anyone from using the Internet "without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy."

And yet we can't find out who attended the Energy meetings chaired by the very vile Vice President.

... was feeling alliterative. Uhm, sorry... didn't mean to annoy.

Suffering The Arbitrary Advertisement

Rush Limbaugh, that smarmy, self-indulgent fuck, has taken to advertising on my blog. I filtered the thing, but apparently there's no rush on Adsense's part to accommodate. All of which reminds me of a disagreement I had once with a true-believer, who fancied himself one of Rush's dittoheads.

"You know what 'ditto' means, dittohead?" I asked, barely containing my loathing sarcasm. His look was of disinterest but also resignation at being told "Me too!" I said it, perhaps, a little mawkishly.

"Me too! Oh, me toooo! You go, Rush!"

Okay, I was dripping contempt. And it worked, he was instantly annoyed.

"20 million Americans listen to Rush everyday," he intoned dustilly, it having travelled long down his nose.

"Uh huh!" I replied, "20 million 18-24 year-old pimply white knuckle-dragging Americans who'll never get laid! And meanwhile there are the other 275 million Americans who don't listen to Rush everyday."

"Heyyy, I gotta use that!" Another guy walked up. He was grinning as he looked at me.

I grinned back then turned to the dittohead. "You see? 2 to 1 right here."

The dittohead said nothing and walked away.

2 Things

1) The '02 Wente Vinyards cabernet, evidently bottled somewhere between the Livermore Valley and San Francisco Bay, or so the label would have us believe, is only superb...

and 2) Network is the greatest movie ever made. Period.

Rerented the DVD...

I could watch it again.

Christiane Amanpour

Was disappointed but not surprised by Olbermann skipping over the yet-to-be BIG story of Christiane Amanpour getting bugged by Dubya and the demi-demons of his administration, or so NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell let slip (& here). It's precisely because NBC wants to put the genie back in the bottle, the genie being the revelation that Dubya listens in on political opponents (or how the network & Mitchell knew about it), and not just terrorists, while lying through his teeth about the limits of his admitted criminality, that likely kept Olbermann at bay. That or NBC won't let Mitchell be available for this news story.

I expect Olbermann to eventually come through. He's a committed contrarian, which is why I gravitate to his news program and to few others. But I am a little concerned. After his lead story last night, not being Jack Abramoff as it should have been, was the group-jerk involving Bush and all the remaining living Sec'ys of State (Hoo hah!), he teased one of his subordinate stories as one his producers made him do.

Uhh, Keith isn't that why you quit NBC the first time?

But how 'bout this mutt Mitchell (or as Dan Hedaya as Nick Tortelli would refer to her as, an Uggo)? It was only a month ago when Imus showed us what she's all about. And she apparently knows something, and now won't talk about it, that Amanpour doesn't know herself.

Sidebar to NBC suits: You seriously have a credibility problem when one of your senior reporters keeps becoming the story. Ya' think maybe when hubby retires, she should go with him?

Is it any wonder why I can't stomach Network news anymore?

----------

Update: CNN, as well, seems terribly underinterested in its reporters getting surveilled:

A senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN on Thursday that the National Security Agency did not target CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour or any other CNN journalist for surveillance.

Another steno job by one of Washington's elite journalists David Ensor, who, like so many of the Washington media elite, should be named "End Sore."

Update II: Nothing from Olbermann on the subject tonight either.

Jesus, will somebody please grab Andrea Mitchell, tie her to a waterboard, and just before giving her a dunk, quietly and gently whisper what the fuck!!?

Rose Bowl: Halftime

For what it's worth, I can't possibly care who wins. USC is a haven for young Republicans, more famously of whom was Donald Segretti. He's the gent who introduced the phrase "rat-fucking" while henching for Tricky Dick, via that other young republican Bob Woodward when he still had a sense of duty as an honest-t'gahd muckraker.

Ah! Thems were the days.

Texas, meanwhile, is... well, it's fucking Texas! Every defeat they taste can only be a victory for the civilized universe. And the lesser of two evils here has to be California Repos over Texas Repos. But then the SC running back's name is >cough< Bush!

Hmm, wonder what's on Law'n Order.

A Bedtime Story The Brothers Grimm Wouldn't Touch

So Tom Delay's (and a coupla dozen other Repo Reps are) getting taken down by Jack Abramoff.

Jack Abramoff pleads guilty because Michael Scanlon's got the goods on him.

