It's not as if it's a Blow Job - UPDATED

Listening to Rachel Maddow's summary of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, it looks like Obama is in the clear / will get away with his actions toward Libya. (she starts at about the 6 minute mark) It all seems to depend on the limited scope of the operation. Vietnam anyone? Bosnia/Kosovo? Thing is, just like with our support of despots, we aren't good at limited actions. There's no money in them for one thing.

Before I digress: Is this... action a good thing? Yes it is. It's always a good thing when you're saving lives. Even when those lives aren't fetuses. Is it the right thing? I don't know. How's that for being decisive, eh?

The thing to keep in mind is that seldom is the "stated issue" the "real issue." Take the gay marriage issue in California. The "real issue" was, could the far right republican movement arbitrarily choose a group and deny them a basic human right? Just as a salad is a vehicle for blu cheese dressing, gay marriage was just the vehicle neo Jim Crowism. It's led to the republicorp assault on worker rights. Soon, we quite likely could se an assault on the rights of non-property owners. Your right to vote if you're homeless is already under attack; renters are likely next. So....

Back to Libya, and the basic question of, "WHY? ???" Oil? They supply only 2% of world supply. Terrorism? Don't make me laugh. The "they-kept-us-safe" guys took him off the master list of terrists and called him an ally in their war on terrists. Humanitarianism? Don't make me cry. We've stood back and watched throughout the Darfur genocide among others.

One thing, among the many that piss me off about Obama, is that everything this administration does is only done after running it through focus groups. After looking at the "political aspects." One reason Obama is doing this, and I fear it may be "The Reason" is that he believes it will positively affect is chances for re-election. Attract independent voters? Maybe. Gain contributions from defense contractors? Likely. Fuck the base; they've got no where else to go. And there's no money in satisfying them.

Scary thought that we have another president so cravenly self serving and self centered that he would do this, but it may well be so. But still... impeach..?



Previously:

Soooooo much outrage over Obama's decision to follow a UN resolution on the formerly-Republicorp-desired No-Fly Zone in Libya. Now that it's happening, it seems to be hard to know what side to be on. Saving lives is always good, even after they're born, but why Libya? And why not Bahrain? Or Yemen? Or the Congo? Or Darfur? Or Burma? Or Rwanda? Or Bosnia/Kosovo? Or any number of former Soviet states in Central Asia or the Caucasus? We can't pick one country and make up for the lack of action in others. And we've never had a good track record in picking and choosing which despots we want to prop up. Karzai anyone? Or cut off. Castro anyone? Is this an Obama staff method of firing up the base? Doubt it. sooo.... What to do.

I expect Republicorp hypocrisy / ies and the accompanying media coddling. It's what they do. Both of them. It doesn't matter why Bush invaded Afghanistan or Iraq. By Republicorp party orthodoxy, they had to support him. It doesn't matter how, when, why or what Obama does with Libya, that same orthodoxy requires they they oppose it in some fashion. I expect all of that, just as I expect Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich calling Obama out on this. They're democrats, liberals, progressives. OK, maybe Nader's not a registered Dem, but they're people with actual moral codes, values and core beliefs. They believe in applying their own rules to themselves, unlike the other guys.

Among the many problems I have with this effort is our continual bi-partisan support of unchecked military spending. There's allllllways room for Jello money for wars. Says so in 1984. No money for schools. Or roads. Or our electrical grid. Or our water supply facilities. And NEVER money that would improve Social Security, or Medicare, or establish a universal health care system... by means other than (formerly) Republicorp approved corporate welfare. Gotta have those wars.

The hand wringing over all this misses the point: Executive power, and Obama's continuing embrace of Dubya style over-reach. Rather than raise the bar back to where it should be, where the president is accountable to congress and the people and the rule of law, he continues to be like or barely better than, Bush. He's repeatedly proven himself to be totally full of shit when it comes to him interpreting the constitution and Bush proved through John Yoo that you can find a lawyer/expert/quack to justify anything your twisted empty black heart and mind desire, so...

We no longer have standards in this country. If Obama should be impeached, then prosecute Bush, especially since he's confessed to committing what was considered a war crime post WW II. The same assholes who condemned Clinton for his blow jobs, fail to live up to their own standards: Newt, Ensign, Vitter, et al. In some cases they're glorified. If Obama gets impeached over this, so be it. But whichever way that goes, when will voters and backers of Republicorp and the Tea Baggers (sorry for the redundancy) hold their own side, not to MY/Democratic standards, no. When will they hold their side to their OWN standards? ???

More later.

