I Need a New Team

It was bad when Edgar Martinez gave Dubya an autographed bat, but maybe he thought Dub would hit himself with it. It was bad that we had to put up with Spencer Hawes with his SUV and his "God bless George Bush" bumper sticker, but he's just a dumb kid. Now last night we had Mack Strong and Matt Hasselback presenting Dub with a Seahawk jersey with his name on the back. Smooth move guys.

Honor an idiot that sends people, instead of dogs, to die for his profit and entertainment. Another example of why dumb jocks should never be roll models for kids.

Fear and (self)Loathing in Conservativania

Watching Keith O just a bit ago, and I had to crack up at one of his titles: Electile Dysfunction. Of course the story was about the latest Repug sex scandal star: Idaho Senator Larry the Lav Troller Craig, who isn't gay and regrets pleading guilty to wanting sex from another man (which would be gay). Never mind the details.

I can understand being gay and whether it's by choice or destiny isn't important to me. I can understand a gay person feeling they need to stay in the closet and I think it's rude to out someone who feels that way. I can understand a gay person working in an environment that is basically anti-gay with anti-gay people being anti-gay. What I can't understand is a gay person being anti-gay. That's self-loathing. More than being cannibalistic, it's like eating yourself while you're still alive, and there's no way in hell I think I'll ever be able to understand that. I can understand being ashamed or confused. Hell I'm ashamed of my weight and my non-white teeth , but I don't Hate myself -- or other people -- for either.

With that in mind, I can understand a gay person being conservative; fiscally, maybe even socially in some respects, but things are getting grey now. Since the repugnican party is supposedly this country's conservative party, I guess a gay conservative would be member of the repugs, but since the repugs are also the anti-gay party just how repug can a gay repug be? Apparently -- Foley, Craig, Huffington... -- VERY Repug indeed. I'm not a shrink, but when I think about the shit these guys have done, I both hate and pity them. They must be seriously fucked up in the head.

Das Boot to Das Butt of Albert, or...

Going, Going, Gonzo, or
Bye Bye Alberto Gonezales, or
Oh fuck it; just go asshole.

Once again I'm too gun shy to celebrate, a la Rove's resignation. I've been wondering who will get tapped for the job. A lot of people's money's on Skeletor Chertoff, who I understand wrote a lot of the Patriot Act, but I've also been wondering about John Yoo, the pro-torture Stanford Law prof who brought us images of crushed testicles and such.

It could be a major crossroads for Dubya. I mean in Abu, he had the best of two worlds. He had a long time crony, and also an ally in the war to destroy the constitution. So what now? Will he go with a crony? Pull Harriet Myers out of moth balls? Karen Hughes again? Olbermann mentioned a fellow frat boy from Yale. Or will he go with an ally? How about that Asshole who wants him to be Caesar: Philip Atkinson? Fred Fielding's been a Justice Obstructer for years now; maybe let him enjoy center stage. Oh well....

Like I said in regards to Rove, It won't get better; only worse, whoever gets chosen.

In the meantime how about the shit Dub shoveled? About Gonzo being a good and honorable man... having his name drug through the mud... being treated unfairly for months... (That last one he got kinda close. Gonzo should be in jail for his contempt of Congress through his lies and stonewalling.) Would even the Faithful Twenty Nine Percenters believe that crap?

Another Act of Thievery

Stolen from DCup, who I think stole it from Blondesense.

For my whole life, I've always heard the "it can't happen here," shit, and for the most part, believed it. That's changed. Not with this post/video, but with the den of thieves in the White House, their partners in crime in Congress and their enablers at the polls. When I look at the path toward wholesale destruction on which they've put this country, I feel empty. Like D says in her comments, "I've quit asking, 'Can it get worse?' " With this outfit in charge, I know it will never get better, no matter what the issue is at hand.

I just wonder, Can I buy a banana clip for my semi-auto .243?

Gone So Long, I Forgot a Title

Damn, it's been a long time since I posted anything, and longer still since I posted anything worth reading (if I ever did.) That whole bullshit thing at work, with the time clock, threw me off much more than it should have. Then there was the visit by the wife's niece and nephew ( the Republican's kids) and an overlapping visit by the cool brother-in-law from New York, with his partner. Things are almost back to normal, or as normal as they ever get around here (or in any household): the Mother-in-law is parked in her usual spot playing solitaire at the dining room table, looking out at Greenlake -- which she likes to point out is actually blue -- and the mountains, while the wife plays sudoku at the counter and answers her repeated questions about where she lives, for how long, with whom, and when the kids and her son are going to get here to visit. That's right, her son just left and she has no clue he was here. Sad; really sad. The grandmonster was running around making enough noise for an army, as many 7-yo boys are prone to do, but now he's picked up a dust mop and is busy cleaning and frightening my dog; she hates any kind of contraption, no matter how simple. I don't think Ms Thing poking her head out of her cave for a sec to scold her kid had much to do with him quieting down; I think he just needs a variety regarding whose nerves he irritates. Me? I'm just sitting here being my boring self. one thing...

