fitz a litz a ding dong

Fitz and can I just say that I am so pizzzted off today?

Seems like it all started with Reagan and Rush. Then it just snowballed.

then they all went bat shit over Clinton.

and now it’s a cottage industry.

Yeah. It’s just us old hippies, who served in government, paid our taxes, raised our kids, and fought in Vietnam. I think you nailed part of the problem: the deep insecurity of these incredibly fucked up people. I know some of thme, and they never cease to amaze me. They are truly fearful.

Smack ‘em down.

Bit of a convoluted read.

Valley Girl #88 (Just EPU’d)

I was a draftee in the early 60s. Disliked it at the time but couldn’t complain since I had almost literally countryclub duty. Frankly I support a return of the draft but with two caveats:
1) It should be part of a universal national service program that includes, in addition to military service, options like the Peace Corps, Americorps, Vista, etc as well as some programs like those in the Depression.
2) All descendents of the holders of elected federal office (Prez, Veep, & Congress Critters), as well as Cabinet officers and sub-officers down 2-3 levels, would have to perform their national service in the military. Furthermore, they would have to do so in a combat arm (infantry,artillery, etc. in the Army or Marines, ship-of-the-line in the Navy, etc.). And unless they were on an officer tract at the time their parent assumed office, they would have to serve in the enlisted ranks.

This country needs some such mechanism to assure that morally bankrupt assholes like the Bush-Cheney scumbags put some of their own precious flesh and blood on the line. If Barb and Jenna and Liz Cheney were humping packs and weapons in Iraq instead of staggering from one bar to the next in Georgetown or in some cushy Pentagon job maybe their old man would be a bit less cavalier with young lives.

Spectacular, Kevin. Thanks so much. (I should note that the whole “bedwetting” meme started with Kevin. Credit where credit is due.)

So happy you locked in on Hewitt.

Only 3 things or a combination of them will stop the Bush Administration from attacking Iran:

1) significant domestic resistance, both non-violent and otherwise;

2) A military coup;

3) The Second Coming, with Christ riding on a white horse in the clouds, wherein every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

All seem to have about an equal chance of happening. Strangely, each becomes more likely with every passing day.

Mary Cheney, self-avowed lesbian, daughter of Veep Cheney, isn’t permitted to serve in the US military, because, well, you know, ummm, she’s a dyke. No need to ask - she done told!

none of Jenna and not-Jenna’s military age cousins are serving in the military either …

immanentize #82, previous thread

I don’t expect a coup. But where the military could come in to play is if when the Dems take back both houses of Congress in 2006, the subsequent real investigations expose “high crimes and misdemeanors” and then the impeachment train leaves the station. Should they be convicted I do not expect them to go quietly on AF 1 and AF2 flights back to Texas and Wyoming respectively. And that’s when their dissing ofthe military is going to bite them in the ass.

Slightly OT, except for intro of post, but I can’t help myself:
This business of fundamentalists wanting evidence is interesting. Let’s see what ol’J had to say about people always looking for some kind of evidence

Mark 8:12
And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

Luke 15:22-31
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Araham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

*ilson46201 #11

When I become King I’ll make an exception for Mary C. ;-)

Reagan made it safe to hate again, and Bush has made fear and loathing an American mantra.

I’d say Regan and Pat Buchanan ck.

A fine post Kevin, thanks for the filth. ;-)

It fascinates me to read these comments. There is such a violent, knee, jerk reaction to any person or action which recognizes Iraqis or any other middle eastern group as having any humanity. Can they for a moment imagine if, say, France invaded us to eliminate George Bush and was shooting thier babies in the street, bombing thier cities and rounding them up and putting them in prison uncharged? What would they do when France discovered they had supported Bush and believed they had intelligence that was useful to them? They would pull out thier guns and take them on? Hit them over the head with thier keyboards?

They would be under the bed, hiding thier families and worrying about whether thier neighborhood was next.

There is no sympathy, no empathy for the thoughts or feelings of anyone who has been victimized by this war, and even when they talk about liberals or democrats, we are reduced to inhuman enemies who do not share a single aspect of commonality.

I can’t understand how they can function this way, I don’t know how they live with this kind of ugly in thier beings.

Also, I never heard of Marla Ruzicka until she was killed. But later I found out that I worked with some people who worshiped her. One had pictures of her in her work cubicle, and I asked about them. She had gone to Ruzicka’s fund raisers and started giving money to her cause -said she was the most inspirational person she ever met.

I hadn’t read the Newsweek story linked to above. Here is one interesting bit:

“When reporters discovered, soon after the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003, that the Baghdad neighborhood of Dhoura was littered with little grenade-like munitions from American cluster bombs—some of them hanging from trees, others on the hoods and roofs of cars—the journalists wrote their stories but despaired of actually getting anything done to help the people, even after three in the neighborhood were killed. One reporter told Marla. Two days later the military was in Dhoura cleaning up the bomblets and giving assistance to the families.”

What kind of person hates that? What is wrong with a person doing that kind of work? I hope my poltical advocacy never descends into the kind of hatred described in this post. If it ever does, here I hope to be called on it.

Great insights, beautifully written– awesome post! Thank you.

I’m watching “Dead Wrong” on CNN for the umpteenth time…

It’s worth remembering, BushCo was all about regime change in Iraq, period. WMD was used to “sell it” to us and the UN.

Along comes Newt, same deal…

“You have to take them out. You have to change the regime. Just to take out the (nuclear) facilities is a loser game. When they develop atomic weapons, they will sell them to somebody, and that will be dangerous.”

http://plaintalk.net/stories/0.....3001.shtml

Two words: Eric Hoffer.

“Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.”

This is truly a great post. It says it all. thanks!

countdown just started…he is going to cover the generals asking for Rummy’s resignation

Great read. From now on the phrase “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” will have a completely new meaning for me. It permeates them all from our Coward in chief at the top all the way down to the Yellow elephant 101st keyboarders doesn’t it.

i’m all ears, thanks for the update. stunning . really

Seems like it all started with Reagan and Rush. Then it just snowballed.

Reagan appointees on the FCC in 1987 got rid of the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to present opposing points of view. It’s no coincidence that Rush’s show became nationally syndicated in 1988.

thanks for the post, Kevin. I’m going to wash up now; egads, they are vile people.

Great writing, Kevin (I wish I could think of a better superlative right now).

My favorite sentence:

“Many years after their hero Chief Clearing Brush valiantly soldiered on reading The Pet Goat after finding out that our country was under attack (has a president ever acted more courageously with a pop-up book in his lap?), the fear is still deeply palpable in the nuttersphere (note to Pamela at Atlas Shrieks: if you post pictures of nuclear explosions more than 73 times on your blog, it’s a clear indication that you should start shopping around for a new shrink) and its occupants are tragically becoming increasingly unglued as Dear Leader’s numbers slip and the much-bungled War in Error has finally morphed into a very sore spot for a way-large swath of Americans.

They do it all the time Zennurse. Remember Margaret Hassan? Now I knew Margaret. She was a tough no nonsense Dubliner who fell in love with a good man (and had to run away to marry him.)

She loved Iraq and got a job doing great work for a British charity CARE it was her that bullied yelled screamed argued pleaded harassed and shamed the US, UK, UN, into allowing back chemo drugs into the children’s wards in Iraq. (Robert Fisk to his eternal credit gave her campaign a great boost.) There are children alive and growing up because of her.

