Crazy is as Crazy does

Everything went bat shit crazy today in America.

Michele Bachmann, Congressional skank from Minnesota unleashed a cornucopia of retards on Washington DC. She told the throng of lobotomy candidates to storm the congressional halls and "scare" their representatives.

Fortunately, half were so old (most on socialized medicine called Medicare) they could not make it up the steps. The rest were too stupid to find the building and ended up rolling in the grass and sniffing each others anuses.

Still a few were mentally and physically capable of getting themselves arrested outside of Nancy Pelosi's office. Threatening a member of Congress is always a good thing to put on one's job application. Shows you play well with others.

Like all Tea Bag events there was no end to the number of offensive, combative, and racist signs and chants.

Sadly, this was not the top story in the new Insane America. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a military psychiatrist walked into Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Center and emptied two hand guns into his fellow soldiers. So far 13 soldiers are dead and many are wounded. Hasan is said to be wounded but still alive.

The details are very sketchy at this point (several hours after the event) and I'm sure you're are already aware of the tragedy so there's no point in rehashing it here.

But here's what I think is happening. We're going crazy. After eight years of George W. Rat Turd and Dick Smacker Cheney, Americans have completely lost any connection to how normal people are supposed to act. I would call it mass aberrant behavior, but aberrant behavior is stuff that happens outside of social norms. I can't think of anything .. anymore that's considered outside of the acceptable.

An old treatment (and still used today) for cancer is ingesting arsenic. The theory being that cancer cells are weaker and less resistant than normal cells. So, you give just enough poison to kill the cancer cells but leave the normal cells alive.

I think something similar is happening to us. You can see it - right? The damaged people, the weak minded, socially inept, emotionally disabled are starting to unravel. This is the start to a much bigger problem.

The question is - what is the poison that killing our society?

Huffington Post - Scare Congress
Plum Line - Demonstrations
Mother Jones - Tea Party
Talking Points Memo - Strange Scene
Guardian UK - Hasan and Soldier Stories
Mother Jones - Long Deployments

It is Sunday night - well really it is Monday morning, even with the time change. But who cares? This post is just a hodgepodge of stuff to flush down the political toilet before the week begins. So, if you're ready here it goes:

Africa

"It hasn't been a great year for democracy in Africa" - Reed Brody, an officer at Human Rights Watch, on the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's decision not to award its annual 5 million dollar prize for good governance to any African government. - source

Image by daveblume via Flickr

Newsweek.

Yes, Africa is sucking ass right now. There are Zimbabwe Conflict Diamonds, Egyptian Trash Pigs, Somali Pirates, Red Cross Kidnapped in Sudan, Guinea Blood, and Chad Kills Aid And this is just today's news.


I know Africa is big - I mean really big, but it seems like the whole continent has gone down the crapper. Africa has all it needs to be healthy and wealthy. When will Africa finally free itself from the chains of colonization or corporations?

Soccer - South American Style

Soccer players are leaving South America faster than Tony Tirado can say, "Goooooooal". Who could blame them? A couple of weeks ago and entire soccer team from Columbia was kidnapped and killed.

Robinho a Brazilian soccer star had just signed a contract with Real Madrid when his mother was kidnapped by armed thugs and held for ransom. Robinho reportedly paid $83,000 for his mother's release.

Grafite's, another soccer player from Brazil, mother was kidnapped soon after the abduction of Robinho's mother.

Argentinian player, Juan Roman Riquelme's brother was kidnapped in 2004 and held for 24 hours until the ransom was paid by the family.

Kidnappings and armed robbery against soccer players is rampant all across South America and Mexico. Soccer players are packing up their balls and families and moving to Europe and England where it's safer and more profitable.

Race

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way" - Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, explaining why he refused to marry of mixed race couple.

If a person feels obligated to say they're not a racists, chances are they're a racist. It's just that simple.

Other Stuff

There is no such thing as money.

The real trouble starts when China starts getting involved in Kashmir.

If Hamid Karzai was in Vegas he'd be the front man for a mob run casino.

I would poop you a rainbow

I am 43 years old. This may not be John McCain old, but I'm old enough to know what I want and what I don't want. I know what I like and don't like. And most importantly I know what is right.

As a Progressive, I believe every American has the right to affordable medical care and medication. It's that simple. I know the Trigger Option is a bunch of bullshit. I know insurance companies want me either to be perfectly healthy or die.

I know we went into Iraq to steal their oil and setup a colonial base in the Middle East. I know we need to withdraw our troops as soon as possible. I know we can never win the war in Afghanistan and I know terrorist can setup camp in virtually any place in the world.

I know the Katrina disaster was the biggest American culling of a single race since the Trail of Tears. The criminal lack of support and aid was intentional and probably had something to do with an enormous land grab scheme I know we need to spend billions to repair and resettle the original inhabitants - not only in New Orleans but across the Gulf Coast.