Shit We Already Knew

Erin Burnett ended her schpiel on Morning Joe today with:

"...tax cuts do not drive hiring..." demand does.

Not sure where she got that; finally. I was sitting only kinda half listening. Thanks Erin.

We can argue lots of things regarding taxes and tax cuts, but don't try to tell me that cutting taxes in and of itself is somehow good for the economy, that it will "create jobs." It just isn't so, and NOTHING good will come from Obama's cave in except that it will postpone disaster for a portion of the unemployed. I repeat: A portion of the unemployed.

He just as well have asked for funding for Hoovervilles.

Another Profile in Cowardice

Obama appoints another of his commissions to fuck over America. This time the "object" is to find common ground on the Bush Bailout for Billionaires -- his tax cuts -- and offer a "compromise" provide skirts behind which he can hide.

Does ANY one really believe that there is ANY possibility of ANY other outcome than for these idiotic, irresponsible, economy killing tax cuts to continue? A temporary extension? Two years? Why not just package up the 2012 election right now with a big ass bow on it.

ohh... but the commission is bipartisan. Whoopty fucking do. McMushmouth has come out and said, among other things, that if there's to be any compromise it will have to be on their terms. Where the fuck in that statement is there any room for compromise? ??? "Compromise" to these ass hats means doing things their way. Period.

Obama today: The American people didn't vote for grid lock. (So since they won't move, I'll just have to roll over again and let them plant a great big Cleveland Steamer on me) (<== ht to Lisa/DCup on that one) Stupid mother fucker's the best thing that ever happened to the refucks since... since... ever.

Can we say....

Too stupid to be morons? ???

well... THEY can. and they did.

Un Fucking Believable. I can only wish it wasn't believable. The only question remaining for the mid terms now is, what kind of feathers should go with their tar, as they get run out of town on rails. And that'll be OUR fault I suppose?

Three fucking elections.... six fucking years of building Democratic majorities. All down the shitter. Welcome to DC Ms Angle... Mr Paul... Ms O'Donell

I Hate it when Refuckyoucans are Right

Although even when they stumble and fall and manage to find their ass, they drop the flashlight. Put another way, they're right for all the wrong reasons.

In 44 minutes the pools in Massachusetts will close. We'll no for sure who will be the next senator. The Irish money is on the conservatard. If he wins, I'm not so sure it's a bad thing. Unlike Ed Schultz, I think it might be the best chance at getting through to Obama, that we'll have, and keep his compromising, sorry ass from getting booted in 2012.

I know that when I get up and turn on the Scar and his trained seal Mika B at 5 am tomorrow, I'll hear him pontificate -- while Mika subserviently nods along -- about how this election is a referendum on Obama and his policies. He's right; it is. I think. On the other hand, he'll do what he does so often and totally miss the point -- if he indeed even aims for it -- while proclaiming that Obama's too radical and too far to the left and too partisan and how he has to get back to the center, and how he needs to concentrate on jobs, jobs, jobs... What can I say. He's a pundit, not a journalist, and he's paid by a corporation to do their bidding, so he isn't ethically bound to be honest or objective.

This health care bill is CRAP. Even the good things in it, don't kick in til years down the road. The back room deals with pharma and Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu absolutely stink of corruption. The fines placed on employers who provide insurance that's good are dehumanizing. No more denials based on pre-existing conditions, just denials from overpricing when they find out you have one. No more life time caps on services, just yearly caps. Change? Stop jerking my weenie. He and his cronies, Rham and the Baucus Caucus, took something that could have been simple and they made it so complicated it makes the Gordian knot look like a half hitch.

So any way.... What happens if we lose this seat? We lose "our 60 seat, filibuster proof majority." No we don't. We never had one. It's been a myth. Lieberman's a refuckyoucan by any sensible measure and Nelson and the other blue dogs, are showing their true colors as well. The flip side of Dems not having 60 seats is that the assholes on the other side don't have 60 either. So.... no matter what sort of shitheadulousness this guy espouses, none of it will come to pass. Unless the dems roll over and allow it. You know, like they did with FISA. And Iraq. And tax cuts. and...

Obama's greatest fault as I've seen it has been his Quixotic pursuit of the mythical bipartisanship. The refucks simply have NO interest in dealing with the dems. Obama needs to pull his head out of his ass and acknowledge this FACT. He needs to realize that the people who elected him did not want him snuggling up with corporations. We want him reigning them in, kicking their asses. we want him to be a diplomat with other countries, and a hard ass here at home.

5 minutes....