When she was kidnapped and murdered along with the outpouring of sympathy and horror there was an outpouring of “serve her right.” I’ve got letter after letter from “good godfearing christians” saying that. I suppose the fact that she married a muslim who was brown damned her irretrievably in their eyes.

CSI: Thanks for mentioning Eric Hoffer.
Here’s a tidbit on him:
Concerned about the rise of totalitarian governments, especially those of Hitler and Stalin, he tried to find the roots of these “madhouses” in human psychology. He discovered that fanaticism and self-righteousness are rooted in self-hatred, self-doubt, and insecurity. As he describes in The True Believer, a passionate obsession with the outside world or with the private lives of other people is merely a craven attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one’s own life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer
And thank you Kevin!

Racist troll comment deleted

Kevin K. always read the nutters on LGF so I didn’t have to. It takes a much braver soul than I to wade into that muck. Thanks. (Now you’ll have to excuse me while I purge my dinner.)

Every time I write about the violent, genocidal, racist imagery that you find in such places, wingnuts come to my blog and say that it’s just a joke or that I’m being politically correct or that I’m the racist for saying they are racist. Recently, I had a dialog with someone who says that it’s ok to take joy in peace activists’ beheadings because it’s fun to see people taught a lesson when they do dumb things. Kind of like America’s funniest home videos I guess.

What will it take to get these people to get bored with politics and go back to pulling the wings off flies?

Calling Dr. Trex pathetic coward with a website hosted in Russia has an urgent appointment with a big black trexitron.

Minnesotachuck #8- saw your comment, and responded, also EPU’d:
===Minnesotachuck- The caveats that you present are so important. I agree. And, the idea that the sons and daughters of Bushco don’t serve is ignomy. One of my best friends was drafted to Vietnam. Son of a prominent local DA, who could have pulled strings, but didn’t. Father wouldn’t even let him be in the boy scouts earlier bec. it was a pseudo military organization, in his opinion. When the time came, it was clear that Father felt that it was not ethical to step in to prevent son from being drafted, in light of all others serving. Son felt same, and served. Oh, yeah, they’re all Democrats.===

Will somebody wipe #32 please?

Margot at 31

Wow thanks for that. I had not heard of him but I know plenty of these people. I always thought they just had personality disorders. I am going to have to look up this guy’s work. It is crazy how easy it is to see their weaknesses.

OT, but David Ignatius over at WaPo has just proposed Joe Lieberman as a replacement for Donald Rumsfeld, calling him a “centrist Democrat.”

Egad, talk about your Evil Parallel Universe! I hope Jane gives Mr. I the pummeling he deserves tomorrow.

Left you something in the last thread neurophius.

be gone with ya, then! hateful horrible thing, begone.

William #38 Is “centrist Democrat” right wing code for “Democrat in name only”?

To riff on the post and comment 22, doesn’t this just basic Dale Carnegie: rule one to winning an argument, make the other person feel important? I’ve always seen Limbaugh, Hannity, Bush, etc., not so much as sellers of hate, bile or bigotry, but validation. ‘Yes, listener, despite what those shrill Liberals may say, you, sir, are important.’ Validation is addictive: think of all the romances you let drag on far longer than you should have.
When these kinds of topics come up, I’m always moved to ask, ‘We’re clever, us Liberal types: if a rodent like Rove can master group psychology, why can’t we?’ Why can’t manipulation be a two-edged sword? Admittedly it would be difficult, but would it really be THAT difficult?
(Any other Dale Carnegie buffs out there?)

32-how lovely, true multiculturalism, although
I think you’re speaking a foreign language.

Sorry, so sorry.

Helpful to point out an offensive post by #, but please don’t feed the trolls.

Disturbing post, remarkable and sad beyond belief.

I have thought for a long time that most of the insanity has been anger in search of an outlet. Several others have told me it is cold fear and anger is just the blanket. I still have no real idea, but the comments about Marla just leave you queasy - I guess it doesn’t really matter what the source is, bc it is not something that can be fought or addressed, it feeds on itself and conflict, safe in a cyber setting, just feeds it.

Lt Gen Newbold spoke in his piece of the “casual swagger” with which the Admin/Rummy sent others to their death - the swagger that doesn’t bury the results. He could have been talking about those people who mocked the death someone they never met.

BTW - in his own way, add Mora to the list of those who have spoken out. Fighting for the military’s morality is as important as - and almost indistinguishable from - fighting for its leadership.

Posting remote.

Welcome, Kevin K.

I’m not sure I agree with the dynamic presented at the top of your post about what makes fungelicals tick. My biggest problem with their paradigm is that they believe they can fuck up and fuck up and destroy and be utterly irresponsible, and then - “poof’ - have that come to Jesus moment, and the slate is wiped clean. This tends to create a modality of irresponsibility toward one thing after another.

Before finally surrendering to the arts in 1993, I worked for almost 17 years in public safety. The last seven were in community corrections, where I ended up having major responsibilities.

One of the types which inhabits the correctional system is the fungelical preacher who has sinned by screwing girls or boys or both - and got caught. I was interested in their mindset, and interviewed all who went through when I worked in corrections. One question I asked all busted sex offender preachers was “what line worked best?”

The most common response was along the lines of “Let us sin together so that we may be forgiven!” That jibes with what you’re contending above, but here we are on the friggin’ road to Damascus, and I truly wish we could turn a lot of Pauls back into Saul.

I worry that the Air Force Academy and a young officer corps about to be bequethed a new generation of mini-nukes, have been turned over to a fungelical cult who believe the end times are near. I worry about environmental policies being handled - since James Watt’s time for the most part - by people who feel validated in their beliefs when the earth and seas and atmosphere become less fertile. And then there’s the economy.

You speak of liberals being less worried than conservatives. If only it were true!

I linked thru to Ace of Spades and finished the comments on that thread. Great, Nuke ‘em, blah, blah, trash the troll, and

not a single mention of collateral deaths or the radiation risk. Not one. Just all military armchair quarterbacking except for the slavering adoration of “Colonel Jerry” who waxes philoso[hicl about fighter jets and MiG’s.

As I said, a foreign language.

A TWO-FER: THEY GET TO RAPE THE FORESTS AND TRASH SOUND SCIENCE.

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/34652/

Once Upon a Forest

By Kelpie Wilson, TruthOut.org. Posted April 10, 2006.

Republicans are using their version of ’science’ to eliminate environmental protections for recovering forests. Tools

I was on a radio program out of Detroit last week, and the host asked me how things were going in the great forests of the Pacific Northwest. “Do people still sit in trees there?” he asked. “Are they still cutting down the big trees?”

My answer to both questions was yes. People do still sit in trees and protest logging. But these days, the protests rarely make the national news. The mainstream media has never allocated enough space to cover environmental news (while most newspapers have special sections on health, science and technology, special environment sections are rare), and what space there is goes to the hottest issue of the moment. These days, understandably, it is global warming.

But the health and stability of the climate is intimately tied to the health and stability of forests. Destruction of forests and other wild land is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing somewhere between 20 percent and 30 percent of the total.

For this reason alone, the newest assault on America’s forests, House Resolution 4200, should be big news. HR 4200 passed out of the House Resources Committee last week (with the votes of six Democrats — showing that the timber industry spreads its influence around liberally). It goes to the Agriculture Committee for markup this week and then to a vote.

neurophius #41

I wish I knew. True, the WaPo has a long habit of confusing power with reason, but how far must reality have shifted for any professional journalist to actually believe Lieberman is a centrist of any kind? We can only hope that smart and dedicated folks like our hosts can help us tug it back in the right (left?) direction.