I know banks are dens of thieves and they committed the biggest robbery in world history. People need to go to jail and I mean a lot of people.

Finally, I know Republicans will never cooperate on anything. I'm old enough to separate people who are my friends and those who are douchebags. I know once a person is a douche always will that person will be a douche.

I beginning to think President Obama does not have any firm convictions. He is farshimmelt.

Is he for the Public Option or is he against it? Is he for pulling out of Afghanistan and Iraq? Does he really want to close down Guantanamo? He says he wants to help the victims of Katrina, yet he spends less than four hours in New Orleans.

Obama says the banks screwed America over, yet he hires all former bank employees to run the Treasury.

Back - way back in the 80's, we old folks had a saying, "Gas, Grass or Ass", which in simple terms means - we drove Obama all the way to the White House, now he needs to start putting up or shutting up. I'm not interested in any more speeches. His speeches, which used to inspire me now only serve to piss me off.

Make a decision and stop shitting me rainbows.

Tea Bagger Heaven

What does a tornado and a Tea Bagger divorce have in common? - Give up?

In the end, someone's going to lose a trailer.

How can I trust or consider the opinion of a person who can't even spell "moron" correctly? It's inconceivable how someone would travel hundreds of miles only to have their picture taken with the word, "Socialism" spelled with a "Z" in it. My God, can't they use spellchecker?

I remember seeing one sign that read, "Send Obama's zars back to the USSR." Now that's just wrong on so many levels.

My point is this; one must separate the rabble-rouser from the rabble. The simpleton, village idiot and peasant with a pitchfork are always angry at something.

In the "Great Cat Massacre" by Robert Darnton. Darnton retells an event in the 1790's in France, when the apprentices and journeymen of a print shop become so frustrated with the master's cats they murdered every one of them. The men first put the cat on trial, a jury found the cat guilty and then hung or guillotined the animal.

True, it's a very gruesome story, but it shows how easy anger at the establishment can be turned towards something totally unrelated. The masters were cruel and merciless to the workers and the workers projected that domination on the cats.

Upon seeing the death of the cats, the wife of the master printer exclaimed, "These wicked men can't kill the masters, so they have killed my pussy. She can't be found. I've called La Grise everywhere. They must have hanged her."

Hitler was able to turn the anger and frustration at inflation and unemployment caused by the Treaty of Versailles toward the Jews.

Is that not what is happening now? Goons, like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh stir up and redirect the anger and frustration of America's rabble. Instead of the people being angry at the banks or the insurance companies, they're directed towards Obama and some pretend Socialist-Communist-Fascist Cabal.

My contention is that we must focus our attention not on the crowd but on the leaders and motivators of this Neo-Confederate movement. Extreme pressure must be put on FOX News to dismiss commentators like Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. This seems to fundamentally go against the spirit of the First Amendment, however the danger to our country, I think is far more important.

Black Elvis

I'm mad at myself because I can't find my copy of "The Best American Stories of 2000", which contains a story by Geoffrey Becker called, "Black Elvis". I'm mad because I wanted to find a quote in the story that goes something like this. "We're apes who know we're going to die."

If you Google, "We're apes who know we're going to die." it references an article by Sam Harris called, "Faith Won't Heal a Divided World." - which I read. It's an interesting article, I recommend you read it too. Mr. Harris argues that faith generates irrationality while science generates rationality.

"In science, it is a cardinal sin to pretend to know something that you do not know. Such pretense is the very essence of religious faith."

Where the rational consider abortion as a privacy issue between a woman and her doctor or the removal of religious symbols from a public park as separation of church and state, the Christian sees a big sign that says, "HC SVNT DRACONES" or Beware Here Be Dragons.

Back to Black Elvis.

I live in Las Vegas and we worship Elvis just about as much as Memphis does. If you go to the Las Vegas Hilton you can see one of Elvis' glittery white costumes - cape and all. And like the story, "Black Elvis", we have all kinds of Elvi - skinny, fat, tall, midgets, Asian, Hispanic and yes - African American. They're all impersonators, which is accepted. Imitation is a form of worship. But none try to usurp the King. There's no replacement. Elvis is and shall always be white.

This started me thinking. Barack Obama is Black Elvis. He's not an impersonator but a black reincarnation of the King himself. To a true Elvis fan this would be the greatest of all sins. It would be like replacing the rosy Anglo-white Jesus with someone who look like Samuel L. Jackson. It just cannot be ...

And so it is with our beloved white Tea Baggers. A president cannot be black. Let me repeat this. A president cannot ... never can be black - not even brown. It is an enigma. Obama is a unresolvable contradiction. And so a portion of our population has lost their frickin' mind. I mean this literally.

To a Tea Bagger, Obama is not the President of the United States. He's Hitler. He's a communist and a socialist. He's a racist. He's an anarchist. He's the Antichrist.