The dems will have ONE year grace to get their shit in a pile. To win (back) our trust. As it now stands, I am NOT voting for Patty Murray. She lost my vote when she helped kill the Dorgan amendment which would have saved us BILLIONS through lower prices on prescription drugs. I'm sure she was falling in line with Obama's wishes, but the vote was wrong. I don't know how she's going to undo that, but...? I'm sure I'm not the only disaffected liberal democrat with such a story. Obviously; look at Mass; and ignore Scar's analysis.

One year from now, if nothing has changed, there will be a MASSIVE bloodbath at election time.

Obama Revealed

Among the things today's 60-40 voted to fuck people reform insurance fuck people reveals is the TRUE identity of Obama's base:

Insurance Companies and Pharmaceutical Companies.

Follow the money; their stocks are at all time highs.

If I hear that bullshit about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, I'm going to puke my guts out.

Oh yeah Ms Stabenow: "This bill has a lot of things in it that are not the first choice of insurance companies." Oh how comforting. "We raised the ceilings on (retirement/union/health) benefits for which employers will be fined." Be still my fucking heart.

So it's not as bad as it could have been? I guess I should be all smiles.

To paraphrase a preacher I heard years ago:

Negative Goodness Don't Mean SHIT !!!

Just because this bill sucks less than Refuckyoucan alternatives, does not make it good. It sucks dead donkey dick in the elephant graveyard.

Pigs Can't Fly...

but the bullshit does on the Sunday talk showss.

David Gregory is right to read David Axelrod the riot act on the Senate's proposed health care bill. It's a TOTAL piece of shit.

But then he can't riseist his usual water-carrying -- Lying -- for the refuckyoucan view:

...Social Security and Medicare passed with significant reform...

Lie 1
Lie 2

Then on the roundtable, Ed Gillespie, trots out the usual, tried and (un)true refuckyoucan view that the president's falling poll numbers are do to him moving too fer to the left. In all fairness, if I was in his shoes, trying to sell snake oil, I'd say whatever worked, and obviously that line of crap does work, since Obama keeps moving to the RIGHT. Like a panty wasted pussy.

Fuckin Scarborough.... what a fucking GIFT for missing the point and ignoring the obvious: Where has the President reached out to republicans in any meaningful way? Like on .... everything? You want him to just say: You guys write this? ???

Dumb question

This bill is pure Bushian bullshit.

The refuckyoucans are right to oppose it, but as usual, for the wrong reasons. Their solution:

Remove regulation ie allow them to sell insurance across state lines.
End your right to a day in court ie tort reform.
and nothing would be refuckyoucan without a tax cut. to pay for it of course.

Tort reform is bullshit. Most of the "frivolous" law suits refucks talk about are people suing to get insurance companies and doctors to do what they're supposed to do. Remove the profit motive from healthcare/insurance -- a public option / medicare expansion -- and those suits go away. In NO state that has done it's own form of tort reform has insurance cost gone down.

The supposed "competition across state lines" would lower prices... temporarily... as the big companies undersold the small ones and the non profits and coops so they could bankrupt them and swallow them up. Look at banking. Worked out Oh so well, right? end of discussion.

Kill the Fucking Bill

Yeah right... A Healthcare reform bill with no fucking reforms.

Historic?

Yeah. As a monument to ineptitude. To spinelessness. To the Audacity of Nope. To the Pomposity of Prickishness.

No Single Payer.

No Public Option.

No Medi Care Buy-in.

No closing of the Medicare Part D donut hole.

No negotiation of drug prices.

No reimportation of drugs.

No cost controls. In OUR favor.

NOTHING in our favor.

Oh... we get see our employers FINED when they provide us with a policy that actually provides something worthwhile.

I called this what it was a LONG time ago:

RIP ASS

The Rightwing Insurance Industry Profit Protection Plan to Assure Social Stratification.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good? My hairy fat fucking ass. Our own fucking party, our own fucking president do a much better job of that.

Don't pass me a block of shit and try to tell me it's fudge.

Kill this fucking bill... dump the DINOs/Conservadems/BlueCross Dems... and do it RIGHT:

Single Payer / Medicare Part E

I'm not sure who this Karen is, but...

She sure got this right. From a comment thread at Crooks and Liars:

Tue, 12/15/2009 - 21:06 — Karen

Democrats: We must purchase X. Without X our country is history.

Republicans: Bah. Whatever. Fuck you, commie, pinko, loser, terrorist sympathizers.

President: Folks, X must be purchased. The time has come! Get to it! X will cost $100, so lay out the funds.

Democrats: Thank you, Mr. President. Okay, what do our constituents want?

Voters: Uh, lay out the $100 and get X. Duh.

Democrats: No, that's off the table.

Voters: What? Why?

Democrats: Shut up!