When Digby called them “whiny-ass titty babies” I understood. It opened my mind.

Someone followed up by saying that, on 9/11, wingers pissed themselves and wanted “strong daddy” Bush to wipe it up with the Constitution.

Word.

Now I see demonstrators with signs that read “We are not afraid.”

I can dig it.

The wingnut’s primary motivator is fear; fear born of ignorance. We are not afraid.

Thanks for the great post.

Thanks to FDL for the sublime mix-tape of late-night blogger guests.

Edward Teller #46: It’s Calvinism bolted and gone to seed.

Digby has an interesting post tonight on the extremism and general crankiness, and tendancy to conservatism of the boomers. I wonder how many of these reactionary hatemongers are frustrated boomers with gripes and unresolved boomer “issues”. A lot of these white guys in charge of these sites seem like prime boomer age to me. The Hewitt fellow seems too old to be a boomer, though.

ET- have you lost your ***? ;)

Nice post Kevin, your Nuttersphere-dar must be cranked to the max. After talking with family members who served in heavy combat during WWII, None of them (they are in their 80’s) would ever speak of killing other soldiers in the terms heard on the RightWingnut blogs. They are humbled and saddened by their war memories and display more compassion towards humanity because of their horrendous experiences than all the NeoCon Fighting Keyboarders put together and stuffed in a shotglass.

It is stunning how few NeoConvicts ever fought or even joined up to fight but who reveal in talking about killing. They define the very essence of cowardice.

the “casual swagger†with which the Admin/Rummy sent others to their death - the swagger that doesn’t bury the results.

Compare the casual swagger with the dismay expressed by Dick Cheney when he shot a hunting partner in the face.

Blood and guts are big fun for these cowards, except when it’s up close and personal.

wesgpc- FWIW, I’m a boomer and I ain’t gettin conservatism. I’ll have to go read the Digby post to see the context.

Tommy Yum 50

“…It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins…†- Benjamin Franklin

Well here’s a corollary, it is in the NeoConvict’s religion of fear that ReThuglicanism begins…

Valley Girl #55: Excuuuuse me. I said “tendancy” to conservatism. Not that every boomer was conservative. Me, being an economist, if I get too liberal, men in sunglasses and black suits come and take away my degrees. But the GW Bush regime has been a radicalizing force. Good enough to keep me solidly liberal for the duration, probably.

I have to echo everything Edward Teller says about the antinomian mindset of these people.

Related:

Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster has a trenchant critique of the US military’s failures at counter-insurgency download the PDF from here. Note who his publishers are - the US Army. One of the HUGE changes in the last generation in the US army has been the influx of southern fundamentalist officers. To the point where they dominate. This ain’t good. For the record Aylwin-Foster was a very very very good anti-terrorist commander in Northern Ireland during a particularly “busy” time. I have enormous respect for him first as a decent human being and secondly as a soldier.

Please note especially his comments about “self-righteous” etc. I have to agree with him. Your officer corps are a big part of the reason why Iraq is a bloodsoaked mess.

Oops.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04.....ref=slogin

AL QUEDA MYTH

http://www.tompaine.com/articl.....a_myth.php

Fear for these people must be like adrenalin. It’s a rush, a high. And MaestroG (#42), the daily validation from guys like Limbaugh is an important part of it too.

Group psychology can and must be learned by the Democratic party if this we’re going to get through this.

wesgpc- there was certainly nothing meant in my comment as an attack on you- apologies if you thought so- and, I did say I’d have to go read the post to get the context. Maybe I was just pulling an “ageist” thing on you, assuming that you aren’t a boomer. Friends here, anon1, or I do hope so.

V.G.

I’m down in the studio FINISHING - YAY!! - a piece of music which had a tough time birthing. My son has the laptop and I forgot to reset the ID. Anyway, still looking for a new nom de blog.

wesgpc,

A lot of my boomer friends who didn’t like Clinton are becoming pretty disgusted and even activist about Bush. That’s the secular ones. The born-again crowd hate him for other reasons, sort of like they came to hate his father.

wesgpc - It is interesting times when the NYT and WaPo take a knee to Bush, and The Economist chews him a new one.

Thanks Kevin.

Its fear. And as you allude to, an ungodly love of fear that drives our brothers and sisters to be so faithless. Its almost as if they think they can bottle their unconsconcious screams and use it as the propellant they need to blast them up into the rapture.

We see it high and low. Whereas Kerry (regardless of what you may think of him) probably did risk fire in saving Rassman’s life, the Chickhawk’s recent display of valor consists of “going in” for Libby. Of course, the fire is all “friendly fire”. Shouldn’t be a surprise when Cheney is involved. Not that anyone is going to be surprised is Libby gets metaphorically shot in the face. (Couldn’t help it.)

And fear of what, now that the drums are beating for Iran?

Saving Israel? Lord. What does anyone think Iran will do with a nuke? Who would they attack who couldn’t (and wouldn’t) retaliate to degree that wouldn’t end Persian history? And that is what perplexes me. How does this story go?

I wish you’d stop calling them “conseratives” there’s nothing even remotely conservative about them. They’re extreme right wingers. Emphasis on extreme. I agree with with wesgpc calvinism bolted and gone to seed is exactly what it is. And excuse me who voted for Bush overwhelmingly????? Boomers.

Mind you I’m a European conservative which means that on the current American political spectrum pretty much everybody is to the right of me.

Excuse me…I still listen to the Jefferson Airplane.

“Up against the wall motherfuckers.” is a line that will never die!

ET, well, for your amusement, but I doubt that it’s a keeper:
‘edward teller’
anagrams to
‘Lewd, elder rat.’
http://www.anagramgenius.com/server.html

So Edward once the magnum opus is properly birthed are you going to be christening it with a magnum of champagne? :-)

Group psychology can and must be learned by the Democratic party if this we’re going to get through this.

You know what? I want that job. Commander of opposition research and psyops for a fire-breathing liberal politician. I want to be the Anti-Rove. Because I believe in the right to play dirty when the other side is as evil and dangerous as the people who are running our country now. They would fear my name. I would dig through their bank records, their credit card receipts, cell phone records. Anything I could lay hands on. (And I would find people who know how to get that information.) There wouldn’t be a Repugnican in DC with a live boy or a dead girl in their bed that I wouldn’t know about.

I would have a necklace of ears.

When I got done, Barbara Comstock would be afraid to pick up the phone to make a hair appointment without a lawyer and three witnesses in the room.

ooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh VG what a wonderful monniker! Any chance you do rework mine? Huh? huh? willya? willya? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze

wesgpc,

“I said “tendancy†to conservatism. Not that every boomer was conservative.”

That reminds me, there was a TV commercial that ran for months that just burned my ass. Fidelity Investments, City Group, something like that, not sure… (Paraphasing)… This is Carol, college student, Democrat, Sales Executive, Mom, Republican….

Subliminal crap (product and political)advertising. As if Democrat then Republican is the natural progression.

Grrrr…

markfromireland #66
Bernie Sanders (VT independent congressperson) calls them right wing extremists. That works too. Oh, he was specifically referring to BushCo. admin.