He is Black Elvis.

Knock ... Knock

(stepping into the White House) .... Hello (knock knock) ... Hellooooo ... anyone there? (Seeing Red Phone on desk, I pick it up)

Mr. President? ... Ummm .. Barack, are you there buddy? I need to talk to you.

Oh you're in Denmark trying to get the Olympics for Chicago ... okay ... but I just wanted to tell you that your health care bill - you know the one Ted Kennedy died trying to get through ... that one ... well, it just went to hell in a hand basket and ...

Well, you're not here in Washington and maybe that's why five Democrats thought they could vote "no" on the public option. I know it's not real important to you.

Me? Well, it's kinda important to me - with my eye falling out and all. But you got better things to do - like have a big party in Copenhagen.

You don't say ... Copenhagen is the "Most Livable City" according to Monocle magazine. Well, that's probably due to universal health care .. right?

No .. no sir .. I'm not trying to be a smart ass.

Well, what's wrong sir is there is no public option in the health care bill. As a matter of fact five of our own Democrats along with all the Republicans voted the public option down.

I did speak to Rahm, but he told me to stuff the public option up my ... well, it's not important. I was just hoping that when you got back you could ...

Oh, you're going golfing with Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna ... No, I don't think he'll allow the public option even if you say pretty please.

Okay .. you got to go ... sure, you'll see me in 2012. Ya know, Mr. President - I'm going to have to go ahead a take a pass on that one. I think I'll be too busy to cast my vote that day.

(thinking) I wonder what Ralph Nader is up to?

My Dog - The escape artist

The dog my wife and daughter begged me to get has now become a Houdini like escape artist. She breaks out of her cage, the backyard, and the fenced in family room. Here is a video showing her in action.

Please enjoy my misery.

In the Shadows

The following is a list of conspiracy theories I believe are true. Not that I know they're true but I'm over 80% certain they're true. Fair enough ... Okay, here we go

1. The CIA is involved in the illegal drug trade 95% (source)
2. There was a male prostitute that visited the George W. Bush White House 98% (source)
3. The United States used chemical weapons on Iraqi civilians. 99% (source)
4. Michael Savage was a homosexual drug user. (87%) (source)
5. Oswald was not the only shooter in the Kennedy assassination 81% (source)
6. Blackwater conducted assignations around the world on Dick Cheney's orders 91% (source)
7. Mars has primitive life living on the planet now. 92% (source)
8. Mike Connell's (IT expert for Karl Rove) plane crash was no accident 80% (source)
9. The DC Madam's suicide was no suicide 84% (source)
10. President Bush used a communication device during the 2004 debate 95% (source)
11. InfraGard is the United States' KGB unit and gathers info on citizens. 84% (source)
12. Ronald Reagan traded arms for hostages in Iran Hostage Crisis. 90% (source)
13. Member's of Yale's Skull & Bones stole Geronimo's skull 80% (source)
14. United Flight 93 was shot down over Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001 83% (source)
15. Oliver North drafted a secret plan to declare martial law 93% (source)
16. The Soviet military build up and threat was a lie. 87% (source)
17. In 1975 the CIA overthrew Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam 92% (source)
18. Paul Wellstone's, Senator from Minnesota plane crash was no accident. 80% (source)
19. Where ever John Negroponte goes there is death and destruction 85% (source)
20. Royal Dutch Shell was involved in the murders of native people. 92% (source)

There you have it.

Nine Horsemen

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse a Democrat from Rhode Island was talking to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mike Papantonio's on their radio show, Ring of Fire. (September 15, 2009).

In this interview they were discussing how to prosecute those persons involved in torture, rendition, and other illegal activities under President George W. Bush's administration. The topic of political influence placed on Attorney General Eric Holder not to investigate or prosecute was being discussed when Senator Whitehouse alluded to a letter submitted by Republican Senators.

Senator Whitehouse: "... Very unfortunate letter from nine of my colleagues went over to Eric Holder seeking to influence his judgment and he wrote back a very good letter saying, look appreciate you have views but they don't count in making a prosecutor's decisions. He had exactly the right tone .."

Kennedy: "Was the letter urging him not to prosecute?"

Senator Whitehouse: "Yea .."

Kennedy: "And it was from Democrats and Republicans?"

Seantor Whitehouse: "Nope, all Republicans."



Starts around 4:35 in the video.

Who were these nine Republican Senators and what does this letter say?

What health care plan?

I thought when Obama saw Baucus health care plan he was gong to be like:

Hey Buttcus what the hell is this? (waving plan in the air). Are you shitting me? (smells the papers) This plan stinks so bad I think it came out of your ass.

But that's just not the case. Obama says - although he prefers the government option, he has left the door open to a scaled-back compromise. What door? Oh you mean the back door. Cause that just where guys like me are going to take it - in the back door.

