Bush as the compassionate conservative

While I have by no means read through any transcripts of the secretely taped conversations of Bush and his 'friend' Doug Wead (by the way, could that be any more ironic?), the snippets that I've read seem to portray a somewhat thoughtful man at least cognizant enough to know that to judge one person as a 'sinner', yourself being a 'sinner', is a little hypocritical. He also shows a resolute attitude towards getting involved in rumors about his or opponents personal lives.
uummm, I find myself agreeing with. He says, and I'm paraphrasing here, that someone has to draw the line and not answer these questions/rumors (concerning alledged cocaine abuse).
He's right, someone has to.
Bush comes off comparitively well in the tapes as far as I'm concerned.
But (and you knew there would be a 'but'), here is what is scary--where did this man go? To me, this shows the absolute dominance of those he surrounded himself with to shape and forge his policy and tactics of campaigning, and that makes Bush weak.
Stop treading on personal rumors? Maybe we should tell that to the phone bank that called voters in South Carolina before the 2000 primary and intimated that John McCain fathered an out of wedlock black child (McCain and wife adopted a child from Southeast Asia). Maybe we should tell that to the Swift Boat veterens and the people that alleged that Kerry had an affair (proved false so quickly even conservative bloggers couldnt get a hold of it).
George Bush, so much promise possibly (maybe not) but weak, weak, weak.
Just more fodder for the Rove/Cheney is really president crowd.

It must be a joke....right?

I really feel as though we are finally getting to a substanative discussion about social security reform. What with little nuggets like this from Senator Norm Coleman--explaining criticism he recieved for supporting privatization (from Talking Points Memo):
"I countered it by being very clear that I supported personal accounts and opposed privatization."
HUH?
And now, finally, someone had the guts to come out and say what every senior citizen should know about their beloved AARP. Leave it to the Swift Boat guys to really hammer the facts home. Check out this ad. I mean, I was wondering when someone was going to come out and say it---the AARP maintains a secret agenda that has nothing to do with senior citizens, unless those senior citizens want to marry another senior citizen of the same sex.
Check out Talking Points Memo coverage of this and other scary ads that we can thank the firms behind Swift Boats Veterens for. And you know where they blaze the trail, Karl Rove isn't far away pulling the strings.
As Kos reports, the link sent you to USA Next's website, with no follow up discussion or even a half-hearted attempt to explain the connection and subsequently I guess the ad was pulled. WHY??? I was hoping that we would all be able to finally find out about this secret agenda. I hope the conservative bloggers out there won't let it die.
Why talk about social security reform in terms of facts and numbers and predictions when you can scare people to death until they support your vision.

Carrying a flag?

I am by no means carrying a flag for the left. I carry my own flag and do not answer for others opinions. While my opinion sometimes, or perhaps most times, is complimentary to the left, I am by no means a flag bearer.
Having said that, check this out:

• Someone who actually blames Clinton for 9-11. I think this might even be too much for some Republicans. I have no response to this as people who hate Clinton this much often can't be convinced of anything associated with him. I mean, somehow we're able to attribute things to him that didn't happen during his 2 terms and things that did happen during his 2 terms have nothing to do with him.
• By historical policies, I mean the training of the mujahadeen to fight off the Soviets. After arming them and training them we left them high and dry. It wasn't a stretch to see that after turning back the Soviets, they had nothing left, except hatred. I am by no means saying this is a reason for 9-11 or for the current extreme fundamentalim, but I am saying it is valueable to study these policies so that we don't make the same mistakes again.
• I agree that democracy is the savior of all, I just don't agree that its our job to bring it everywhere. There might be times and places to assist citizens that yearn for that democracy, but I have not one ounce of confidence that this is the reason we went to Iraq. In fact, I think if I remember right it had something to do with weapons of mass destruction. Please Republicans, stop acting like you all wanted to be the saviors of the world, you all thought it was weapons of mass destruction and national security too.
• Republicans didn't see that Trent Lott couldnt be the leader they needed. They changed the rules and changed them back when they realized all the attention they were getting because of it. I believe the purge of House Ethics Committee Republicans is up to 3--all of them who voted against the initial rule change.
• I never link to updates on the Iraq war (except the elections, which were a historic event). Day by day or month by month updates are ridiculous as the success or failure of this war will be determined many years in the future. However, I do feel that someone should be held responsible for the disastrous, by all accounts, planning.
• By the way, you trump Michelle Malkin like she isn't for the Japanese internment
• I can't believe that anyone believes that the goverment retaliation by outing an undercover CIA agent is an overblown story. C'mon now.
• "I have the utmost respect for anyone who served, active duty or not." Well, I double dog dare you to start denouncing the smears against John Kerry, a man who served OUR country. (a topic I write about somewhat often).

Reality??