Republicans: How about we just analyze how much of X we really need, most likely none, and pay the proportionate amount?

Democrats: That makes sense, but we really need X. How about $80?

Republicans: $15.

Democrats: $75.

Republicans: $15!

Democrats: $65?

Republicans: $15!

Democrats: $60.

Republicans: $15!

Democrats: $55.

Republicans: $15!

Democrats: Okay, $45, but we're not going any lower! X is too important!

Republicans: $15!

Democrats: $35?

Republicans: $15!

Democrats: $30.

Republicans: $15!

Conservo-crats: You know what? The Republicans are correct. $15 is good.

Democrats: What?!?!

Conservo-crats: You'll never even get part of X without us.

Democrats: $25!

Conservo-crats: Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Democrats: $20?

Conservo-crats: $15.

President: Do what the Conserva-crats are saying. We need a deal.

Democrats: God damn it! Okay. $15.

Republicans: $10.

Democrats: Hey!

Conservo-crats: We could go for $10. After all, it's 10% more X than we have right now.

Democrats: What the hell good is 10% of X when without all of X our country is fucked?

Republicans: You guys really need to learn how to compromise. Stop being so stubborn. Stop being such idealists.

Democrats: Can we at least get back to $15?

Conservo-crats: Ehh, $10's good. Let's do $10.

Democrats: Fuck it. Fine. $10, for whatever good it'll do.

Republicans: $5.

Democrats: Stop it!

Republicans: $5, or we filibuster, and get the Conservo-crats to join us.

Democrats: Okay. $5. But no lower! We're putting our foot down for the American people.

Progresso-crats: Fuck this! We'll filibuster the damn thing!

Democrats: Hey! You lefties stay out of this! With you involved we'll get nothing! Let us do the negotiating!

Progresso-crats: We are getting nothing! You said so yourself! What good is 5% of X when without all of X our country is done?

Democrats: We're settled on $5. $5 is at least a 5% victory for the American people. We can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Progresso-crats: You're kidding, right?

Democrats: $5 and not a dollar less!

. . . . . . . . to be continued . . . . . .

Damn Near Speechless

I sit here thinking about the Baucus Caucus farce of a wealth care bill. I find myself offended in ways I cannot describe. What's done it is the inclusion of the so-called "sur-charge" on "Cadillac plans." The very idea, that they would be so self righteous and narcissistic as to presume that they can place some arbitrary boundary on what is acceptable for employers to provide in terms of coverage is...

"...I will ascend to the throne of the most high..."

Who made you God, Max Baucus? ???

This is NOT a fee. It is NOT a sur-charge. It is NOT even a tax. Call it what it is: A FINE.

They have criminalized good health care. I have good coverage. At least I had it, until my employer was pushed off what we had and forced to go elsewhere. (Full disclosure: Our new insurance has yet to kick in; I do not know for sure how good it might be) Our new plan, is supposedly a cadillac plan; as was our old plan. No worries about pre-existing conditions; no fuss over preventative procedures, like ass reamings and tit squeezings; small copays on Dr visits and prescips: $10-15. Was nice. I really never had to worry. And I could add family members and only payed the same percentage of their premiums as I did on my own.

Apparently though, this is some kind of threat. To whom, I know not, but the Baucus Caucus and Gang of Six, has in their infinite wisdom decided that my life is not worth this coverage. Nor is your life. Nor anyone's.

Should the Baucus Bill become law, this will now be a crime and my boss will be fined. They say it's to encourage companies to search out other options. Like... Shittier coverage? Higher copays? Higher deductibles? Lower life time and yearly maximums on payments? My coverage goes crappy, he no longer gets fined.

I thought it was McCain who wanted to dismantle the employer based system? And I thought he lost the election? So that we wouldn't have George Bush's third term? I thought health care would work toward providing better coverage. Not worse.

I feel as though I've just been told I'm only 3/5s of a man.

Meet the new boss; same as the old boss. The Boss from the 1800's.

Waterloo

"If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him"

If anyone ever wondered where, how, why I use the term "refuckyoucan" to refer to the minority party, there you have it. Jim Demint (R - SC) (that's refuckyoucan, representing the second century) sums it up nicely.

He and his ilk do NOT represent you, me, us; they represent themselves. This battle over health care reform is NOT about... anything. It's not about principal. It's personal. They win, Obama loses. They win, Nancy Pelosi loses. They win, the Dems lose.

They win, they win. What else matters? Nothing. No one.

It's all about them. And it has been ever since.... the Reconstruction?

Don't tell me about "tax and spend liberals." Not when those bastards pass tax cuts, while they increase spending on useless wars and toys. Not when the taxes we do pay go to subsidize their corporate pimp donors.