Look, I like you Obama. I voted for you and I even campaigned for you. But if you don't have the guts to support a government option then just shut the hell up. Please, don't embarrass yourself any further.

Maybe you haven't read the bill. I have .. and it is the worst piece of crap. I would rather you just did nothing. Really, just blow it off - The Baucus plan makes my life so much worse and it already is a piece of crap.

I think you've already forgotten the little people. You know the people who got you elected. Maybe it's the beer and the cigars - maybe it's taking up golf instead of basketball. I don't know, but you need to get your head together and kick Baucus in the ass and start all over - start with universal heath care and stick it to the Republicans.

Good day sir ... I said good day ..

We have met the enemy and he is us

"We have met the enemy and he is us" is the title of a 1950's comic book by Walt Kelly. Pogo was a conscientious possum filled with good will. Always (in a child-like manner) searching for truth.Nothing seems more appropriate this morning than that statement.

Yesterday, September 12, 2009, eight years and one day after terrorist flew planes into the World Trade Center buildings in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC, there was a gathering of several thousand people on the National Mall.

They were not there in remembrance of the 911 victims, nor the brave men and women who gave their lives defending our freedoms. They did not honor our nation or it's people.

These American citizens gathered together out of a common fear of government. At the event, wild conspiracies were shouted along with the words, "Liar", "Hitler" and "Nigger".

Fear, anger, jealously, maliciousness, idolatry, greed, selfishness, stubbornness and hate - these were their motives.

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of hearts, there remains… an un-uprooted small corner of evil.

[Gulag Archipelago, vol. 2, "The Ascent"]

The believer says we are all under God's eye and has commanded us to be of one mind and one heart. The believer also says Christ is the King of Peace.

As an agnostic, I sometimes wonder what God must think of us. As the richest nation on Earth we worry about secret military camps and birth certificates - We spend a whole day raising a fist that an illegal immigrant might get healthcare and never notice that 30,000 children died yesterday or starvation and disease.

I would revise Pogo's line in this way. "We have met the damned and God has damned us."

This post was inspired by a talk given by Jim Forest

The Duesh Bag Brigade

Robert Millage of Kamiah, Idaho simultaneously was the first person to shoot a wolf in the lower 48 states and be awarded the biggest duesh bag in Idaho. Millage a real estate agent, who is not affected by the wolf population killed the animal because it's illegal to kill people.

Millage fits the typical profile of a major duesh bag. Self centered, narcissistic and generally a violent, malicious asshole. The dude thinks God put wolves on Earth for him to shoot. As I said before I've nothing against hunting. People got to eat - so animals got to die. This is the nature of things. It's perfectly fine with me if a person kills a deer as long as they eat the meat.

Being an agnostic, I can only hope there is some karmic equalization and Millage ends up as some second hand prison bitch. He already has the gay goatee.

To me there's no difference between Robert Millage and the Tea Baggers who protested today in Washington DC.

As the New York Times put it:

A sea of protesters filled the west lawn of the Capitol and spilled onto the National Mall on Saturday in the largest rally against President Obama since he took office, a culmination of a summer-long season of protests that began with an opposition to health care and grew into a broader dissatisfaction with government. Thousands Rally in Capital ...

The New York Times should know better. This has nothing to do with health care nor is it about big government. Were there any protests from these retards when Reagan grew the deficit? This is clearly about racism. As one HuffingtonPost blogger put it, "It's a KKK rally without the hoods."

I don't know if I would put it that strongly, but certainly if you look at the crowd it is all white and they're concentrating almost exclusively on Obama. Racism definitely plays a major role, but I think more importantly is a loss of civility and community.

These are people who do not consider themselves Americans. To put it another way, they see a white America and a colored America. And now that a colored America has taken over, they want to separate - secede from the Union.

This racist feeling has been justified and sanctified by politicians and so-called news networks like FOX. Texas governor, Rick Perry has toyed with the idea of succession- even while his administration takes in millions of dollars in federal money.

I believe it stems from a damage image of self. (I mean this sincerely) I wouldn't doubt if many of these people were either physically, mentally or sexually abused as children. The projection of hate and distrust is simply not rational.

These people have a kind of toddler's image of themselves. They see the universe revolving around them. All of their problems, concerns and frustrations stem from an external force.

Millage believes the wolf has in some way offended or insulted him. Maybe it was because he read that a wolf somewhere killed a sheep. Who knows - but Millage has internalized this as something personal enough to go kill a wolf.

The same can be said of the Tea Baggers. They for some reason think that Obama has personally hurt or offended them in some way. That out of 300 million Americans, Obama has targeted them personally.

At the heart of it, it is some kind of mental illness.

Thank you Sam Seder

Thanks goes out to Sam Seder for cheering me up before the speech today. He posted this funny, ironic video on Twitter.




It is the best!

