Ah, where are real leaders with balls of steel when you need them?
Maybe it’s just, I cast my eyes back on the last century …
FDR: Oh, I’m sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we’re coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How’s that going to feel?
CHURCHILL: Yeah, you keep bombing us. We’ll be in the pub, flipping you off. I’m slapping Rolls-Royce engines into untested flying coffins to knock you out of the skies, and then I’m sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.
US. NOW: BE AFRAID!! Oh God, the Brown Bad people could strike any moment! They could strike … NOW!! AHHHH. Okay, how about .. NOW!! AAGAGAHAHAHHAG! Quick, do whatever we tell you, and believe whatever we tell you, or YOU WILL BE KILLED BY BROWN PEOPLE!! PUT DOWN THAT SIPPY CUP!!
… and I’m just a little tired of being on the wrong side of that historical arc.
Kung Fu Monkey is kicking ass and taking names. Sometimes, you read a post and wish to hell that you had written it yourself. This is one of those posts.
For the record, of course I’m worried about my safety and that of my family. Of course we need to take all necessary precautions, support good police investigative work, recruit more human intel capability both here in the US and abroad, take whatever steps are necessary to shore up our homeland security (really shore it up, not just put a bandaid on a huge gaping hole and declare a PR victory)…you know, get our hands dirty and do some real work on the issues at hand. All of us — every single person in this nation of ours, pulling together.
But I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let Osama Bin Laden dictate how I live my life.
And I would appreciate it if the President of the United States would have the guts to do the same. If you need me, I’ll be living my life exactly like I did before…with a selected finger for the terrorists, and another for all those pantywaists who cower in the corner when they say boo.
The Canadian press has picked up on the White House politicization of national security matters. Even Margaret Carlson is making fun of the Bush Administration crying "wolf!" one too many times. I’d say that the scare tactics are losing their lustre if Carlson is making fun of Bushie’s inability to do anything but fail and Cheney’s sneer.
In a survey published this month of 100 foreign policy experts, retired military officers, veteran intelligence officers, former secretaries of state and national security advisers there was a striking consensus across political lines. A bipartisan majority, 84 percent, say the U.S. is not winning the war on terror, and 86 percent see a world growing more dangerous. The U.S., they agree, is falling short in its homeland security efforts, according to the survey, which was conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the magazine Foreign Policy.
Against all that, Cheney is hoping he can sell the theory that Lieberman didn’t lose because he’s too close to a president who has further imperiled us. He also hopes the elections later this year don’t turn on the question posed by Democrats, “Do you feel safer than you did five years ago?”
Not really, no. The grown-ups who actually know something about foreign policy and the long-term ramifications to American prestige and influence of continued failures in this arena are grading Junior with a big, fat F. Do you trust the Bush Administration and the Rubber Stamp Do-Nothing Republican Congress to continue unfettered, running the country with little or no oversight, continuing their profligate spending ways with little to nothing to show for all that money pouring out of the treasury, after the last five years? Me, neither.
Had enough?
(PS — Bob Geiger has the Saturday Cartoons up. H/T to reader egregious for the heads up on the KFM post. Great stuff.)
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Let me die in my footsteps
Before I go down under the ground.
– 1963
“…I’ll be living my life exactly like I did before…with a selected finger for the terrorists, and another for all those pantywaists who cower in the corner when they say boo.”
Exactly.
And I’ll be damned sure to talk about the lack of the same action from BushCo.
I hate to say this about anyone, but I have more trepidation about the current mis-administration than I do of Ossama bin Buggin’. BushCo has done far more damage tho this country than any terrist ever will.
Great post Redd- Yep this election will be about fear and whether goopers can get people afraid enough to overlook the obvious bankruptcy of the gooper track record. They are the original CGS party- Can’t Govern Shit!
The arrests in the UK are too far away from the election to have any lasting effect- but I won’t be surprised if GW Clusterfuck arrests a gang a month between now and november. They may never go to trial- but the arrests will help fan the fear factor.
The same people who are hiding under the covers, clutching their teddy bears and wetting their pj’s are the exact same people who won’t go to the “bad” parts of town because “those people” will rob, rape, assault or murder them.
Me, I go right into West or South San like I own the muddafuggin town, and nobody messes with me. A white woman in her 40s. I’ve seen them mug your classic scared white coward bigot, but me–left completely alone. Why? Because I didn’t see the locals as the dreaded OTHER.