ALL of their arguments, every last one of them, are bull shit fueled lies. Rationing? That's an undefined catch phrase based on.... ? Wait lines? There are 47 MILLION who would LOVE to be able to get a snill of a line. Denial of services? Where is the profit in providing service? Bureaucrats in between you and your doctor? That would be..... insurance company bean counters who have to approve the procudure your doctor recommends..? That make you wait for the root canal your dentist recomends? Because....?

And the one I LOVE: This bill does nothing to contain/reduce costs.

When you listen to these asswipulous wads of fuck talk about saving money, just remember... These mother fuckers passed the Medicare prescription drug program that FORBIDS the government from negotiating LOWER drug prices. And their phoney-cowboy squatter threatened a VETO when Nancy Pelosi annouces she wanted to repeal that provision (not that I forgive her for spinelessly giving in and not forcing his hand)

We have a LAW on the books that MANDATES over spending. A conservatard driven, refuckyoucan fueled, lobbyist written LAW, that MANDATES waste. Bullshitiousness and douchebaggery at their best. A crockshitulous LAW that forbids government saving.

And liberals are the bad guys?

Give my tazer fucked ass a break.

Dear Dems,

Grow some fucking spines, ignore these walking talking laundry stains come to life and GET THIS DONE!!!!!! Do you hear me Maria Cantwell? Ms Lame Duck Senator.

With that, I take my rage-fueled brain freeze camping.

Greetings from Vacationland w/ Good Morning Update:

A Junky is a junky, vacationing or not. So... A couple of quick Qs:

For all these DC dumbasses bitching and whining about how the poor insurance syndicates can't survive against a government option or single payer care, this would be because of the inherent efficiency of private enterprise? ???

And for all the DC dumbasses bitching and whining about how innefficient and poorly run a government program would be, Please name for us the private insurance carrier you use. Since after all you would want your health in the hands of the BEST care system the world has ever seen. right? ???

Speaking of which...

For all you DC dumbasses bitching and whining about the imminent destruction of the finest healthcare system the world has ever seen, Why is it that no other industrialized/civilized nation in the world is trying to emmulate us? Am I missing one? What nation out there is fighting the good fight to provide privatized care because of the demands of a grass roots movement? Finally...

For all you DC dumbasses bitching and whining about tax dollars actually going places and doing things that will actually provide real services to real people, little people, people who actually pay taxes... Why don't you just shut the fuck up and let some adults with progressive ie useful ideas take over for a while. Dumbasses.

UPDATE: And see that banner right over there? (till the next post pushes this out of the way) Here's another reason why it's still there.

The Party of...

I was about to write about the "Party of No," morphing into the "Party of Slow," in regard to their whining and crying about being rushed to confirm Judge Sonya, but then there's the "Party of Jello," as in the continuing saga of the party in search of(?) a spine: The Democrats and their lack of a stand on health care.

I give Ed Schultze credit for his introductory rant and rave to open his radio show yesterday. I've been pissed in the past at Ed for being a Bush-Toady like Obama water carrier. I will never forgive Obama for helping to pass the Freedom Is Superfluous Act, and I get sicker by the day as Obama continues to further trash the Constitution, in grand Bush fashion, by helping to whitewash Bush's torture regime. Ed gave Obama a free pass in the first case, and a couple of weeks ago, I called him on the carpet for continuing to do so.

Apparently I wasn't the only one pissed at Ed; yesterday he knocked it out of the park. In a nutshell: Grow a pair Dems. You're the MAJORITY. Act like it. Do what you were elected to do. If the refuckyoucans want to obstruct, make them go all the way. Make them filibuster. And not just for one night. Make them show their true colors. Act like you represent the American people for once.

I know Ed feels in part that there's no point in trashing Obama, since the refucks are already all too ready, willing, able and happy to do so. But we're not Refucks. We're better than them. We have principles. Unlike them, we'd rather DO good, than look good. We'd rather DO right than appear right. Or at least that's how I believe it should be.

I don't know where you can go to hear his rant, but it's got to be out there in a podcast or some such thing. It's well worth a listen.

Put that in line with Thom Hartmann today. A little more calm and subdued, but no less urgent: Call your Senators and Representative and let them know your preference for a single payer healthcare option. I did so, and I'll write up the results in the morning. I was NOT totally pleased.

You know, If you're not insured through your employer, and you need a coronary bypass or some such procedure, assuming you don't plan to roll over and die, you have three options:

1) Spend the rest of your life in debt
2) Go bankrupt*
3) Commit a crime and go to prison where health care is provided.