Healthcare Plan

There are so many voices talking about healthcare that it seems redundant for me to talk about it on this tiny, little blog. I can only give this simple plea.

Like Michelle Obama's father I have Multiple Sclerosis. I won't go into it, but it sucks and it's expensive. I work as an independent contractor from time to time and I write. I would like to continue doing so, but I need insurance.

I can't afford a $1,000 a month plan + deductible and prescription plan. I just can't.

I worked hard to get Obama and other Democrats elected. I suffered eight years under that village idiot, George Bush. I've waited patiently for this moment when a public plan would be available (I really wanted Universal Coverage). And now it looks like I'm going to get screwed again.

Obama came into power promising an end to cynicism, but so far with his limp noodle response to the healthcare plan in Congress, he has created the greatest cynicism of all. I believed his rhetoric of hope and change and now I've an sinking feeling that I'm going to get screwed.

President Obama you have one chance in tonight's speech to turn it around. Please don't suck.

Everything sounds better

Yes, everything sounds better when you Auto-tune the news.

From the fine folks who give you gas

From time to time it's important for me to stop obsessing over the dull witted and inane Republicans and take a moment to remember those who are truly evil. And in celebration of the Evil among us I give you the most evil man that ever existed - Thomas Midgley Jr.

What? You thought I was going to say Hitler - maybe Stalin, Saddam Hussein or were you thinking old school like Vlad the Impaler. No, no, no my friends - these idiots were mere amateurs; very micro-evil if you will. Midgley was far more horrific in scale and consequence. Midgley killed more people and continues to kill more people that all those old evil freaks combined. Midgley exported his evil around the world. He came very close to killing the Earth.

Okay - who is Thomas Midgley Jr.? He was a mechanical engineer and chemist, who invented tetra-ethyl lead (the lead in leaded gasoline) and if that wasn't enough he also invented chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

According to Wikipedia, "One historian remarked that Midgley 'had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history.'"

What is tetra-ethyl lead and why was it so dangerous? In the early 1920's, automobiles had a major problem - they knocked. I guess knocking is the wrong word. They sounded like the engine was going to explode when you drove it. Knocking occurs when the fuel inconsistently ignites, sometimes exploding outside of the piston. It was loud, smelly and would give a horse a heart attack.

Early on, automobile enthusiasts found that adding a bit of clear grain alcohol lowered the volatility of the gasoline and prevented knocking. Seems like problem solved right?

Well, here's the problem. Companies really hate the following things. 1) Anything that might lower their profit margin. Alcohol was a bit expensive compared to gasoline. 2) Is easily produced by small businesses or individuals. Grain alcohol is extremely easy to produce. 3) Uses common materials that can be found in any geographic location. All you need is grain, yeast and heat.

General Motors and the oil companies were desperately looking for an alternative. So along comes Evil Midgely and his plan is to put poisonous lead in gasoline I have to give it Junior, it worked, but it also pumped millions of tons of this neurotoxin into the air.

Children all across America suffered from lead poisoning just by breathing the air. According to an article in The Nation:

A 1985 EPA study estimated that as many as 5,000 Americans died annually from lead-related heart disease prior to the country's lead phaseout. According to a 1988 report to Congress on childhood lead poisoning in America by the government's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, one can estimate that the blood-lead levels of up to 2 million children were reduced every year to below toxic levels between 1970 and 1987 as leaded gasoline use was reduced. From that report and elsewhere, one can conservatively estimate that a total of about 68 million young children had toxic exposures to lead from gasoline from 1927 to 1987.

Now if that isn't pure evil, I don't know what is.

Midgely did suffer for his dirty deed. According to Wikipedia:

On October 30, Midgley participated in a press conference to demonstrate the "safety" of contact with the substance. In this demonstration, he poured tetra-ethyl lead over his hands, then placed a bottle of the chemical under his nose and breathed it in for sixty seconds, declaring that he could do this every day without succumbing to any problems whatsoever. However, the plant was decisively shut down by the State of New Jersey a few days later, and Standard was forbidden to manufacture TEL there again without state permission. Midgley himself was careful to avoid mentioning to the press that he subsequently required nearly a year to recover from the lead poisoning brought on by his demonstration.

This alone might qualify Midgely for "Most Evil" but he went one step further. In 1930, Midgely at the behest of GM invented a cheap chemical to use in refrigerant, dichlorodifluoromethane or CFC. Midgely came up with a much friendlier name, Freon.

My guess is that Midgely was not satisfied killing children, he needed a bigger project. So why not try to kill the Earth? What does CFC do that is so bad. It only destroys the Ozone layer in the atmosphere. Ozone is the only chemical that blocks harmful UV-B radiation. This radiation kills living organisms - like us.

For these two extraordinary accomplishments, I give to Thomas Midgely Jr. the "Holy Most Evil" award. Congratulations.