Back on the Fourth of July I announced that I was going to attempt to quit smoking, using Chantix. Well as of midnite-ish tonight, it will be one whole week without. The week before last,I went nearly four days without (95 hours, and yes, I was counting.) It's taken a long time, but hopefully I've done it. Some of the toughest hurdles were: Not having one first thing in the morning; Not having one just before bed; Not having one during the drive to or from work; Not having one while on the crapper; Not having one after eating; Not having one while having a glass of wine; And on and on. A step at a time, a day at a time, blah blah. Which makes me wonder: When will I be a non-smoker?

The 12-steppers seem to have this thing about "being in recovery," or always being a "Recovering _____," (fill in the blank yourself), as if the job is never done, the struggle is never over, as if there is no such thing as success... as if they were once dependent on some thing or substance, and now are dependent on the group/program. Maybe they're right. After all, I did once quit for 8 1/2 years only to start again and smoke for 20+ yrs. But then what about positive thinking? "I think, therefore I am?" If I always think I'm quitting, will I ever truly quit? Will I ever think and believe that I am a non-smoker? that I truly no longer smoke? that I will never smoke again? When will I (be able to) quit counting hours, days, weeks, months... without? When will I be able to ditch the toothpicks?

I don't want to become a self-righteous anti-smoking Nazi, nor do I want to forever have to wear the scarlet S and walk through life as if I need forgiveness for the horrible sin I've committed.

Whatever the hell happens, it'll be nice to be able to walk up a fight of steps and carry on a conversation without reaching the top, gasping for breath.

Who is Twig Menne? ???

A co-worker left this on my locker this morning. I'm not sure what day, but it comes from the Seattle Times. So without further, I give you Twig Menne's 7-Step Program:

This is so easy, maybe even Congress could do it.
How to Start Each Day with a Positive Outlook:
1. Open a new folder on your computer.
2. Name it "George W. Bush."
3. Send it to the trash.
4. Empty the trash.
5. Your PC will ask you, Do you want to get rid of 'George W. Bush'?"
6. Firmly click "Yes."
7. Feel better.
P.S.: Tomorrow we'll do Dick Cheney.

Seven steps instead of twelve. No previous addiction required. Safe. Easy. We can only hope that someday he really will go out in the trash.

Thank you Twig.

Rove Resigns; I'm Too Gun Shy to Celebrate

My biggest question is, "WHY?" After all those years of dirty tricks and crooked campaigns and stolen elections. Is his work finished? There's a scary thought: Nothing left to destroy. The world well on its way to WW III, the Bill of Rights destroyed, Congress made irrelevant, SCOTUS packed for years to come, the nation's wealth redistributed and/or shipped overseas... What else?

One thing about this crime syndicate: When you think it can't get any worse, it does. Ashcroft was bad; then we got Gonzo. Harriet Myers was ridiculous; we got Alito instead. I've always thought of Rove as the real President/dictator, not Cheney. So now that Rove will be gone, will Cheney go absolutely berserk? It's hard to imagine which of those crazies kept the other one in check.

One rumor has it that Cheney's been pissed at losing his office boy, Scooter, while Rove remained untouched. Or is this some strange maneuver to avoid the Congressional subpoena? With all the claims of executive privilege to keep everything secret, what will he be able to put in his book?

Nature abhors a vacuum; what if no one takes his place? Could anarchy in this White House be worse than blind loyalty? Will we get another old crony, like a Karen Hughes? Or someone new, like a Sarah Taylor promotion? Who could possibly carry on the tradition of know-it-all wrongheaded stubbornness? Jeb? Ahhhhh...

Bill Kristol.

Idling at the Curb

While I stew on a "Sodomy" update, I've begun my weekend stroll. JP at Pottersville has a new contributor, Susan, who began by helping him out while he was on vacation. She's posted some excellent articles; not just the usual NY Times stuff by Krugman and MoDo. For what it's worth, I've left a couple of comments including one this morning.