A post from a fellow blogger is dying for a response.

• 19 al-Qaida terrorists used planes to attack America. Their leader and mastermind of the attack is still at large
• Money was diverted from the country of his hide-out to invade Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9-11.
• As it wasn't GWB's fault or Israel's fault, it WAS NOT Clinton's fault. Blame can never be lain at anyone's feet, however, historical policies could show pattern of behavior that led to the generation of the hate-America crowd--it is valuable to study these policies.
• To answer approximately 10 of your bullets, rhetoric such as Clinton chose a blow job over bin-Laden does not solve anything.
• Two words, Strom Thurmond. Just because he's dead, doesn't mean you get a pass on a man who championed segregation and fathered an out-of wedlock, adulterous child with a black servant of his household. He'd still be in the Senate if alive and healthy.
• Hussein, Mugabe and Castro...does this mean we're going to Cuba next? There are numerous leaders around the world that inflict pain upon their citizenry; are we savior to all? And if we are going to go around the world bringing peace and democracy abroad, there are several countries that would have been in front of Iraq in the 'hell on earth' category.
• Supporting your troops is more than putting a sticker on your car and supporting their commander in chief...in fact, it might be just the opposite (should we now check their benefit cuts under GWB?).
• Not supporting GWB's policies does not make you a traitor, unAmerican, or mean that you do not support the troops.
• Ted Rall=Ann Coulter; and Coulter is more popular. How scary is that? If you don't believe it, just google her and read some of her hate-speech and lies.
• The reason we live in a representative republic is because majority does not rule. The rights and priveledges of the minority must NEVER be subjected to the will of the majority. Samuel Adams – “… it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds …”
• Just because you are the minority opinion does not mean you are wrong (morally, legally or otherwise)
• Micheal Moore might have presented a pretty one-sided film, but he did not make up the presidents idiotic response to news of attack and certainly didn't make up the fact that not one US Senator (dem or repub) would stand up for the disenfranchised voters in Florida. At the very least, that movie should have made people think and if necessary, go out and research more information to form their own opinion.

Now, I didnt include any of my own reality such as Texas redistricting, Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson, free press (or paid pundits?), GWB's dubious at best military record or the tactics of fear-mongering to get elected.

Why can't we all just face that on both sides of the aisle there are scandals, representatives that aren't worth a damn and one or two that could actually make a difference. What does it take to make a difference? A leader--in every sense of the word. I happen to believe that GWB is not that leader. In fact, I think that GWB does not have one quality that makes up the excrement of that type of man/woman. If you do, thats fine, but it doesn't mean that I am divorced from reality by any means.

You know he's right...

A good commentary in Sports Illustrated today about Barry Bonds and why he should leave baseball. I admit, I'm a little selfish in my opinion that I want Bonds to leave because I don't think someone who uses performance enhancing drugs should get a chance to break a record of someone who is percieved as a sports hero, for many reasons, not just phyical prowess, that didn't have access to those drugs. Whether or not you are a Bonds fan (are there any out there?) and possibly subscribe to the 'they weren't illegal in baseball then' arguement , you must admit that with those drugs under his belt, he was able to be stronger, heal faster from injury and had a greater ability to bounce back after each game and a greater ability to keep his stamina going over the length of a season. This has an affect on his ability to hit home runs. I realize the man has a talent for hitting balls, but sustaining that over a season is also a talent, a talent that he possibly doesn't quite have without the 'clear' or the 'cream'.
Barry, there is no easy way out. If you break the records, no one will ever talk about you like a hero or without the asterisk. No one will be rooting for you but yourself. Is that the sports immortality you are searching for?

Never enough

First Coulter, now Hannity.
Its not enough to have already called into question a man's medals awarded during war and backed up by every commanding officer and soldier who ever served WITH him. Now, lets call into questions whether he actually served in combat. This is disgusting and I can't believe that more veterans aren't coming to one of their own's defense. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, allowing this to happen to someone who served their country when he was asked--actually volunteered--is indefensible.

I swear its true...

I just heard a commercial on the radio that is too funny to be true.
It was a commercial for Intelligent Energy (whoever they are) and it was advertising for homes to switch to natural gas for a variety of reasons.
The clincher? The phone number to call for my information is 1-877-5GOT-GAS.
But its sung to a snappy tune...sing it to yourself and see how it sounds. Its almost too funny to actually be a commercial (especially on the radio!).
It reminds of that practical joke where you ask someone to read the following sentence:
I am sofa king mad.
I mean, do people actually listen to themselves talk before putting this on the radio!

Briefs...