*Oooopppsss.... can't do that any more. Not since our Obama's vice preznit got together with Bill Frist to take care of the Frist family's Hospital Corporation of America through "reform." They left us the prison option. And homelessness. So sweet of them. So... My calls...

First I called Jim McDermott. Good old Bagdad Jim. (and I use that as a term of endearment) According to his aid, he's been in favor of Single payer since... I forget the year. 93...?

Next up was Patty Murray. She's in favor of the "public option." According to her aid, she can't/won't back single payer because there isn't the backing necessary to pass it. 'scusa me... The way something gets the backing it needs to pass is by people backing it. It gets lonely out there in the lead sometimes. You're not a rookie Ms Murray. This is your third term. Lead. Secondly, the public option is a compromise position. You don't start the negotiations at the compromise. That's where you end up. You start by shooting for the moon.

And finally, Maria Cantwell: No position as yet. WTF? ?...but as she's a member of the Senate finance committee..." The Committee chaired by Max Baucus? Yes. Who didn't include anyone representing single payer insurance to the hearings on reform? Yes. The one who had defenders of single payer insurance arrested? Uhhhhh... Has she voiced an opinion, issued a statement on those arrests? Uhhhhh...

and she has no opinion. Way to go Ms Maria. I really wish we could get rid of you.

Pushback? Against What?

Push back during sex, is one thing. I mean, unless you believe the woman should just lie back, spread and take it without moving...

I'm not so sure the Refuckyoucan crew at Faux Noise didn't purposely pick Mother's Day as their day to talk about pushback against the Democratic American efforts to investigate and prosecute those who created, justified, promoted etc the Bush crime family's enhanced interro torture (don't be squeamish... say it with me... you can do it) program. The latest talking point is that because Nancy Pelosi, and other Dems, knew about the techniques/program that we should back off from any actions. An idea to which I give a resounding

Bull Shit! !!!

The Cheney-ista's idea that because we got "good information," their actions were/are justified, is an idea that could not even come to light without bordering on lawbreaking. It is a felony: Treason, to reveal classified information. Pelosi may be an accomplice in that she approved torture; she MAY be an accomplice. She would definately have been a felon if she had gone public with information from classified briefings/documents.

Pelosi, Reid, Rockefeller... whoever, knowing about this matters not. I honestly do not fucking care. Not one whit. How else can I say it? This is a program, an episode in American history that should NOT have existed. Those who took part in it, MUST be prosecuted.

We just recently shipped a former Nazi prison guard off to face prosecution for war crimes. 29,000 counts of being an accomplice to murder, if my memory serves. He was a guard. Like Linndie England and Charles Graner. He was following orders. Like the CIA interrogators. Acting "in good faith" that what he was doing was necessary for the defense of his country. Unlike the FBI agents who walked out... refusing to take part in the torture.

But he was on the losing side: "Their" side. Is that what reeeeeeally makes the difference?

What else am I missing here?

Investigations, Truth Commissions... anything short of prosecutions, in the same courts, under the same laws that apply to the lowliest of all of the rest of us "little people," is pure bull shit. It's obvious that Bush and his crew wanted to skirt US and international law. They surrounded themselves with hacks that believed the same thing -- the David Addingtons -- and would show them the way -- John Yoos. They need to face the consequences. As does Ms Nancy.

As far as I'm concerned, if Obama knew about this shit, he needs to resign and be prosecuted as well.

If they're innocent, a jury of their peers will say so.

The Road Too Much Travelled

No, this is not a road trip post. Although I have been on the road quite a bit over the past two days. And that plays a part. Being on the road has given me the chance to listen in on some of my favorite radio shows on AM 1090 here in Seattle: Stephanie Miller; Thom Hartmann; Ed Schultze.

What's struck me is the amount of time and attention being given to irrelevant, bullshitious side show topics like: The (in)effectiveness of torture. A bullet to the head is quite effective in preventing your lover from cheating, but that's murder. And it's illegal.

I know that by giving air time to this crap, they avoid the trap that I fall into: Torture is a war crime; Dubya is a war criminal; end of argument; now what do I talk about for the rest of the show/week/month..? But it's irrelevant whether or not it worked. Just as it's irrelevant that we're "at war." The moral bearings of those subjected to torture is irrelevant.

One of the things that came out during one of Thom's shows was the fact that after 9-11, the Muslim world was united and ON OUR SIDE! There's nothing inherently anti-American about Islam. bin Laden was inspired to do what he did on 9-11 by what we did in Lebanon. And those swelling the ranks of al Qaida are inspired by our actions in Afghanistan, Iraq... and abu Graib, Guantanamo, Bagram...