And Michael Scanlon has -- er, had -- a girlfriend named Emily Miller, whom he dumped for a manicurist. How do I know, you ask?

Scanlon's former colleagues did not speak warmly of him, saying he was not a very likable person because of the way he treated others, and that he later became flamboyant with his newfound wealth.

(Insert just about any Republican's name over Scanlon's in the above paragraph.)

Gives a whole new meaning to WASP's nest, heh!

'Bout Goddamned Time... !

Here's your precedent, reality-based peoples:

A[n Italian] judge has ordered a priest to appear in court this month to prove that Jesus Christ existed.

Roman jurisprudence is a long way from cases being made in an American courtroom, I grant you, but if the Italians can "snap out of it"...

Naahm Deplume, call yer office!

New England Rocks!

More on the Patriots later, check out Rhode Island:

The vote makes Rhode Island the 11th state to pass such a law, and the first to do so since Gonzales v. Raich, the June 6 Supreme Court decision that federal drug laws apply to medical marijuana users regardless of state or local exemptions.

Not that I say this often, but in this case: Fuck the Supreme Court!!

Except, uhm, that's what Dubya's tryin' t'do... Arrgh!!

Murtha Rocks!

Wow! Keep in mind this is coming from a Marine veteran:

"Would you join (the military) today?," he was asked in an interview taped on Friday.

"No," replied Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees defense spending and one of his party's leading spokesmen on military issues.

"And I think you're saying the average guy out there who's considering recruitment is justified in saying 'I don't want to serve'," the interviewer continued.

"Exactly right," said Murtha.

Heavy stuff, considering the source and the brevity of his utterances. Of course, given the Bushies are capable of anything -- I repeat: anything!! -- the good Congressman might consider hiring a food-tester.

Adding To The Home Library

Borders has this cool little "3 for 2" bin and I was out browsing, or in as the case may be, on the last day of '05. Picked up the following:

• Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
  Already read Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions, oh so many years ago. This'd be the third leg of his top works.
  
  
• When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops? - George Carlin
  Love Carlin's concerted effort to do his part in pissing off the Religious Wrong.

and speaking of which...

• The End Of Faith - Sam Harris
  NYTimes Commentary: "The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood."

And what the hey -- it was 3 for 2, right?

So Have a Happy Already... !

End of the week, put near the end of the year. Vince Guaraldi playing on the CD, his seasonal soundtrack as I cannot let go just yet. Christmas was good for me this year, and it's been a while since I've felt that. Driving to Pennsylvania and to Massachusetts and to Vermont and to Maine and back again took me out of myself. Time was suspended. The family was and is good. They are all that matter to me.

Prospects for '06 look upbeat, and it's been, like, college when I could say that with any real sense of hope. No, that's not true. The early days with the Ex-. She was very good for me. Would that I could have those over again... and since, I'd gone into a spell. A spiral.

Now? Hey! Anything can happen. The new job is working. Everything's in play.

Hell! You might even find me in the gym one of these days. And then the next. Who knows?

Look for me. Keep a light on!

Freakin' Clintons

Jesus! They're like credit-card companies; they don't quit.

First from Hillary:

"Dear Friend,
"At this holiday season, we take joy in our family and friends, reflect on our blessings, and think of those in need." etc., etc...

I guess my responses to Ann Lewis don't much get read.

Now Bill's givin' me some e.love:

"Dear Friend,
"As Hillary's 2006 campaign prepares for a critical December 31st fundraising deadline, I'm writing to urge you to send a special year-end donation." etc...

I'd reply, "Blow me, Bill," but I'm afraid I'd get the lit-end of the cigar.

Adding Another Friend to the Links

Naahm Deplume just entered the blogosphere with his Land Shark Chronicles. Hail, fellow well met!

As for the rest of you, if you ever find yerself disappeared by the Pinochet Bubble Symps (and how's that for a punk-bank handle?) on PA Ave, Naahm's the lawyah 4 u! Why, he'd file a Habeus Upeuranus before you could spatter "Camp X-ray!"

His pedigree includes his being a fellow UMie, a member of Patriot Nation, and, as a sidelight, he's the Human Bullhorn (w/all props to Gerry Trudeau referencing Sam Donaldson). Simply put, Naahm's the only guy on the planet louder'n me... and, uhm, Cousin Jimmy.

Who loves ya', baby!

Good Christmas... ?

Mainelining For The Holiday

My dear but elderly mother doesn't want me playing on her computer as she knows so little about the internet and naturally assumes I do too, so I've stopped asking if I can check my email and now wait for her to nap.