What happened to Midgely? Well, I guess there is some karmic justice in the universe. In 1940 Midgely contracted polio which left him severely disabled. Always the inventor, Midgely designed his own death. He created a system of pulleys and ropes to help get him into bed. One night he accidentally entangled himself in this device and died of strangulation.

The Nation's article on leaded gas
How do CFCs destroy the Ozone

Hope Ya Don't Mind

So, I leave for a couple of days on vacation and California catches on fire. And now all that smoke has traveled across the desert and landed here in Las Vegas. Like we need more smoke. So, I'm closed up in my house trying to rub the bloodshot from my eyes.

I see Dick and his daughter Liz are back at again. Maybe I should just start calling them Dickliz because they essentially say the same thing. "Who me - Torture?"

Here's what Dickliz said on Fox News in response to the planned investigation of the Attorney General, Eric Holder.

“I knew about the waterboarding, not specifically in any one particular case, but as a general policy that we had approved,” said Mr. Cheney, who noted that neither a gun nor a drill had actually been used on detainees. “The fact of the matter is the Justice Department reviewed all those allegations several years ago.”“The judgment was made then that there wasn’t anything that was improper or illegal,” said Mr. Cheney." - Ny Times

Yea right ... You know that gets me thinking. There's a great bit of dialogue between two characters in the movie Oliver. Bill is talking to Fagin.

Bill: Have you ever heard the sound a chicken makes when they're wringing it's neck? ... They squawks. Not a very pretty sound."

Fagin: No Bill.

Bill: And then they die, don't they?

Fagin: Yes, Bill. I mean, no, Bill.

Bill: Then, they say, some even start squawking before the event. They get what you might call a premonition. You wouldn't be having no premonition of that sort by an chance, would you?

You ain't gettin' no premonitions of that sort are you Mr. Dick Cheney? Is that a bit a squawking I'm hearing? Of course, I meant it as a metaphor and wish no harm to Cheney family. I'm a peace loving guy.

Mr. Cheney described the inquiry as an “intensely partisan, politicized look back at the prior administration” intended to placate the left wing of the Democratic Party. “It’s clearly a political move,” he said. “I mean, there’s no other rationale for why they’re doing this.” - Ny Times

Well, Mr. Cheney I got some questions of my own for you and President Junior that have nothing to do with torture, but I suspect are crimes none-the-less.

Question Number One: Why was CIA plane carrying cocaine and heroine for Mexican drug lords? - AFP "Mexican drug plane used for US renditions"

Question Number Two: Why were nuclear armed missiles transported, unknowingly to North Dakota? - Arkansas Online "Air Force punishes 70 in accidental nuclear-weapons flight"

Question Number Three: Why did we use a chemical weapon (WMD) on Iraqi civilians and who gave the order to use this weapon? BBC News - "US used white phosphorous in Iraq"

Question Number Four: Who knew Jeff Gannon and why was he in the White House? Washington Post - "Jeff Gannon admits past 'mistakes'"

Question Number Five: At the Republican convention in August of 2008, how did the police obtain information on potential protesters and why were those houses raided? Furthermore, who gave the command to arrest reporters covering the protests? Star Tribune - "Police Raid RNC protest sites in Twin Cities" and Democracy Now - "Host and Producers arrested at Republican convention"

Question Number Six: "Who gave the order to shell and bomb the hotel in Iraq housing reporters?" Guardian UK - "US tank shells hit media hotel"

Question Number Seven "Who gave the order to assassinate Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena in Iraq?" CBS News - "Italian Journalist U.S. Lied"

There are so many more questions to ask ... but I think we know the answer to all of the them. Mr. Cheney - you have blood on your hands and no matter how hard you wash them they're stained forever

The Lion is Dead

Goodbye Senator Ted Kennedy

I got an email from Politico announcing this:

Image via Wikipedia

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port, Mass., the Kennedy family said in a statement. Kennedy, 77, "liberal lion of the Senate," had fought a public battle with cancer. "He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him," the family said.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy died two years before I was born. Like Obama I have memories not directly, but through his work and persona. The space program is what I remember President Kennedy for. I remember watching a film of the "We Choose to Go to the Moon" speech when I was in third grade. Then watching astronauts land on the moon.

I have vague memories of Robert Francis Kennedy. It wasn't until college that I began to get a sense of the Kennedy legacy and the terrible tragedy of Robert Kennedy's death.

My memories of Edward Moore Kennedy (Teddy) are much more vivid. There was a Libertarian nutcase when I was a database manager at the Sahara Hotel & Casino. I worked on an ancient machine called the IBM System38. He was convinced that all Democrats were evil and their leader was Ted Kennedy. He went on and on about the Chappaquiddick incident.