It’s all part of a piece.
9/11 didn’t change one damned thing about the way I live my life, except keeping me from concerts. For some reason, the locals in San Antone think that every rock concert will have terrorist activity, so it takes hours to get into a venue. When I bitched about it to a security person, she said, “We’re keeping you safe.” I shot back the Franklin quote at her. She looked at me like I was crazy. It wasn’t a popular viewpoint in 2003.
Excellent post, Christy. The GOP are clutching their sippy cups and trembling in their fuzzy little booties, because they know the public is fed. up. with their fearmongering failure do anything but play politics while ignoring the issues that really matter. And their time of reckoning is fast approaching.
“Tucker Carlson’s mom”
Huh? ; )
“Nothing to fear, but fear itself” would currently point to Bushco. By this time, you’d think 90% of the population would say, “If the admin is telling us to be afraid ALL the time, they’re not doing their jobs or are sinister manipulators of the public or both. I don’t remember ever hearing this kind of rhetoric from our own president or vp. Read today in either WaPo or NYT that the republicans believe that the foiled attack in Britain gives them the go-ahead with surveillance policies and Gitmo tactics. How is it that every shred of news supports their insanity and lawlessness and points to their hope for a win in November?
55 percent, approve of Bush’s handling of terrorism and homeland security (40 percent disapprove), an 11-point boost since May, returning the President to levels not seen since early 2005.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14317706/
Hey, LJ/A, how are you doing? Getting some sleep, I hope?
FYI-Carlsons are unrelated
Cozumel @ 9
Jeebus. WTH is wrong with people?
55% APPROVE? How does that square with his 36% JAR recently polled?
Another report on CT quotes supporters for Lieberman. Why do they?
He’s been “good for CT” and Lamont would be a “powerless” senator.
Keep asking this simple question, loud and clear, over and over and over. Use the Republican tactic of framing an issue in the simplest terms and keep hammering away at it, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Why is Osama bin Laden still at large five years after 9/11?
Christy, this ought to be put up on billboards all over America!
I often wonder about the WWII vets that are still with us. I wonder if they lie awake at night and ponder the difference between their country back then and now. I wonder if they stare at the ceiling and think “my best buddy, a 19 year old boy, was shot blown to bits on a beach in France so that we could become Bush’s America”. I wonder if they think that their horrific sacrifices were in vain.
I wonder if that 19 year boy, Ike Eisenhower, FDR, and all the other fallen band of brothers are now spinning with disgust in their graves.
Uh… Maggie isn’t Tuckie’s mum. Don’t know what happened to Tuckies’ Mum. His stepmom is one of the frozen food Swansons, though!
How much more is it going to TAKE? The white noise seems barely penetrable! We’re running out of time to stop the madness.
I posted this comment earlier, but I think it bears repeating. (I will however paraphrase myself.)
Who is winning the GWOT? Who is recruiting more soldiers, Bush or Osama?
Pithy. I like pithy. Of course our recruitment levels are down dangerously low due to our misadventure into Iraq, which has nothing to do with our GWOT except to diminish our efforts and increase theirs.
Christy Hardin Smith, I love you.
Leslie:
FINALLY, I’m sleeping again. I feel like a new person, already, but my doctor is keeping me at home for another week, to re-align my sleeping schedule (and heal up from other things).
Thanks for asking!
Excellent post, Christy. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s terribly annoyed that every time some self-aggrandizing sociopathic whacko says “boo” all of America is expected to go running around their living rooms with arms flailing above their heads. Please. I’m not gonna jump every time al-Simon says, okay?
Peace.
Well done, Christy. Just keep hammering. Instead of focusing on the real problems, the Bush war-whackos are creating chaos and inciting hatred whereever they go, and it’s making everyone less safe. Just ask the Lebanese, and the Iraqis, and the Pakistanis, and . . .
The bottom line is there is no way to protect this country from determined people who want to strike back at us, if we keep fanning that hatred. But with Cheny/Rummy et al neocons in charge, US policy is to bomb Islamists everywhere, disregard the casualties, and pretend that’s not our policy.
And that WWII poster of Rosie with the wrench (many threads back?) — that’s how I picture you. Unflappable. Unbeatable. There’s hope.
Margaret Carlson is- in my opinion- one of the sanest of the Washington wags. I admire her.
I’m not sure why, but Margaret Carlson reminds me of Bunny Rabbit on Captain Kangaroo.