The DVD-player, whose cost I split w/Brotherman the Elder, was a big hit. At first she was daunted by the sterile schematic on the sealed box: "Oh!" was the response I believe.

After brotherman hooked it up, then showed her some preliminary stunts w/buttons on the remote, she warmed up considerably. Now she wants to go to Wal-Mart to buy her first DVD. I'm trying to educate her on the heinous ways of the Walton family while furiously browsing Google for the nearest Costco or at least anyplace not named Wal-Mart that carries a video disc, the MVC adult-store down the road notwithstanding.

Oh, she just woke up and Brotherman's back from his stroll, or he must be 'cause the dog's, like, totally freaking. Better go.

Happy Holidays, Happy Chanukah, Merry Xmas, Season's Greetings... !

or (e) all of the above.

Green Mountain Boy For a Day... And a Night...

Made the scene last night, "open mike" at the Mole's Eye Cafe. Afterwhich, we, Brotherman the Elder and I, lit up a coupla Cohibas and remarked as we strolled on how empty the winter streets of Brattleboro were at 12:30 in the a.m., a contrast with the teeming, to whom we would bump up at breakfastime.

I, like, totally dig this town.

Am now taking a moment from gathering up my belongings while Brotherman wraps his presents, this as we prepare to repair Downeast... and to the land of the lobstah!

Is glad tidings from New England to ye & yerz...

Ho ho ho... !

Greetings From The Land of Franklin

The Pennsylvania kinfolk, who prefer to go nameless, are in full warble downstairs. Thought I'd take a peak at the incoming and the outgoing.

In Massachusetts & Vermont tomorrow, Maine Friday thru Sunday; and back again Monday.

Agreeably broken from the daily routine.

Happy Holidays to any & all!

What Would Centerfield Jesus Do?

Damon to the Yankees!

Damon fills a double void for the Yankees, giving them a speedy center fielder who can cover ground and a leadoff hitter to top a lineup that includes Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield, AL MVP Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi.

"and forgive us our trespasses... as we forgive those who trespass against us... "

Sweet! Sweet! Sweet!

Sweet!

Venezuela Gives Exxon Ultimatum

Sweet!

Bolivia's New President-elect calls Bush a Terrorist

Sweet!

John Dean remarked that Bush is the first President to ever willingly admit to an impeachable offense.

Extra Sweet!

Judge Rules Against Intelligent Design in Science Class

I usually take my coffee black, but today I'll make an exception.

Headline Of The Day

Iraq is a Red State.

We're All Terrorists Now

Looks like the Gestapo has moved beyond the little brown ones:

[T]he documents, coming after the Bush administration's confirmation that President Bush had authorized domestic anti-terrorism spying without warrants, prompted charges from civil rights advocates that the government had improperly blurred the line between terrorism and acts of civil disobedience and lawful protest.

One FBI document indicates that agents in Indianapolis planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." A third document indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Meanwhile, WaPo has Dubya's approval numbers back up to 47%.

Have a nice day!

Warning: Read While Not Eating!

I just spent twenty minutes coughing up remnants of inhaled mastication, courtesy of the Onion:

Baby Panda Names

• Overgrown Bamboo-Eating Raccoon-Looking Motherfucker...
• Favrey, the Green Bay Zoo's first panda...
• Remorseless Slaughtering Machine Jr...
• Rodney Endangeredfield...
• Zoo Fundraising Tool The Third...
• Joe Mantegna The Panda...

Paul Hackett for U.S. Senate

This is the race in '06 I really wanna see. Paul Hackett is the guy who carried 48% of the 2nd District in Ohio this summer in a special election, the most conservative district in Ohio and said to be one of the most conservative in the nation. The winner? Uhm, you remember the hideous crone who called John Murtha a coward on the House floor a few weeks back? Yup! That hideous crone.

Well Hackett's making another run, this time for Mike DeWine's Senate seat, and one that had been considered safe until the so-called Culture of Corruption festered to a level above subliminal in the American voter's consciousness.

Hackett's beauty, meanwhile, is he's the next generation, a new breed of Democrat... one who's unafraid to, well, act like a man:

A TV crew is setting up nearby, but Hackett doesn’t seem to care. “What’s your fuckin’ problem?” the candidate snaps. “You got something to say to me? Bring it on!” Hackett, all 6 feet 2 inches of him, is nose to nose with the heckler. “Problem?” he taunts. The man turns around and storms away.