It isn’t just fear it’s also paranoia. They think everyone is out to get them. The thing is, they elevate their status by doing this. We don’t give a hoot about them and just want to be left alone. Did you ever notice that about paranoid people? They think everyone is watching them, and talking about them, and care about what they think or do. When in fact the only thing people are thinking about them is, “Please go away already.” I’m talking about your average conservative family member or neighbor here. We obviously do watch what conservative bloggers do and say mostly for amusement. That’s why I visit Tbogg first every day. LOL

Fear for these people must be like adrenalin. It’s a rush, a high.

It’s the Two Minutes’ Hate from 1984 except that it goes on forever.

Is there a trained shrink in the house?

When I got done, Barbara Comstock would be afraid to pick up the phone to make a hair appointment without a lawyer and three witnesses in the room.

TRex #70. I love that. I really do.

Went Bush promised to unite everybody back in 2000, who knew it would be that we all hate him.

TR @ 70,

Thanks for the reminder about “bank records”.

So, of course, far easier and more important than tapping people’s phones is grabbing those bank transactions. Almost a given given the work it takes to deal with voice communications or the semantic processing of e-mails. Follow the money.

Wouldn’t it be odd if on all those disks of bank transactions some have been deleted.

Hey Trex!

Do you mean like Bill Frist’s RED hanky?

Here’s the money quote - get digging:

Al Kamen’s column this morning in the Washington Post has an unexpected bit of hilarity regarding a très Brokeback fundraising invitation for Bill Frist:

The back of the card shows the cowboy from behind with a red flowered handkerchief sticking out of his right pocket. Wait a minute — wasn’t there something about how this used to be some kind of code in the gay community years ago? A way to signal each other in crowded, noisy bars?

So we checked the GayCityUSA.com’s Hanky Codes. Sure enough, there it was in the chart explaining what they mean: red hanky in right pocket. Oh, dear.

TR #70

A necklace of ears? Pure, unadulterated brilliance. You’ve certainly got my vote. And just so the born again get the message, we could put First Apostle of Kali on your office door.

I can’t take any credit, except for finding the anagram generator link: http://www.anagramgenius.com/server.php

‘markfromireland’
anagrams to
‘Alarm kind former.’

Hmm… doesn’t quite have the lewd rat ring to it. Sorry.

OT, but it’s Wolcott:

“Since September 11th, nearly all the pressure and energy has come from above, a topdown authoritarian lid clamped over the country–over the world–as the Bush administration preached a gospel of fear and launched its War on Terror. But over the last year or so, the energy and motion has surged from below in a renewal of people power, first in the Latin American cities that have elected new leaders, then in Paris, where students and supporters protested the proposed change in hiring/firing laws (and prevailed), and now, in the streets of American cities, where hundreds of thousands have decided to end their invisibility in the political process. The grip of fear can’t be sustained indefinitely in an open society addicted to entertainment and diversion, and Bush’s grip has cracked. He seems a shrugging, camera-mugging irrelevance when you see him on the stump now. It’s as if he’s trying to convince us he’s still in charge, or perhaps trying to convince himself.”

Is it three links or two that goes into automatic moderation? Because that’s from a Bill Princess Sparklepony blog entry And anyone less deserving of going into moderation than the sparkly princess I can’t think of.

Thesaurus Rex 70

I call it getting their “XYZ/timeline”

Most NeoConvict’s behavior, if illuminated so there friends and family and co-workers and employers could see it, would isolate them to a point where they could get a Real taste of Fear.

True banishment from the comfort or concern of any of their fellow humans, would be a form of solitary confinement they would not recover from.

Their hate is a form of self=destructive behavior. NeoConvicts are to cowdardly to kill themselves, so their twisted minds figure if they just piss enough people off around them, someone will eventually do the dirty deed for them and put them out of their misery.

hmmm Gorillas Guides gets turned into:

Is sludgier gaol

My real name (in Irish) becomes:

I’m childish piranhas in charm

and the English version of my real name becomes:

Manual, rude sparks

I’m torn between being a childish piranha and a rude spark. On balance I prefer the piranha.

markfromireland, I’m not sure if I understand your question. But I seem to remember a comment from RH that things are now set up so that more than two links = automatic moderation on FDL as a troll restraint.

Feckit I forgot to clear the sodding form fields.

Yeah you guessed right VG I run the same thing myself on markfromireland depending on troll activity and comment spam levels I ramp the number of permitted links up or down. On gorillasguides everything goes into the moderation queue.

Looks like Jane’s limit is two - which is fair enough and very reasonable so I’m not griping :-)

‘George W Bush’

anagrams to

‘He grew bogus.’

Valley Girl: I was joking. Thanks for the anagram generator. My real name turns up “I’m wild hot jog!” Hmmm… And I am on young end of boomerhood. Them damn boomers. Them damn hippies. Older brothers and sisters and cousins, that’s what I remember grade school and Jr High, all the repressed teachers who missed out on the sex and drugs and general wildness took it out on us. That’s what I think. I may have vented on this before here. If so, sorry.

And lemme tell ya, I could see signs of incipient reaction even back then! I could I tell you! If only I had the evidence!

Seriously, this was a great post tonight, and I think we need to point up the insecurity, paranoia resntment and irrational fear and (I think) lack of life-meaning that lies behind much of the hatred.

I do not understand the snotty supercilious superiority complex that sometimes seems to pervade my own boomer generation. What the hell did these people ever do? Compared to, Oh, I dunno, the two or three generations before them?

My real name scrambles to “A Fervid Sun God” and my porno name, “Davie Dong-Surf”.

GJ, #89. Well now, THAT’s a keeper.

‘Richard Bruce Cheney’
anagrams to
‘Hereby chancier crud.’

It’s sort of a martyr complex, but these disciples are determined not to repeat the mistakes of their teacher. They’d rather be the hammer and the nail. If they only could.

OK, the Rumsfeld one is spooky. I’m off for the night.

‘Dick Cheney’
anagrams to
‘Hence! Dicky.’

‘Donald Rumsfeld’
anagrams to
‘Muddler of lands.’

wesgpc:

all the repressed teachers who missed out on the sex and drugs and general wildness took it out on us

Tell me about it wailed markfromireland you ever come over here and we’ll drown our sorrows together ok? Copenhagen has one particularly excellent Irish pub with proper Guiness and whiskey you won’t find anywhere else even back home.

Ew. Firedoglake translantes to “godlier fake”. I can do better than that. “God Life-Rake”.

Okay, it doesn’t make any sense. Time for bed.

wesgpc- #90. Thanks. Glad to know I didn’t offend. And, kinda serious, and kinda not, I think that some of the superiority complex comes from the “music issue”, if you know what I mean. Too tired to explain more about this right now…

MsAnneNOLA, I wanted to ask how you’re doing? I talked to a friend near Springfield LA and rose bushes she thought had been killed by the storm were blooming. I hope it’s a sign of rebirth of the whole area.

VG - what a dangerous new toy!

my name anagrams to ‘Censor lush inclination’

hmmmmm

The rude sparks of pirahna boys. Ain’t that a Who song?

Very O/T for Easter I’m thinking of doing a “war on easter” gorilla’s guides special with Fisting Frist as the punchline. Do you guy’s think it’s worth doing?

Bullgoose - Traffic with Stevie Winwood I think

“fisting frist” calls for my “censure lush inclinations” methinks!

Thank you for this great post, Kevin - very thought-provoking. And it also got me thinking about how the ring wing’s rampant nationalism - as opposed to real patriotism - fits perfectly in these people’s fear-driven psyches.