These people have proven –every single day– that they are good at only one type of talent: smearing and negative marketing. They seem absolutely sure that our media will report only their spin, or report their lies as the final say, repeated over and over. I think that’s their only strategy, to use the simple-minded push-over corporate media to echo their lies. They can’t effectively govern, they can’t effectively set or administer policy. They can’t do anything but spin lies.
MAYBE we’ve proven now in Connecticut we can counter the lies, and maybe the American people now have the wisdom to not only demand the truth, but be able to discern the truth, and then have the courage to vote for the truth tellers.
Damn I hope the elections aren’t fixed.
—
And Thank You all for such exciting writing this week while I lurked in between crazed summer business. I don’t know about anyone else, but it really helps me feel positive that you-all are thinking and working to keep us free.
Justmy2 at 11 — huh — all this time…and Wiki says they aren’t either. Thanks for the correction. *g*
Churchill, FDR, Lincoln, MLK, Rabin, al-Sadat, Ghandi, Rachel Corrie, Bobby Kennedy, John Sirica, Earl Warren and so many others. We will I fear, never see the likes of these sorts of folks again.
FDR: Oh, I’m sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we’re coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How’s that going to feel?
But first, I’m going to lock anybody with slanty eyes in a Concentration Camp in the middle of EastFuckKnowsWhere, California!
oh. I guess part that doesn’t count.
Carry on!
Lady Bug, 16: “I often wonder about the WWII vets that are still with us.”
You’re looking at one of them. No I am not in my grave, but I am spinning with disgust nevertheless. The United States and its allies fought victoriously against fascism in Europe and the Far East. Today we are fighting fascsim at home. To a vet, this is a huge turnaround. Historical.
sofistic @
15
Dubya seems to have it on his desk. “August – must go to Crawford, or bin Laden wins.”
Conyers has a report out
Any guesses how many pages it runs?
Nothing to fear but fear itself? How about nothing to fear but the continuing ignorance of the majority of Americans to the abusive powers being assumed by those pulling Bush’s strings?
I may sound a bit like Chicken Little, but about a month to six weeks from now, BushCo is going to realize that the fearmongering isn’t working. As I said yesterday, 60 % of the people probably REALLY resent being called Traitors.
It will be about then that BushCo will pull something to make the fear a little more tangible. It’s the same pathology that is exhibited by abusive spouses. And it ususlly happens just before their victim/object attempts to break free and get help.
And these folks have already demonstrated that they don’t give a rat’s ass about losing a major American city if it suits their purposes.
There is no way these Gopers will submit to the 50 investigations sitting on Henry Waxman’s desk. No way will they be called before John Conyers. I’m just wondering what the lame pretext for Martial Law will look like.
We should be stocking up on Velvet.
Unbeliveable.
Cozumel @ 9
So the question I have is, who’s designated to be out there hammering at the fact that BECAUSE of Bush’s incompetent policies and administration, we are unsafe, unsecure, and nothing is being done about it? What group of Dems are on the TV and writing essays for the papers? Why aren’t ALL the Democratic politicians making this point in harmonized chorus for the next two and a half months? Are WE afraid?
The Kung Fu Monkey post and the op-ed by Brian Humphreys in today’s Washington Post are about the best I’ve read lately:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01398.html
orangejumpsuit — you would have enjoyed meeting the 90 year old vet, former B-25 bomber (how many of those are left), who walked the neighborhoods for Lamont. At one point, we had enough vets in the same room to cover almost every war up till Iraq, and some in between — lisadawn, you there?
marksb @ 34
Maybe we’re the grownups. I think that’s what Christy is saying above.
Fear is the tool the Bush administration loves the most. I was thinking along these same lines last Saturday when I wrote in my own blog It Starts When You’re Always Afraid, referencing Stephen Sills’ For What It’s Worth from 1966. Still appropriate, don’t you think?
Christy
Thanks so much for the link, read the whole thing it was wonderful, Should be required reading for the masses. Loved the visuals toward the end.
And as for you Number 33 Subway
You could be right, waiting to hear how weak we would look if we changed presidents during a war on terror. Or how presidential war powers means elections can be delayed until further notice, oh and everyone who was part of the Bush crime family has been pardoned for anything they may have done or not done should they ever be prosecuted.
Watch the move “V” for Vendetta, the quote is I believe, “Make them believe they need us more now than ever”
LJ/Aquaria @ 21
Hallelujah! So very glad to hear it. I’ve had my own struggles with insomnia, not as bad as yours, but enough to really mess things up. It’s so glorious a feeling to finally get some real sleep. Hope everything continues well for you.