I don't give a rat's hairy ass if Nancy Pelosi knew about Bush's torture. Or Jane Harmon, or Harry Reid, or... Try them too. They should have their asses kicked just for continuing to use the term "enhanced interrogation." It's TORTURE. And if they knew and approved, then they're, what's the correct term? Assessories? Accomplices? Whatever. Arrest them and try them too. If Congress has to shut down because there's no quorum, so be it.

We're supposedly the good guys.

Then we should act like it.

We should begin by abiding by our own laws. By the treaties we've signed. By past precedents set during say the Nuremberg Tribunals, or the Andersonville Trials.

So where do I get off saying all this? Am I one of Joe Scarborough's morally superior Liberals? or as he said, Liberals who like to get all high and mighty with a sense of moral superiority. It's like this Joe: When you (or your ilk) argue in favor of torture, you place yourself on the same plain as those who would argue in favor of beating their wives or children to keep them in their place and teach them respect. I do nothing.

Am I morally superior to the Scar? I don't know. I suppose if I were given the chance to waterboard Sean Vannity....? What would be the measure? If I stopped when he shit his pants and sputtered his choked off squeals? If I ignored all that? Or if I never started? By ol' thumbs up to Keith O for calling out that little poppinjay. Any wayyyyy....

Don't get caught up in all the superfluity of assenine legal quackdom. Those who authorized, justified, exercised torture are criminals and should be tried as such.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Say, (UPDATED)

What the fuck.

Sometimes that's ALL you can say. or ask. And now is one of those times.

I haven't had much to say these past few days as Dumbocrats roll over for Refuckyoucans. Not stimulative enough; too much spending; not enough tax cuts; we can't afford more debt -- think of the children;

"Our plan pares back a very substantial amount of money that we believed didn't belong in the bill. Didn't belong in a bill that was designed to fix our economy called a stimulus package.

Now if we looked at these proposals many of them will work well in a budget or in another bill. Ben Nelson

So your problem is semantics? Terminology? Note that Ben Nelson, at least in name, much like Joe LIEberman, is a Democrat. Idiocy is NOT a one party issue. Anyway...

As the pontificators in the House of Lords, spout their bullshit for the networks, and posture and pose for their donors, all I can do is shake my head. We have real problems in this country, and rather than solve them, they think they're on some kind of a proving ground for their ideology(ies).

Actually, in a way we are, we have been, and we always will be. But all we need to do is look at history: EVERY economic depression/panic has been preceded by a period of an unregulated, free market economy. Voo Doo Economics. It's an undeniable fact.

Now there's (another) stream of refuckyoucan revisionism going on regarding the success or (in their twisted minds) failure of the New Deal. (Oh Fuck me with a taser... Ron Christie on the TeeVee. PURE.... BLIND.... devotion/submission to refuckyoucan propoganda) Yes, there was a hiccup in '38... due to a return to fiscal conservatism. That hiccup in turn leads to the theory that it was WWII and not the New Deal that ended the First Republican Depression. (although we all know, as Rush Limplog told us, it was Raygun's tax cuts that reeeeally ended it)

Assume for a moment that that is true: WW II ended the Depression. Now ask, "HOW?" Was it through the death and destruction? wellllll... it did create millions of casualties, both removing many from the work force requiring fewer jobs to be created, as well as requiring the employment of many in the health care and assisted living fields to care for the disabled (one reason Harry Truman tried to provide universal coverage) Along those same lines, there's no denying the need for reconstruction projects.

Why not do the same things we did with WW II, but without the death and destruction. The Marshal Plan... Economic stimulus? That was tax cuts, right? No; spending.

I will give ground on one "tax cut," and that's the "fix" for the Alternative Minimum Tax, which is flawed and needs a permanent fix. Although if it was fixed permanently the refucks would never again be able to trot it out as a tax cut. Other tax cuts that sound good to refucks but are useless to a great degree are the new car credit and the housebuyer credit. Nice; if you have the money to buy a house, or a car. ie...

If you have a fucking JOB !!!!

Tax cuts don't do shit for people who don't have a job, and the more the refucks in Congress push for them, the more they PROVE that they don't give a flying fuck about working class people.

A guy at work -- who's from Alabama and is fairly conservative, although claims no allegince to the refuckyoucan party -- came up with the simplest of plans to stimulate the economy:

Ask the state and local governments to submit a list of projects they have on hold due to lack of funds and fund them. Will they submit some "bridges to nowhere?" Sure. Will they want some new sod on their capitol malls? Sure. Will some projects, like a new Seattle viaduct, get bogged down in legal battles? Sure.