NATIONALISM: Function: noun
A sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.

PATRIOTISM: Function: noun
Love for or devotion to one’s country

Embracing NATIONALISM and calling it PATRIOTISM is the right wing’s MO - it sets up as the ENEMY every culture, country, religion, color, thought that isn’t just like them, like you said. When nationalism is your religion, everybody is the enemy you need, anytime you need it.

And because Americans by and large don’t seem to know the difference between nationalism and patriotism - especially with our media that don’t care to educate and no doubt don’t know the difference themselves - democrats can always be set up as unpatriotic because we’re unnationalistic, for the most part.

And then this brought to mind what we all know - that rampant NATIONALISM is the first of the 14 characteristics of FASCISM.

http://www.veteransforpeace.or.....030303.htm

still war on easter sounds quite promising tho I am still recovering from your Artistic Cheney event!

Kevin, you’re reading too much into all of this. These wingnuts are simply mindless fools who pick up any rock they can throw when somneone threatens their smugness. They question the patriotism of anyone who questions the sanity of Republican policies. Others cry “racism” when anyone questions the benefits of open borders. Yet others cry “antisemitism” when anyone questions the benefits of subsidizing and supporting Israel. The wingnuts aren’t innately different. We’re right, and they’re wrong. It’s nothing deeper than that.

MFI- wanted to let you know that I saw your query #103 but at this point in the eve I can’t compose a sensible answer, were I to try. So, I have to say nite all.

My best friend’s name anagrams to “stun and pus”

Poor baby, I don’t think I’ll tell her.

Gentleman Jim-
“Most NeoConvict’s behavior, if illuminated so there friends and family and co-workers and employers could see it, would isolate them to a point where they could get a Real taste of Fear.”

Such a true observation, these people need thier LGF and Redstate to live out thier ultraviolent and racist fantasies; it’s hard to imagine they use this kind of language around thier kids or at the workplace, if they have one. I’m not saying that all blogs on the left are free of vulgarity or snotty attitudes, and they sometimes remind me of junior high school. That is one of the things that seems to draw people here and I think is one of the reasons that after the initial blast during the Libby indictment, people continued to come and stay- the posting is intelligent and well-written, the commenters are bright, interesting and follow the thread most of the time, and there is an effort, which I failed tonight, to keep trolls where they belong. When I go to Redstat , I am struck that it is like teenage boys who have slammed a 12 and are having a pissing contest behind the bleachers. No insight, no questioning of the paradigm, a puppy-like approval of the stronger opinions and the frequent use of vulgar words and ALL CAPS FOR EMPHASIS because of limited vocabulary.

Surely you can’t mean that you’re still recovering from this Siun? Muhaha!

Mark, fisting has a connotation of which you may not be aware, and could be inappropriate for a straight guy.

Kevin - seriously interesting post - thank you. One thing that really struck be in the early post 9/11 was how quickly even “liberal” media shifted into the realm of warblogging of sorts.
It’s when I stopped listening to NPR at all as they ramped up this nationalistic militaristic tone. On WBUR out of Boston, the evening talk show - is it On Point? Zennurse will know - could not hold a conversation on any topic without a 9/11 reference in every sentence … “and you’ve written a romance novel? so tell me how did 9/11 influence your choice of imagery?” etc

The best response in the media to 9/11 was the series of shows Bill Moyers did in the couple weeks immediately after on which he had genuinely sane people just talk about what was going on - it was brilliant and so needed - and never shifted into the war mentality.

I’ve lots of gay friends zennurse and recently “gave away” one of them in Copenhagen Town hall where he and his boyfriend were getting married.

:-)

Anyway irrespective of what sex (or species) attracts them people like Frist and Santorum can by no means be described as “straight.”

Siun,

Your’re right. Musta been thinking ‘High heel sneekers’ or something.

A habit obscene and unsavoury
Holds Dr. Fristy in slavery
With maniacal howls
He deflowers young owls
That he keeps
In an underground aviary.

Zenn … I was about to reply to your advice to MFI but on second thought, I’ll preserve my censured lush image.

And MFI - Herr Cheney’s Birth Throes can still lead to serious squick reaction here.

Sorry Jane,

I just couldn’t resist please don’t ban me.

PS: I’ve a few more if you want ‘em.

Yep, siun, I know what you mean, but they are much better since that idiot Right wing guy left. Tom Ashcroft on On Point has been hot on the political stuff lately, althoug it still takes them a day or two to catch up to bloggers with the real news. I think you have to pick and choose what you listen to on NPR. We have On Point 4 hours a day and Terry Gross is always fascinating. I love This American Life, Studio 360 and On the Media as well. WBUR just got the AP award for news stationof the year. I wish they had Democracy Now and American Justice, though.

I think the Bill Moyers series can be downloaded somewhere, I’ll have to look.

Tomorrow, though, it’s wicked late.

Sweet Dreams.

Bullgoose - I was rather obsessive about the Who for quite a while … saw them on their first US tour at a Murray the K show at the Brooklyn Fox … (now that dates me completely!) and at their Tommy performance at the Fillmore East … astonishing.

I really liked your quick pickup of the high heeled piranhas btw … nice!

Mark, I misread! I thought you wrote Fisting Fitz!!! And of course you knew, but just in case, I had to defend Patrick, my man in justice, y’know. I get it now and can’t wait.

Sweet Dreams to you Zennurse!

I was heading to sleep myself until I saw such a good FDL crew on … but soon it’s pillow time.

MFI - banned for poetics of an avian nature - I can see it now!

OK zennurse I’ll take that as incitement :-) Incidentally we can’t get it here in Denmark but on cable back home in Dublin we got PRI worth listening to if you can get it on radio where you are.

Nite all. War plan description from 2005 -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00071.html

The Moyers was not his regular series but something like 2 weeks of special short shows he did immediately after 9/11 … had Karen Armstrong on and folks like that. It was such a good counterpoint to the general insanity of the 24/7 nationalism rant.

He he he Siun and may St. Ronny the gaga’s remains achieve 10,000 rpm as I type:

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Time for more coffee, a shave, a shower, and then out, to plot and plan ….

*poof*

neurophius = supine hour. I looked supine up and still don’t know what it means.

real name = Ssh! Nice n’ major! Don’t know what to think of that one, either.

off to dreamland here as well … early am press checks so enough sleep to see the colors on the proofs would be wise

thanks to fdl friends for awesome info and the little spots of silliness to keep us all going!

TRex #70, I love your attitude! As far as I’m concerned, the job is yours. With help from all of us here at FDL, of course. We’re not going away. ;)

‘Newt Gingrich’
anagrams to
‘Wrenching git.’

Now really *poof*

Suin,

Better dated than post-dated, in this case. I was obsessed with the Doors in my youth. But Morrison was long dead. I had to settle for a “Back Doors” concert. What a ripoff.

And the hits just keep on coming…

This series thing is becoming a ‘must read’ habit for me. Kudos to all the great writers on FDL who are giving our counterparts on the Darkside intellectual heartburn.

It is a wierd social phenomena. Our ability to destroy the world a couple of times over seems to effect the genocidists on the Right quite differently and in a very strange way. You’d think that they would relax,secure in knowing we have such a strong numerical advantage in weapon systems. But they seem to be looking for any conflict nail to justify using the nuclear hammer. 40 years ago it was the Godless Communists who needed glassifying…now it is the Godless Islamists (trust me, in the minds of these anti-social paranoids, there is no logical contradiction of terms). I continually ask myself, “Do these people really want to see us wipe out 50-100MM people with a simple push of the button? Really?”