“These guys in the Republican Party adopted this tough-guy language,” Hackett tells me, still steamed, an hour later. “They’re bullies. They’re offended when somebody takes a swing back at them.”

If you haven't heard by now, Hackett's a marine, fresh off a tour of duty in Iraq. His references to Bush and Republican decision-makers as "chickenhawks" with the follow-up of "Yeah, I said it! I meant it! I stand by it!" ought to be used for one of those feel-good pharmaceutical commercials. This jarhead's a tonic to what's clearly been a decades-long malaise of Democratic inbreeding. Hell! I'd be running to my doctor for a prescription if the FDA wasn't in Republican hands right now.

Nevertheless, Chuck Schumer and the Democratic "leadership" want the inbred's favorite, a change of heart for them now that Sherrod Brown changed his mind about not running. Brown's not a bad choice of Democrat, given his stature as a progressive and his recent good fight against CAFTA in the House.

But I don't want Senator Schumer or John Kerry or Hillary deciding who gets to represent the party and who doesn't. That's precisely where their inbreeding is manifested. So I say let the Democratic voters in Ohio -- and everywhere else -- decide on who their nominees oughta be. There's enough anger out there and it'd be good to tap into it. And God bless 'im, Hackett just isn't taking the hint:

“The Democratic Party is like an addict,” he says. “They’re addicted to failure. I want to help the party. The question is, how do you help someone that doesn’t want help?”

Like I said, he looks like what Democrats should look like.

'08 - Aaand Comin' Up On The Outside...

Mark Warner, governor of Virginia, is certain to announce a candidacy for the 2008 presidential campaign. That he's a southern Democrat in a red state -- that inicidentally just elected Tim Kaine, another Democrat (and thank you for that, Georgie!) -- obliges him to associate with assorted political riffraff, a matter of survival in these parts. It also gives him a little latitude with me, unlike for certain Senators, say, from Connecticut or New York, they who cannot seem to help but snivel well to the right of center, beyond that which should be deemed necessary. Meanwhile, here is this moderately conservative Democrat doing the, uhm, right thing:

Today Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) made it illegal to discriminate against someone for being gay in state employment.

Warner included the protections in his 2006-2008 budget, which carries the force of law, and modified Executive Order One to reflect the change.

Refreshing to see a Democrat act like one, apparently an act of courage these days (remember, both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson reside in this state). Meanwhile, Hillary strikes one sour note after another while playing to the worst element in the party, the DLC, and most recently by sponsoring legislation to outlaw desecration of the flag. Sure she has to spit-shine her portfolio for the paleos in order to at least appear viable, not that they'll ever buy it for a second. But to play to that level is repellant. Moreover the tactic is just so utterly and familiarly Clintonian, it smells of Dick Morris after a cruise.

Considering what appears to be her bad timing vis a vis "campaigning by the numbers" (or more specifically, win the nomination then run to the center), it could well be a delicious moment when she steps off The Hill to find her more natural constituency not only unimpressed but a little annoyed.

What Democracy?

Very strange occurences rounding out these days: Congress gives Dubya a one-two cuffing, on his lust for torture and on the Patriot Act, and now this revelation that he authorizes wiretapping of American citizens, without court order or Congressional approval (give or take 14 Republicans and one Democrat from Connecticut), and would do it again, and will until he's frog-marched outta there. My questions are how is it anybody could be surprised by this, or how can it be the the New York Times has utterly abased itself yet again?

Contrarily this story in the Monitor celebrates genuine democracy as flourishing in South America, and much to the very hypocritical chagrin of the fascist Bush administration:

[I]f spreading democracy is truly the goal of US foreign policy, the United States should welcome such new approaches rather than demanding that other nations elect officials subservient to the views that currently prevail in the White House.

Historians and assorted news junkies will recall Republican administrations have long had a problem with this very kind of "flowering." The democratic election of Salvador Allende in Chile, for example, was squelched by Dick Nixon and his hatchet man Henry Kissinger in 1973, supplanting him then with an army general cum murderous dictator in Augusto Pinochet; same thing in Iran back in the 50s, when Eisenhower had Mohammed Mossadegh, the elected Prime Minister of Iran, overthrown, and for the cardinal sin of nationalizing his country's oil fields. In his place we foisted upon its people the oil favorite Shah -- and we all know how well that turned out, now don't we?

Today we cut to the chase. We send our soldiers on fools' errands, tell them lies, and get the pigs gone, or this one anyway. And just because he was sitting on the second largest oil depository in the world, well that's... just... a... coincidence. So if anybody tells you its not about the oil, Richard Cohen...