There would be arguments over including/excluding projects; no plan is perfect.

The alternative is the Mark Sandford plan (which may have merit, since the refucks have so thoroughly screwed things up...possibly beyond repair): Let everything go to hell in the name of Adam Smith's "creative destruction," or whatever Smith's term was.

UPDATE: Further distortions from Fucks Noise and Newtie the Blowhard: Only 37% of American people approve of the stimulus bill; Only the far left approve of it.

Uhhhhhhh.... your percentage might be correct, but everything after that is (as usual) totally suspect.

Count me as one of the 63% who disapprove. But I disapprove because your ilk has fucked with it AFTER it was already a watered down ghost of what stimulus should be. At first it was 30% tax cuts. Now it's supposedly 42%. 30% was too much.

Your bankrupt, immoral, pathogenic conservative philosophies of solving all problems through tax cuts are Bull Shit. THAT'S why only 37% approve. Take them out and the numbers will flip.

Call It What You Want

Family Planning

Preventative Medicine

Stimulus

How about common sense?

I'm talking about the latest refuckyoucan talking point, ie line of bullshit: Boehner's "$200,000,000 for condoms."

Unplanned, Unwanted, Unaffordable kids turn into, Undernourished, Unhealthy, Unwatched, Undereducated... kids. A drain and strain on their families, communities and the country, emotionally and economically. Although to the "prisons for profits" crowd, they're a bonanza as adults. I probably just made boner's point. no pun intended

Arguing whether or not that money belongs in this economic stimulus package, is little more than semantics. I don't care where it's put, it needs to be put out there. It will never eliminate stupidity and piss poor planning: girls who want babies for attention, to make them feel grown up, to give them someone to love them... It won't undo the fuckery they've wrought on their kids and families, but for people who CAN plan and want to plan, it will allow them TO plan.

When will refuckyoucans get their heads out of their asses and start caring about the country enough to THINK? ???

How Many Times Must Working People Get Fucked?

Adventures in taking your nine year old partying on a school night, as told in a nine year old's rambly fashion, has totally destroyed my train of thought here. Way to go Ms Thang.



Suffice it to say, the United Autoworkers cannot strike. They strike, the loans get canceled. It became law with the Automaker loan bill. Did you not believe me when I told you that nothing would get done without fucking the unions?

"B Crew" Sunday...?

First no Bloodlust Billy Kristol on Fucks News Sunday: I was worried he got fired for making sense the past few weeks. Now there's no Snuffulupuloof. Maybe Chris Wallace is a loser with no place to go...?

Sherrod Brown's upset at how the bailout money's being thrown around. Oh yeah, right. Something about how the bill was passed requiring strict oversight. Just wasn't written into it.

Fucking Dems better get their shit in a pile and pronto; they better stop passing toothless bills because theyre afraid of what Dubya and the refucks might say about them. They need to grow a pair, and I don't mean tits. (They don't do Nancy any good. (in relation to doing her job) (running the House) And they didn't help get Palin elected.) If they don't, good bye majorities.

Interview with the new Press Secretary. I'll miss Dana Perino. The "Lying Sack of Cute," as Stephanie Miller calls her. Maybe we'll get some good bikini shots of her as she vacations in the coming years. We got the Hill&Bill bathing suit dance video.

The Roundtable: No George F Will. So who's the designated conservatard? Oh fuck... Caroline Kennedy. Like Bill Ayers, Rev Wright, flag lapel pins... I wish this story would just go away. Fucking 'tards... trying to compare her to Palin. Although... She doesn't seem to be doing to well at differentiating herself from Palin. Other then the fact that she's no "ilf."

I like it without Will. No pontificatious bull shit.

A Sequel

The original: Who Killed the Electric Car.

The sequel: Who Killed the Rest of the Cars.

I wonder if the stock market losses will hit four figures today?

Heaven forbid union-member auto workers in Detroit make a living wage. Fuck no; can't raise the non-union/southern auto worker wages. That would destroy the serf class. I told you there would be no help for Auto makers unless it broke the unions.

What they really fear is a repeat of the labor movement in eastern Europe that brought down the Soviet Union, the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Bloc. Oh...? That was Reagan's bluster that did that? Not Lech Walesa? Refuckyoucans FEAR organized labor.

The idea that unions are antiquated, that "we don't need them anymore," that they've "served their purpose...." Get your head out of your ass. In the meantime... AIG...

Isn't giving "bonuses" anymore. No. They call them "retention payments." Un-bonuses to keep their "key people" in place. Those key people who... Ran them into the ground..?