Interestingly, many of these same people profess themselves to be good Christians. Now, if they truely believed the Book that they give so much lipservice to, might they be a tad bit nervous about having to explain to their Heavenly Judge all of their mortal ideas about nuking everything not named USA? I think it’s a safe bet to conclude that most of these people are as honestly religious as the pResident they venerate.

This OP must have the nutters steaming. They really, really want to jump in and stink up the joint with their insults….but doing so will only validate the premise of this argument. What a quandry for the anti-socialists…..

I looked supine up and still don’t know what it means.

It means “lying down”.

“Iran’s miraculous plug-and-play nuclear arsenal”

Thanks, Kevin, that’s a keeper. Overall marvelous, but this phrase is for the ages.

#134 Thesaurus Rex says:
I looked supine up and still don’t know what it means.
It means “lying downâ€.

I thought that was ‘prostrate’. So I ran it together with ’supine’ in the anagram generator linked above, to see if some compromise position could be worked out, and got ‘pureness patriot’. Now we’ve come full-circle.

Actually, supine is lying down with face up. The antonyms are prone or prostrate, lying face down.

Great comments tonight. Thanks to Kevin for an excellent post and to VG for the anagram link.

I’m “Chronic Burglarised”.

Thanks Kevin for an interesting if slimy read. Those guys are nothing but paintball patriots.

sorry to see you go markfromireland

always love a limmerick or two

just where does one go to plot and plan?

Thanks to the troll patrol for your quick work.

Thanks for the research and post, Kevin. Your amplification of Matt Taibbi’s insight was enlightening. Matt is absolutely right. It’s all posturing and poseuring to hide their craven fear and the craven choices they’ve made. And, of course they haven’t the courage to turn back. They didn’t have when they faced the choice the first time and it just gets harder and harder from there.
The single most effective thing I’ve found is just call ‘em on their fear. Their faces either just drop or they light up like a roman candle. Either way they stand exposed before the viewing audience (if there is one, that is).

“Of all the abundant elements in the universe, human stupidty is only exceeded by hydrogen.”

I can’t remember the author of that, but I sure like it.

The only thing they have is fear itself.

“Now that right there is a special kind of full-blown crazy you will never, ever see on lefty blogs. And what’s nearly as shocking is that no righties, even some semi-reasonable ones, seem to flinch when they read increasingly homicidal shit like that from their pee-stained brethren.”

Here’s a three-part example of the homicidal mania you will never see on a lefty blog.
(link is to FDL ;-)
(Preview isn’t working for me, so here’s the copy-paste version in case the other fails http://www.firedoglake.com/200.....ment-64543 )

www.socialsoldier.com

thats hella funny go the wrong wing!

Another EPUed entry…the story of my life. Oh well it is OT as well…kinda, THANKS Kevin for the window into more more insanity.

My OT comment is a strong suggestion for everyone to go to Raw Story and follow the link
to Rolling Stone article on Abramoff and the GOP. Talk about snark…this is the sort of story that the MSM should be doing but isn’t. It says a lot about the sickness that is the current USA when the Rolling Stone provides the most REAL journalism in the country. What a hoot. I haven’t subscribed in years but may have to do so to know what is really going on in this country. THANK YOU!! Matt Taibbi for being a REAL reporter for a journal that is not part of the fascist cabal trying to screw this country and its citizens.

What an entry into this series! Kevin gives us paragraphs and paragraphs of psychologizing, a quote from a minor blogger I and probably most everybody else has never heard of, a random smatter of LGF comments of which half are extremely tasteless yet funny jokes (particularly like the what color eyes, blew! one), and a complaint from Hewitt whose truth is shown by reading the comments here. It only hangs together for the bobbleheaded chorus who write “thank you for that insightful reinforcement of my ignorance and hate!”. Can’t wait till the next essay in the series.

Something I noticed - I think LGF set up some kind of special filter where links to their website from firedoglake are automatically transferred to the Israeli Defense Forces website in Hebrew.

If true, Charles Johnson has sunk to a new low.

Unfortunately, I don’t foresee that cacophony ending any time soon.

No. Neither do I. I think it will take a massive, traumatic shock to the country, a defeat and/or depression on the scale of what the Germans or Japanese had to cope with, to electroshock the lunatic fringe back to its natural habitat, down to 10% or so from its current 25%.

Great post Kevin. Digby was right, you are an incredible writer and I hope you make a blogger comeback.

What I want to ask Hugh Hewitt if I ever had the dissatisfaction of ever meeting him would be, what is worse, the use of profanity (the f-word, the s-word, etc.) or hate/violent speech (”raghead,” “that bitch got what she deserved,” etc.)?

“Facts: They are what you make of them.”

Matt, #148

Yes, I went to your post from last week - and tried to link from some of the “examples” you had. I got that re-direct you mention.

Matt,

I just clicked the “she was a moonbat…” link from Kevin’s post. It took me to LGF.
I believe one of the other guest writers in the Wolfie series mentioned LGF redirects also. I think they said the redirect was IP based. Not sure about this though. Got too many windows open right now to check.

BullGoose,
I am still getting the Israeli Defense Force website so I guess it is IP-based, though how would they get Jacqrat and my IP addresses?

If it is LGF purposely redirecting to the IDF…
Define irony: LGF is a henhouse for chickenhawks and military service is required in Israel… Go figure.

OT - Back when Clinton was leaving office, on one of his last days he set off a firestorm of controversy by pardoning a bunch of people, including the fellow who was mentioned in a post just recently, because it appeared that the President received huge donations from the guy.

Were any of these pardon “overturned” in any way? I seem to recall a call for a judicial review of the pardons; what, if anything, can be done to overturn a presidential pardon?

Just wondering, because as Plamegate heats up there might be a few pardons that affect the course of the investigation.

Republicans are notoriously competitive. They see everything in the context of winners and losers. Compulsive fear of being “the loser” leaves them incapable of perceiving win win situations. They would rather the ship sink then see another successfully navigate.

Good morning, friends.

With all the intense discussion yesterday, I don’t remember whether anyone referred to this, so forgive if it’s redundant:

WaPo Discussion with John Harris

Nothing earthshaiking, but one person notes that re: the Fred Hiatt editorial, the WaPo online and print are not separate in terms of reputation.

Sorry, Matt.
Whenever I go to LGF, I turn my firewall, webfilters, etc., to 11 on a scale of 10. It’s cumbersome. I wrote comment #152 after testing the redirect, but decided to confirm what I had written before posting. In the process of raising and lowering my defenses, closing windows, blah blah blah, shit happens.
Disregard the IP thing. I can’t remember where I read that.
The LGF redirect is mentioned at Pam Spaulding’s ‘LGF watch’ here.

A truly excellent post, and one with too many points to laud individually. There’s a certain (large) segment of the right where attempts at reasonable discourse are futile. I learned this by debating with several of them over a long period of time at another website. Whenever confronted with facts, I mean quantifiable recorded facts, they responded with rhetoric. ‘The left loves al Qaeda.’ ‘The left hates the military.’ ‘People have so many rights that they don’t have any rights.’