Well, they're all just blowin' smoke up your poop chute.

Goes to "pattern of criminal behavior," your honor.

Listen up! Democracy in America doesn't exist and never has. The Electoral College sees to that. And right now, we're not even a Republic. Electronic touch-screen voting, particularly that manufactured by Diebold, has been determined, by no less of an authority than the General Accounting Office, as corrupted and hence unreliable, and as such did subvert the will of the American people in at least the last three election cycles.

Consequently we have a sitting president, along with a conniving and complicit Congress, put in place by a faceless oligarchy not answerable to We The People; a president who has now admitted to criminal and most assuredly impeachable conduct.

He, and they, must be removed.

The prosecution rests.

Minutemen (Women & Children), Unite!

For they are coming for you:

A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

Heavynews chortled at my expressed discomfiture three or four years ago, after a flurry of email among friends, where I wished Dubya a long life but to burn in Hell: "Heyyy, they send you to Gitmo yet?"

Only a matter of time now, Heavy. I may be from the People's Republic of Massachusetts -- and proud of it -- but I also note ol' Trent just stepped out from behind his tort-reform persona and filed suit against his insurance company. Won't be long before Mississippi's put on the watch list too.

I've been tellin' ya', is how these bastards operate.

Impeach The Bastard!

The American Civil Liberties Union is the go-to in times like these:

"Eavesdropping on conversations of U.S citizens and others in the United States without a court order and without complying with the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is both illegal and unconstitutional. The administration is claiming extraordinary presidential powers at the expense of civil liberties and is putting the president above the law. Congress must investigate this report thoroughly. We also call upon Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special prosecutor to independently investigate whether crimes have been committed.

I'll say it again: Impeach the Bastard!

So Whaddya Do If He Won't Talk, Ehhhh??

Torture 'im??

President Bush refused to say whether the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States but leaders of Congress condemned the practice on Friday and promised to look into what the administration has done.

Of course impeachment, while Dick Cheney (before he dicks you) is still in the line of succession, is outta the question.

Or is it?

"There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said there would be hearings early next year and that they would have "a very, very high priority."

So it begs the question then, at what point can one safely call the President of the United States "an enemy of the people"?

Uhm, Mr. Secret Service dude, please note the interrogative before you come bustin' down my house...

Serious Regression

Linking to The Times Record & The Coastal Journal, two central Maine newspapers I delivered as a boy to residents in the city of Bath, circa 1970-71.

Complete & utter regression, I admit, and purely for my own amusement. But y'know? I'm looking forward to Christmas; it's been a while.

Hillary Won't Leave Me Alone

Ann Lewis, Barney Frank's sister, keeps poppin' up in my inbox:

Dear Friend,
With the deadline for holiday delivery just one day away, I want to remind you that this year, you can give a gift that represents both style and substance: Hillary T-shirts by New York designer Marc Jacobs... blah blah...

To which I replied:

tell u what, get hillary to stop playing patty-cake w/the DLC fuckers and i'm aboard...

sound like a plan... ?

otherwise, no nomination!!

u heard it here first, ann lewis, u tedious walking talking-point... !!

:)

Dollars to donuts they still won't leave me alone.

Reposted Alledgedly from a Poli-Sci Paper

P.S. Give the kid an A...
... emailed by a friend; my favorite being the Italian Corporation...

Lessons In Political Science

DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICANISM
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE (Cronies excepted)
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when one cow drops dead.
You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegals.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

Government Ain't the Problem Here

As I'll be spending Christmas in Maine, this story caught my eye:

Dubbed H20 for ME, the group's 20-cent-per-gallon tax would apply to only those companies that extract more than 500,000 gallons a year for containerized resale. They looked to an Alaska fund for guidance, in which oil extraction fees are put into publicly owned trusts. Funds from such a trust in Maine would be invested in the state's future, Wilfong says.

After five years of Republican rape & pillage [cough! - Enron/Halliburton/tax cutters!], it's downright refreshing to see THERE IS A ROLE FOR GOVERNMENT!! And if it's pocket-picking you want, Mr. CEO & members of the board, I'd say you fuckers are long overdue for ponying up.

Of course this'll mean my bottle of Poland Spring will get a mark-up. But easy does it, fellahs, I can always buy Evian!

Now that's a free market!!