Don’t you get it, Christy? We will NEVER be safe again unless we drop everything and join THE WAR AGAINST TOOTHPASTE!
It’s what Churchill would have done (if he brushed his teeth)…
GARCIA MARQUEZ is in the Guardian and
IN THE HOUSE !!
Marquez
In the house.
scarecrow @ 43
Are we channeling each other?
No, I was trying to end the bold, but failed.
Oh GOD, I forgot to turn off the Lights again!
Mea culpa! Me a Culprit!
Thanks, scarecrow!
Again
It’s lucky in the extreme that the marriage of intellegence and law enforcement stopped this plot. How much better it would have been to just nuke London, problem solved. Oh sure, Tony might not like it, in the millisecond before he was vaporized but do we really care?
Eventually it comes down to the fact that we will have to wipe out everyone in the entire world in order to be safe. It will start slowly at first, with Iran and wiping out Europe will cause a few pangs of regret but it’s all for the best.
I don’t understand the psycho-pathology that is driving Bush’s base. During the good old days of John Birch,”Red Dawn”,and the Commie’s are fix’in to invade Nebraska; the big fear was the gov’ment spying on good Americans and keeping lists of gun owners. Now, with the same group of people, any invasion of privacy is OK, and “if you have nothing to hide,why are you worried” is the answer to any complaint.
If the NRA folks think the gov’t is discarding the firearm background checks and not keeping lists of NRA members and gun owners,well..they are crazy? I guess hate trumps any form of reason or previously held belief. The meg-church hate machine is the worst. Hate Libruls,hate fags, hate anyone who doesn’t believe our hate. I guess it is our DNA, just waiting to be exploited by politicians and preachers.
rapier — a “cheery” thought, but the underlying logic is inexorable.
But I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let Osama Bin Laden dictate how I live my life.
Sums it all up for me.
While in High School in 1967, I bought a collection of LIFE Magazines, 1937-1945 — specifically to analyize the shift in American Public Opinion before and after Pearl Harbor.
America was gripped by fear and paranoia — but most of it had dissipated within 3 or 4 months, and it was swept away by Midway.
And that lame ‘no one could have imagined flying planes into buildings’ excuse?
The first American hero after Pearl Harbor was USAAF Captain Colin Kelly, who was reported to have crashed his B-17 into the Japanese Battleship Haruna, sinking it on 12/10/41. The story wasn’t true — he actually bombed the cruiser Ashigara, and crashed after being shot up by Zeros. Even though the kamakazi story wasn’t true, Capt Kelly was a real hero, and the first of many.
Scott @
39
The bottom line is that BushCo can’t lose control of Congress, and it seems all they have to do is stay two steps ahead of indictment until November and they’re home free.
Several months ago, our cute lovable furry friend Grover Norquist assured a reporter that Bush will drag bin Buggin out of a spiderhole around Halloween. Frankly, everything we did between now and election day would vanish in a puff of smoke if that happened. Their permanent majority would be secured. This is another scenario we are not prepared for.
But then there is that whole pathology of abusive spouses thing. The need to teach the bitch a lesson she’ll never forget. Any woman whose ever been slapped around knows what I’m talkin’ about.
In her previous marriage, my wife was abused to the point of severe permanent disability. Although the circumstances differ greatly, the pathology is identical. We are not prepared for this either.
scarecrow, 96: I am a lot younger than your 90-yr old B-25 pilot since I came in near the end of WWII. If he was a B-25 pilot, he has my admiration (and envy).
Not all vets are against the Iraq debacle, obviously, but there are enough out there to constitute a small but growing voice for sanity.
Anyway, here are a few vets against Iraq war links:
http://www.vaiw.org/vet/module…..&sid=9
http://www.veteransforpeace.or…..Sanity.htm
http://www.pww.org/article/view/2123/1/113/
Think about it: the next President, and those who follow him/her, are really going to have a tough time leading on this issue.
We’ll have had nearly 8 years of Polly Prissypants running from Chicken Little being chased by Henny Penny, so Americans–a good number of whom were conscious during the very real existential threat, the Cold War, for Christsakes, so should know better–are conditioned now to be scared, to be hysterical. (Thanks, MSM!!)