Frankly, I gave up on those people. When someone’s that focused on being viewed as right (correct), engaging them is a big waste of time. I pay attention to what they say, because it’s good knowledge to have. But I don’t argue facts with them or over-explain my positions because it’s a waste of time and energy. As the saying goes, if you argue with an idiot, they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Instead I’ve found it’s best to call them on their tactics - such as branding everyone who doesn’t fall in line behind Bush a terrorist - rather than engage in a pissing match.

.
Part II appears first, scroll down for part I :

A HISTORY OF THE CAR BOMB; AN AIRFORCE WITHOUT WINGS

Kevin K:

A-fucking-men.

And kudos to firedoglake for putting together this series. I don’t have the fortitude to click the links that I see on Memeorandum, but it’s clear that there is a lot of poison and hysterics out there. And to see it seeping into places that should know better (the Washington fucking Post), is very frustrating. The posts in this series are an excellent antidote.

Suddenly, I’ve got a major woody for Bush. Do not click this link.

Probably my first EPU, and it’s OT (don’t I know the lingo?):

Wish me luck, y’all. I’m headin’ into Winger Country.

Yes, it’s Easter with the in-laws. The ones who said after 9/11 “if I saw an Arab walking down my driveway I’d shoot him!” and they live in fucking Cabarrus county.

Last time–at Christmas, natch–my wife’s uncle wore his ignorance like a Medal of Freedom as he blamed the deficit on Clinton, condoned torture and rendition, favorably compared Iraq to Vietnam (smaller pile of bodies/Vietnam was a “Democrat war”) and then indulged himself in an “n-word” laced diatribe about how NOLA residents were too befuddled by generations on welfare to know when it was time to leave. While the kids played around his feet. My younger and more thoughtful brother-in-law offered the new meme that Bush was never a true conservative.

I find myself making excuses to miss these get-togethers, mostly because I’m afraid of snapping and going all Keith Moon on their furnishings.

I’m going to bring a pillow. Not to support my back during the drive, but so I can scream into it.

Happy birthday, Jeebus! I mean, the other one. Tommy Yum (anagram: Mummy Toy) is comin’ to Winger Country.

OT- I like this new system for posting comments but have experienced the same bug several times: missing comments followed by comments with an enlarged font. Has anyone else had this problem? Maybe it’s a bug in the Safari web browser. It would help to have feedback from others to debug the problem, esp. what browser you are using if you have experienced this problem. Thanks.

A colleague of mine was incredibly close friends with Marla Ruzicka. I’m a human rights activist and reading those comments from LGF make me truly sick. I would never dare show them to anyone who knew or worked with Marla.

My friend returned from Afghanistan yesterday. While he was there he met a woman named Orfa who had lost her husband, his other wife (it’s Afghanistan), her five children, and her cousin when a US bomb accidentally destroyed her home in Kabul during the early days of the US campaign in Afghanistan. Marla was there to help her liaise with the US military and embassy to help her get reparations to build her a new home.

Marla wasn’t able to succeed while she was in Afghanistan in getting Orfa a new home, but she made her a cardboard sign that read “I lost eight family members. I need a home” that she could bring to the front of the US embassy. No one has ever come to investigate the destruction of the bombing. Only now, four and a half years after Orfa lost her entire family and her home, has she been given $10,000 to build a new home.

My coworker talked to many people in and around Kabul who knew Marla and loved and respected her. Anyone who fails to recognize that this woman was the definition of a saint clearly shows themselves as no better than the slime that we went to Afghanistan to pursue.

TR #70
Maybe we can get Fitzgerald to be your enforcer. Than we’d get them to learn what true fear/terror really means!

Polemics. Preying on the fears, ignorance, and superstition of people in this country who have nothing else going for them. This discarded agricultural belt. Those languishing in suburbs and exurbs, perpetually pathetically pre-rich.

This is polemics. This is why Somerby and his lick-spittles, who have plauged these pages with nothing of value for too long, are worse than useless in fighting the right. They’re happy to go on getting killed in a fight they’ve never joined, whining about what happend to poor, poor Al Gore six years ago, thereby playing directly into the role the right has set for you.

If you’re not going to offer any competing narrative you can’t tear down those who are and still claim you’re on their side. If you do nothing but contribute to the propaganda that’s used against us all, you’re one of them, and I really don’t give a shit if you’re too dumb to know it.
.

Let’s try that again.
.
.
.
Suddenly, I’ve got a major woody for Bush. Do not click this link.

They would rather the ship sink then see another successfully navigate.

I think the word you’re looking for is “sociopath.”
.

Anyone see this:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld.....336462.htm

AT&T gave the NSA access to its switching centers in 2003. Phone calls, internet. Made rooms to accomodate them. San Francisco, LA, Seattle. Plug in here, sir.

Tommy Yum-
I feel for you. But you have a good opportunity to see if even they are changing their views. And also, you could try subtle digs on Bush and see how they go over.

I know this is OT and I am EPUing myself, but I am really mad and there isn’t a new thread.

Yesterday, the ladies had this quote up:

Update: NYT printed this correction today: “Although Mr. Fitzgerald formally filed his corrective yesterday, accounts of it were provided to some news organizations on Tuesday night, and were the basis for news articles yesterday. The Times did not publish one, as other organizations did, because a telephone message and an e-mail message about the court filing went unnoticed at the newspaper” (hat tip MK). Who was doing the calling and the emailing? Three guesses, and the first two don’t count.

Today, the freakin’ NYTimes has an article that IMPLIES, but doesn’t say, that the leak came from Fitz.

Now, If they got an email and phone call, they KNOW who the leaker is..

I think if it was the tall man with the rumpled suit, they would not hesitate to out him. SOOO, I’m thinking this is just garden variety smear.

Note, they try to taunt him by asking his press guy for a quote, which said press guy can’t give.

This sort of fertilizer really fries my fritters. The little weasels are SOOO afraid of a fair fight. All schoolyard bullies are fundamentally cowards.

Just wanted to vent.

Theasaurus Rex has the right idea. But I have to admit that it’s weird to see the lightbulb still going on for people at this late a date.

There is no debate coming from the right. It’s all advertising. They laugh when you take them seriously, when you defend instead of counterattacking. They brag about being able to tie lefties up in knots and waste time.

They believe nothing, which is why it’s easy for them to say anything. Since they are merely an extension of corporate America, all that marketing expertise was right there, ready to be used against you.

You can catalog all the mean things they’ve said about you and your candidates, you can fact-check all the journalists who’ve either willingly or witlessly passed on their lies, and you’ll only be playing the part the right has written for you: the whiny, useless, pushover leftie.

You have to make their most solid base their liability. You must take the people who’re never going to vote for you and make a charicature out of them that will scare the shit out of our base, and all you have to do to accomplish that is to tell the truth. They’re after your constitution, your freedoms, they send your job overseas and then they send your kid overseas and nothing happens to them.

They think they’re caudillos in a third-world country. So far, they’re right.
.

I emailed this to Hugh Hewitt yesterday, asking him if this was his producer:

Smells like “disease-ridden” Hugh Hewitt to me

From Howard Kurtz today:

“Michael Yon reports from the UAE on the facts of life in conservative talk radio:

“Last week, in America, a radio producer for a large syndicated program in the United States called me requesting that I go on the show, a show that has hosted me many times and where I’ve been referred to as, ‘Our man in Iraq.’ But when I said Iraq is in a civil war, that same producer slammed down the phone and, in so doing, demonstrated how much he reveres truth… When the receiver slammed into the phone, the producer revealed himself naked; he was not supporting the troops, nor the Iraqis, but the president. . . .