Lucky for me, he was such a complete lunatic in other ways I mostly ignored him, but that image of Ted Kennedy remained until my third year in college. I'd become much more liberal then and I learned the other history. The other history that included Kennedy's work in health care and as an advocate of the disabled. He was a warrior for Civil Rights, but he was able to seek compromise and concessions from the Republicans.

In my political life, I grew up with Ted Kennedy - he was a teacher.

Dog Days of Vegas

So, this is how it goes down. My wife and daughter see this dog at a pet store and fall in love with it. When I come, they want to show me the dog. I'm thinking, "Oh God - not a dog, anything but a dog or a cat." We used to have guinea pigs and my daughter promised she'd clean the cage, but guess who got stuck with the job - yep me.

We get to the pet store and they show me the dog. It's a Lhasa Apso. Now, I have a plan to not get the dog. I turn to the store manger (a short German lady) and say, "Hey, Fraulein - I hear these dogs come from puppy mills."

She's get a bit angry at me "I'm a married woman and no these puppies are certified by (some agency) and guaranteed not to come from a puppy mill. I would never sell a dog from one of those places."

"Does this dog have any diseases? I know these puppies come loaded with diseases.", I ask.

"Absolutely not." She has this offended look. "They are checked by a vet each week."

Yea right - By this time, my wife and daughter are playing with the puppy and then my daughter turns to me and gives me that sad lip. What is it about daughters? Drives me crazy.

We purchased the dog. I won't say how much cost - I'm too embarrassed.

(Sorry, had to leave to go pet the dog. Now, I'm back)

She's a cute little dog, but I'm a grumpy man and I just don't like animals. Not that I would ever harm an animal. I think animals have just as much a right to happiness as human animals do. But go be happy far away from me.

I take Daisy (my daughter named the dog) to vet and sure enough the dog has parasites. I have to feed this drug to her every night now. The dog also has separation anxiety and is overly protective of her food. The vet assures me the dog came from a puppy mill.

Okay, even with these problems - I admit it, the dog has grown on me a bit. I have a condition where I'm in pain most of the time. I don't take any narcotics - don't like being doped up. So, the pain makes me sort of irritable and grumpy. But the puppy is always in a good mood and wants me to be in a good mood. Why are dogs so optimistic? And damn it all, the dog cheers me up.

Today, the little dog backed down a feral cat. I guess these little dogs used to guard temples in Tibet. She dug in her front paws, hunched her shoulders and gave out a tiny, little bark. The cat retreated about twenty feet, hissed and ran away. I was kinda proud.

Anyway, this long, overdone story was to talk about animals. I can't understand what hell Michael Vick was thinking. How do you raise a puppy and then let it get its throat ripped out in some dog fight? What the hell did the dog do? Now that I have a dog, I realize what a douche bag, Vick is. I'm an agnostic, but if there is a hell, you're going straight down.

Look, I'm not an animal rights advocate. I know that we got eat, which means animals got to die. But I do think that an animal should have a whole bunch good days and then one bad day. There's no reason (other than money) why an animal has got to suffer day after day. So what, if I got to pay an extra dollar for the chicken breast. Let them run free.

Also, if you're going to hunt and I understand if you need the meat to eat, then eat what you kill. F*%k Sarah Palin. It's a real sport shooting wolves and polar bears from a helicopter. In my uniformed opinion is she's a perverted, nasty skank. She even has a couched from from a bear skin. The bear's head was made into an arm rest. I swear I will move to Holland if she becomes president.

If it quacks like a duck

I really don't consider myself a Liberal. I think in a normal, sane world, I might even be a mild Republican. But in this political environment I'm some kind of left-wing Socialist. Why? Well, for the following reasons:

• I believe that every American citizen has the right to health care.
• I believe in evolution and the Earth is millions of years old.
• I believe in the Big Bang theory. I also believe in the theory of gravity.
• I believe that all children in America should have (at least) three nutritious meals a day.
• I never supported the Iraq war.
• I think we spend too much money on the military
• I think in some circumstances, unions are a good thing
• I know Obama was born in Hawaii and I know that Hawaii is a state in the USA.
• I'm an agnostic.
• I don't care one wit if gays get married, have children or sing Broadway songs.
• An abortion is a private matter between a woman and her doctor. It is a medical procedure
• Although I support responsible hunting, I think hand guns and assault riffles should be banned.
• Although I support a moment of silence, I think prayer and the Bible should be kept out of schools.
• I support Title IX.
• Guantanamo should be closed and water boarding is torture.
• We should spend more money on education.
• I think stem cell research is a good thing.
• I've never cheated on my wife, nor have I ever been to Argentina.

I guess I am a crazy Liberal.

Taste the Healthcare

This happens all the time to my wife and me. Our friends will go to this brand new chain restaurant and then come back just raving about how good it is. They're like - "Oh, you gotta try Buca di Beppo. It's so authentic. You eat your food 'family style'."