Today Andrew Sullivan had some really thought provoking posts. There is one in particular that was interesting:
SCHEUER ON THE "COVERT JEWS": A pretty amazing piece of dialogue at a Council on Foreign Relations meeting where CIA operative and author of "Imperial Hubris," Michael Scheuer, let rip on Israel's alleged "clandestine" influence on American politics:
SCHEUER: I always have thought that there's nothing too dangerous to talk about in America, that there shouldn't be anything. And it happens that Israel is the one thing that seems to be too dangerous to talk about. And I wrote in my book that I congratulate them. It's probably the most successful covert action program in the history of man to control--the important political debate in a country of 270 million people is an extraordinary accomplishment. I wish our clandestine service could do as well. The point I would make--the point I try to make basically in the book is we just cannot--we can no longer afford to be seen as the dog that's led by the tail. I've tried to be very clear in saying we have an alliance with the Israelis. We have a moral obligation to try to work through this issue, if we can. But I don't think we can afford to be led around, or at least appear to be led around by them. And I certainly, as an American, find it unbearable to think there's something in this country you can't talk about. That's really my spiel I guess on that, sir.
Emphasis mine. While his point about the 'covert action' of Jews is ridiculous, I do somewhat agree with his point about dangerous things to talk about. I hate the idea that having an opinion about something makes you predjudiced or somesuch nonsense. We should be able to talk frankly about policies towards Israel without fear of being seen as Anti-semitic. Along the same lines, we should be able to talk about Bush's failures without being seen as cowards or treasonous. Andrew Sullivan rightly points out that Scheuer seems to think its covert only because they are Jews. Nothing like taking a good point and ruining it with ridiculous predjudices.
On a funnier note, check out his 'American Idol' link. Hilarious.

and the rhetoric begins...

Just a quick post to say...is anyone else scared to death about all this Iran rhetoric. Doesn't it sound frighteningly similar to the pre-Iraq war run-up. I'm trying my best to not be cynical and conspiracy-theory laden, but what the f*&k??

Pot calling the kettle black

Ann Coulter, as everyone knows is one of my favorite people. Literally, I think if I met her on the street, I couldn't control the violent urgings that would force me to do her bodily harm.
A classic Ann Coulterism follows (from Media Matters, emphasis mine):
On the February 7 edition of FOX News' Hannity & Colmes, Coulter criticized ads that aired during the 2005 Super Bowl, saying, "this is juvenile, 4-year-old humor," and added: "And last year's Super Bowl show, ooh, simulated interracial sex." During the 2004 performance, Timberlake ripped a piece of Jackson's clothing, briefly exposing one of her breasts in what Timberlake later called a "wardrobe malfunction."
On the February 7 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, appearing alongside host and former Representative Joe Scarborough (R-FL) and Republican strategist Karen Hanretty to discuss University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill's comparison of some victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks to Nazis, Coulter commented: "These guys [college professors] want to go around acting like big radicals, getting laid by coeds with hairy armpits who probably don't like men, by going to conferences and saying, 'Oh, yes, I'm the one who said that.'"
Later in the same segment, Coulter responded to a question from Scarborough about the military's recent demotion of a female U.S. soldier in Iraq for indecent exposure during a mud wrestling party: "I would like a United States military capable of winning wars, which will not involve sending girls to do fighting." Coulter concluded: "And, yes, I think it's appalling that these women are mud wrestling, but I think it's appalling that they are in the military."

First of all Ann, your whole career is based on the premise of "Oh yes, I'm the one who said that". Do you think that you are a sought after pundit for the insight of your opinion? You are one of the many, and perhaps the most well known, pundits out there that are famoust and sought after for one reason...the extremism of your opinion and your willingness to say it out loud. And that is it.
Secondly, the ravishing successes that you claim are Afghanistan and Iraq were acheived by a military that is approximately 10% women. Now, are these 'successes' in spite of the women or can the women get a little credit for this?
Ann Coulter is a disgrace to womenhood all over the world. And no, its not because she supports the President, and no its not because she is pro-life and no its not because she espouses nothing but hatred for feminism--its because at every opportunity, she takes the time out to criticize women's intelligence, abilities and aptitudes. She made a pre-election career out of demeaning women's votes because a majority of women didn't support the President.
She is a disgrace and I'd tell her to grow a penis and become a man, but that would be an insult to their gender as well.

Oh Dear God!!

Another classic teens are out of control story. My favorite part? (emphasis mine)
There had been a fight between students at the two schools at a fast-food restaurant last week, authorities said.
"Apparently the same two groups met up at the basketball game tonight, and the altercation continued," Wadsworth said.
Police hit some participants with Tasers, but the shock prongs had been removed and there were no injuries.
The fight was captured on video and shown on television.
"People were screaming and running," Prattville cheerleader Cherish Cartee said. "Girls lost their cell phones. Keys got lost. It's something I will never forget."

Oh Dear God! Cell phones lost??!! Keys?? Gone!! I think post traumatic stress disorder is setting in on this cheerleader right now as we speak.