“So whose opinions should we respect on matters Iraq? Smart combat veterans who have graduated from top schools in the United States and who have faced bombs and bullets and bled in Iraq, or a radio producer who has never been there and who cannot control his temper in the face of words? It’s time we listened to our combat leaders .”

This was his reply:
You should ask Michael, who has appeared on my program many times and for whom I have raised funds. But I suspect you won’t print that, or his answer. HH

Hugh is fond of calling liberals “disease-ridden”.
Unfortunately, as far as “fearful” misinformers go, there are worse than Hugh Hewitt.

BTW, Hewitt will be fielding questions today at the WaPo online at 11:00 AM Eastern time.

Fantastic post and fortitude. FDL is an amazing place; thanks!

They are training a generation of young Democratic activists to be angry, vulgar, profane, and cruel.

Hey, that’s what I’m here for! To help train a generation of young, angry, vulgar, profane, and cruel Dem activists, because God knows, WE NEED THEM.

To wear this hatred as a shield of armour. To hold it out first, to walk with it daily, to even worship it. This post enlightened me and was profoundly insightful. Thank you. No wonder these extremists can’t believe in evolution - social & biological. It becomes imperative to retain the status quo.

Deliberately EPUing:

Explore Wingnuttia with this web site linkage tool:

http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html

Whether it is group psychology or marketing, we do have to use it but not in the same way that they do. I think that is why you don’t see Democrats using it, because what the Republicans do is manipulation. What we should be doing is exposing that manipulation. I told this story over at Steve Gillard’s during the transit strike, but it fits both this post, and almost any situation in which the wealthy corporatist right divides people.

I’m native american, about 10 years ago a bunch of us were talking and someone said something like the government makes us fight over crumbs. The wealthy and powerful are sitting at the table gorging themselves while we are under it beating each other up over the crumbs. In the context of native americans, alot of white people don’t know the history or circumstances of how things came to be. Whites thought that indians were incapable of managing their own affairs and so they took over our lands and resources and paid royalties for them instead. Over time the government then decided it would be easier to pay small amounts in welfare programs than the annual royalty checks. But do you think the white people who live near reservations know this? No the indians are welfare bums who are getting something for nothing. What should happen is the government can take their welfare checks and stick it where ther sun don’t shine, and give back the lands and resources for native americans to manage themselves. They would charge a realistic fee to the oil companies, forestry industry, hydroelectric corporations, instead of the give aways of the government. Indians wouldn’t be welfare bums anymore, but do you think the corporations will ever give up the bargain basement deal (rip off) of native american resouces? Politicians and corporations are gorging themselves at the table while average native americans and whites are fighting over the crumbs. When I lived on the reservation in the early 80’s, I lived in a condemned house and got $42 every two weeks in welfare, this is what the whites were envious over…crumbs.

In the context of the transit strike, even some liberals were angry and said things like, I don’t have health care and I don’t have a pension plan or early retirement options, why should they? They should be happy with what they got! Anti union sentiment, and pro corporate sentiment is that strong. These people who should know better if they knew the history behind the labor movement, should have been saying, “What happened? Why don’t I have health care, a pension, or early retirement options?” We should be fighting for everyone to have a decent life instead of bringing everyone down to poverty levels so that the rich can get richer. Fighting over crumbs instead of demanding a seat at the table.

The same goes for this whole controversy over immigration. Because the job market is getting tighter, people are getting worried that immigrants will take the only jobs that are left. We’re to the point that we are worried about the crap jobs that get less than minimum. Intead of looking at the corporations that outsource and take their profits off shore so that they don’t have to pay their fair share of the taxes as the problem, we fight over crumbs, while they gorge themselves on billions in profit.

This is this psychology that has to be spread, this is our marketting. John Edwards gets this idea with his two Americas. The racists and bigots are lost causes, but average Americans will get the idea. They will see how they divide and conquer us to fight over nothing while they laugh and count the money in their stock portfolios.

“I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.

So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor.” - Rev. Martin Luther King -

My Father spent 20 years as an Army Officer/Green Beret, 10 years after retirement in the Middle East. He told me in digust after his 2nd tour of Nam that “war in our Country is for profit only”. I didn’t believe him then, I do now.

My only Nephew is currently with the Navy in the Gulf.

It is time for the DRAFT w/no exceptions - then, perhaps WAR FOR PROFIT will not be an option!!!

What an amazing analysis, Kevin. Thanks!

Good point on the argument story from Taibbi.

I miss you at “Catch,” Kevin. Come back soon.

Kevin K,
You da man!!! That was one of the best posts I’ve ever read about these fearful, hateful sissies.
I wonder, do they ever go outside where they could get hurt? Do they drive? Or are Mommy and Daddy so happy with their little progeny that they bring home Beefaroni, Zagnuts and Mountain Dew so that they can stay indoors to protect their milky-white pasty skin from contacts with non-Anglo’s?
What do we do with these people? They don’t have brains we can wash. I guess we let them type away until they pass away from Diabetic Shock.
“Hey, Zagnut, have another Twinkie! How ’bout some chips?”

Everyone, thanks for the kind words. And thanks to Jane for letting me take a crack at this.

Kevin K -

No, thank you. Just go ahead and reserve your 2007 Koufax Award.

Great job.

-DFL

I didn’t read all this last night, but thanks to Atrios’ link, I came back.

So. Fucking. FUNNY.

And sadly true…

As Alex Trebek would say, “Nicely done!”

Kevin,

One other consolation for those of us in the reality-based world is that we can enjoy sex - with other people. Pardon me if this is crude, but these Zagnuts you quote couldn’t get laid with a fistful of pardons in a womens prison. I think Dad secretly buys him a Hustler every once in a while to make sure he’s still interested in women. Mom really hates that when she has to wash his sheets every other month.
“Dad, not another Hustler… I’m waaaay too high-tech for that!”

Beautiful, just beautiful! I’ll admit, it’s a little sad watching these fruitcakes flounder as the ugly truth sinks in, but they had it coming.

Edward Teller:

Missed your question the other night. I’m in Fairbanks.

Another good bit of Jefferson Airplane lyrics is this from Rejoyce:

War’s good business
So give your son
But I’d rather have my country
Die for me

Since Rejoyce is a condensation of Joyce’s Ulysses, maybe it’s Joyce’s line?

Excellent stuff, Kevin K., I hope you do more stuff on FDL.

Oh, and fuck Bob Somerby.

Once again, absolutely amazing stuff. You are putting words to what many of us also feel. PLEASE PUT OUT A BOOK OF THIS STUFF!

Kevin,
Thank you SO very much for this wonderful post!
I wish I could print it out, because I would put it in a frame on my livingroom wall for all to see.
That way, when I’m feeling so damn irrelevant and beaten down in this fight for my country and my grandson’s future, I would have it on hand to lift my spirit.
Will you be our President? PLEASE?

Thanks for writing about Marla Ruzicka. Today is the anniversary of her tragic death. I remember her in the Atlantic Review: Civilian Victims of War.She did advance U.S. interests:Marla: Reconciliation. Thanks.

Thanks for paying a tribute to Marla.

Marla’s NGO has started a new photo campaign of compassion to “send a loud and clear message to our leaders as well as to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. All over the world… We are watching. We stand in solidarity. We care.”

We have called for participation in our blog: Atlantic Review.