The Apple Falls Far... Sometimes

Mike Wallace on what he'd ask Dubya if Dubya had the intestinal fortitude to step outside his bubble:

"What in the world prepared you to be the commander in chief of the largest superpower in the world? In your background, Mr. President, you apparently were incurious. You didn't want to travel. You knew very little about the military. . . . The governor of Texas doesn't have the kind of power that some governors have. . . . Why do you think they nominated you? . . . Do you think that has anything to do with the fact that the country is so [expletive] up?"

Chris Wallace on his father:

"He's lost it. The man has lost it. What can I say," the younger Wallace lamented to WRKO Boston radio host Howie Carr on Friday.

"He's 87-years old and things have set in," the Fox anchor continued. "I mean, we're going to have a competence hearing pretty soon."

Time to rewrite the will, 60 Minutes Man!

Oh, Canada!

I see the U.S. Ambassador's pissing & moaning about the campaign styling going on up in Mountieland, which otherwise could have gone unnoticed.

Newsflash... ! The sport of criticizing the U.S. has reached its border -- Oh, the humanity! -- and so naturally the translucense of Dubya's thin skin is sparkling as if for the holiday season:

In a hard-hitting speech in Ottawa, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins lamented what he called relentless and incessant criticism of his country, which he speculated might begin to sow doubt about the strength of the binational relationship.

(Yaawwwn!) Like, whatever, corporate ambassador dude!

But here's what gave me my pre-coffee giggle:

"I would respectfully submit to you that when it comes to a 'global conscience' the United States is walking the walk," Wilkins said.

And now, ladies & gentlemen, Mr. John Cleese will demonstrate "the walk."

Diebold in the News Once Again

The CEO didn't Die*bold yet, but this is almost as good:

Diebold, Inc. today announced senior management changes instituted by its board of directors. Walden W. O'Dell, Diebold chairman and chief executive officer, has resigned from the company and its board of directors, effective immediately.

The bastard served his purpose, and credits to navy beans he's taking his leave due primarily to what's going on with the SEC and not so much the criminal defrauding of American voters.

Filtering My First Ad

Wasn't much in this endeavor for the money anyway. Away, revenge pen! Away!! What? It'll take hours?? >Gah!<

It's like when the ditz from Missouri asked, "Why do they hate us so?"

Well, for starters, because we ask stupid questions?

For The Record: M$M Does Not = "Liberal Media"

Marty Kaplin with a totally rad piece on the NYTimes...

Among the blogerati these days, the Times is a kind of pet dinosaur. It's Exhibit A of old media, of the aging establishment, and the declining influence of print. Where news needs to be nimble, the Times is ossified; where journalism needs to be unafraid, the Times is in bed with its sources; when news needs to be interactive, and to benefit from the distributed intelligence of it readership, the Times is the gold-standard of gatekeeperism.

But I suspect that the economic marketplace is plenty capable of keeping the Times on its competitive toes, and the net's abundance of contrary views is a powerful goad, forcing the Times to keep re-earning its journalistic reputation.

Doing my part, and to piss off the religious wrong, thank you very much.

Christmas Shopping

well that's what i always called it...

the so-called war on christmas has me in a state of blue agitation, that is beyond the annual angst that goes with accomodating the expectations of loved ones, especially those who say "don't get me anything"... but more so as i cannot now think the word "christmas" without the accompaniment of vaporous gargoyles dancing in my head and bearing the unpleasant likenesses of falwell, robertson and o'reilly - you know, that lot... ? and please don't mention "sugar plum fairies" to 'em; they'll have a snit...

and a happy happy 2 u 2... pass the pepto por favor... !!

hanyway... started out the beginning of the month with a mind toward gifting, my weekends being my own again and all... but this past coupla days had me buying for, uh, me... and that got me thinking that everybody ought to be made to spend - on themselves - for the holidays... that way little thought beyond impulse shopping shall prevail (and no returns accepted)... no stress, no dread, no dispepsia...

but more books for me, with every expectation of - heh! heh! - reading them:

• Bait and Switch, The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream - Barbara Ehrenreich;
  - how corporations have u jumping thru hoops w/no guarantees; the brass ring as myth...
  
• The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran
  - already read it, a gift from my brother-in-law many years ago (don't tell the dubyites he's >gasp< lebanese!)...
  
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
  - always wanted one of those...
  
• In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
  
• Breakfast at Tiffany's - Capote
  
• and Too Brief a Treat, The Letters of (yah!) Truman Capote - edited by Gerald Clarke

what can i say, was a good movie... and, man, he could write!

a good sunday too then...