And then we have to go with them to Buca di Beppo and just as I expected the food tastes like a monkey crapped on spaghetti and then covered it with tomato sauce. Okay, Buca isn't that bad, but just because they call the cheese - "formaggio" does not mean it came from Italy. More likely it was canned in Pittsburgh.

Not that I don't eat at McDonald's from time to time. I'm just saying there's good food and there's crap food and part of living as a human being in knowing the difference.

Why am I telling you this? Because, it's the same with movies, art, music, books - does not matter a bit. People cannot tell shit from Shinola. Unfortunately, this law is so very true for insurance and healthcare.

A few years ago I worked for a large manufacturer. One year, the company decided to let the employees choose what kind of healthcare insurance they wanted. I thought this was a great idea. The company offered several options from "good luck you're on your own" to "Don't worry everything's covered" The company shared a percentage of the costs, so it would have to pay more for the more expensive plan.

The whole company voted and guess which option they took? Yep, you guessed it. They choose the cheapest and crappiest. Sure enough - we met the enemy and he was us. The HR rep said that most people wanted to save the extra $50 a month.

Staying in Vegas

I found sometimes you have to jump in with both feet and that's what I'm doing with this this new blog. Please, forgive me if it's a little rough around the edges for a bit. It takes a while to find your voice in any new endeavor.

I live in Las Vegas - actually grew up in Las Vegas. Which is a crazy thing if you think about it. In high school (many years ago) I had summer jobs at the casinos. I was a cabana boy for the Riviera Hotel & Casino. I met Steve Perry of Journey, Pavarotti (good tipper) and the late Andy Gibb (stiffed me out of tip every time). I've played video poker since I was fifteen - usually on dates at Macayo's or at the Hush Puppy.

I was always sorrta into politics. I worked in Harry Reid's campaign office when I was twenty. But it wasn't until we elected that misfit George W. Bush that I really got involved. I was always against the Iraq war. I was even against the first Iraq war (Desert Storm). I'm not much of a philospher but I just don't think we should be killing people. Killing=Bad.

Also, I can't understand why it's such a big deal to make sure everyone has a place to stay, something to eat and can see a doctor when they need to? How hard can that be? It's quite pragmatic to me. Ya give a person a boost up ... maybe they can get high enough to reach a slot machine.

What the Health Care?

First - Healthcare reform without a public option is no healthcare reform at all. That's as far as the debate has gotten. I would like to talk about the intricate details of healthcare, but there's nothing more to talk about. The whole country has stopped to have a small conniption about a black American president.

So, let's talk about the walking retards of the country that make up the Republican party and why they're freaking out about Obama.

Republican are afraid. They're so afraid they've piddled in their Depends. To help them overcome this cowardly fear, they worship guns and even bring weapons with them at political events (Seacoast Online) (MSNBC). This serves another purpose of intimidating anyone who might disagree with them.

Republicans don't trust Blacks and Hispanics (The Guardian) (Newsweek). More to the point, Republicans can tolerate Blacks and Hispanics as long as they know their place, but if they threaten White Power then it's time for them to bring out the guns.

Republicans have low intelligence. There's just no arguing this point. It's just true.



Republicans suffer from a number of mental disorders:

Cognitive Dissonance - Example: A Republican sees herself as a good Christian, but then does not want children to have health insurance because it might raise taxes. Therefore, poor children are not loved by Christ. (ABCnews)
Rationalization - Example: I fear Muslims so they must be bad people. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Projection - Example: Republican men cheat on their wives because gays are immoral.
Emotional Reasoning - God told me through a feeling that I must hate the gay. (Politico)
Dehumanization - The Birthers argue that Obama is not an American citizen so he is not one of us. He's an outsider - even though he grew up in the United States.

Scare the Old People

What the hell is wrong with Republicans? They've become the party of screamers and liars. I've been in business (the free market economy) for a long time. I've even invested my own money in my own business - trusting the American free market. I can tell you that none of these Republicans would last more than a few months at any normal business.

Republicans are lying about healthcare reform and they know they're lying. And these aren't little lies - these are baldfaced big lies. Republicans are also trying to put the fear of god into the old and the stupid. This is just wrong and mark my words, it will come back to haunt them.

Could you see the CEO of Walmart saying at a stockholder's meeting, "The government wants to kill your grandmother?" or "There are going to be Death Panels that will kill handicap children."?

It's crazy.

Leaders do not act like little children. Can you imagine Bill Gates, Andrew Carnegie or J.P Morgan behaving in this way? How embarrassing the Republican party has become.

You know it's just not embarrassing it's also dangerous. By acting in this foolish and retarded manner, they stoke the fires of the mentally ill and criminally insane.

The sad thing is I'm not even talking about healthcare reform ... I'm talking about how to talk about health care reform.

Sarah Palin's Death Panel
Sen. Grassley - pull the plug on grandmother
Steele's dangerous experiment
Commercial of FEAR

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