So any deviation from that position will seem as if the president is “not taking terrorism seriously” and have to fall in line with the screaming bedwetters.
During the 2004, only two intelligent things were said about our country’s approach to terrorism:
1) Bush: “I don’t think the war on terror can be won.”
2) Kerry: “We need to get to the point where terrorism is nothing more than a nuisance.”
BOTH had to immediately backpedal and then deny that they meant them.
I wonder if we’re still there, as a nation.
I hope not.
Well this is timely. Go to the History Channel website: http://www.historychannel.com. On its home page a poll has been put up asking which partnership was more beneficial to our national interests: a) Blair-Bush, or b)Churchill-FDR. 77% of those who have taken the poll so far have chosen b) Churchill-FDR. It is my intuition that the History Channel tends to attract more conservative-leaning viewers, so I think this poll is significant. FDLers, go over to the History Channel and cast your vote for leaders who weren’t wussies.
Oh dear, it’s suddenly back to all bold again
Read Mr. K.F. Monkey. Great rant and well-executed points. And maybe it’s time to remind ourselves that the media is in business to sell us things. That’s it; nothing else going on.
Yesterday in the gym at 7am, person after person stopped between weight machines and positions to stand in the middle of the weight room and stare at the TV, which was doing the morning version of All Terrorist Bombers, All The Time. Their attention was locked in and they kept their senses alert for any fresh news.
I have to think, since that’s prime time for affluent and educated business people to work out (at least in my town), that this was just a killer day for the sales departments at CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Commercials selling us shiny new cars, financial planning services, mutual fund families, real estate brokerages, and, of course, soap, were picking up more viewers than normal. Nobody wanted to miss the latest on the terror.
As the man said, nice business if you can get it.
So the White House jumps into this with a stacked deck—make your connection to the events that have everyone riveted, and spin more fear. The networks NEED more fear, that’s what brings in the viewers and sells more advertising. Watch us constantly—we’ll tell you the latest breaking news and keep you safe!
In zoology we called it a symbiotic relationship.
Now. How do we break up this symbiotic little dance?
and here I thought scarecrow fixed it….
The one thing that scares me is the thought of martial law, which Subway serenade mentioned above. I started thinking of it again after the bizarre attack of Lamont and CT voters by Cheney, Snow, etc. All that “terrorist” language over a primary in a small state. Why would anyone beyond low-level staffers take time to use such overblown metaphors for a primary election? It’s that kind of imaginable attack by govt against a democratic election process that didn’t go their way that makes me fear what will happen if fear doesn’t work for them.
It’s hyperbolic to call the Pearl Harbor attack “wiping out our entire Pacific Fleet.” Only three ships were permanently lost, and none of the carriers were in port at the time. (Wikipedia)
medaka — your post is bold, but others are not. Try refresh.
…or George W. Bush (who’d like to believe we’ll blame it all on bin Laden).
The one at the top, not “Refresh comments”
Chimpy’s half-assed efforts in Afghanistan just got another 3 American servicemen killed this weekend.
I guess the Taliban is doing double duty these days, advising the Democractic Party and STILL killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 5 years of U.S. intervention.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/w…..OE=NEWISVA
Alas, another grim milestone reached in Iraq as two more troop deaths put toll over 2,600.
But, as I heard my local conservative talkshow host say last night…”The death toll in Iraq is not that high”.
-GSD
EvilDrPuma @ 62
Yes. We seem to have two sets of crazies trying to dictate how we live. Can we put them in a separate time-out room, together, and close the door?
First, hello to all the FDL firehounds who have given me so much hope that people-powered politics can succeed.
Second, re Bushco’s lupine cries of “Terror” —
I was sitting in an auto shop’s customer service waiting room on Thursday a.m. with the teevee blaring out the news of the latest British intelligence success. Two ladies, probably 55 , also were there. When the President came on to make his remarks from the Michigan? airport, one of the women started laughing out loud at him, while the other just rolled her eyes and shook her head.
This happened in the heartland — Iowa.
The ferocious pushback from the Bush/Coulter Republican Party in response to the Lamont win is ominous.
Time to bring back the old maxim:
“Beware the wounded beast”
-GSD
Boy Who Cried Wolf meet Chimp Who Cried Terror.
-GSD
GSD, 64: “But, as I heard my local conservative talkshow host say last night…”The death toll in Iraq is not that high”.”
For someone who just lost a son/daughter, relative, or friend in this grotesquely mistaken war in Iraq, the death toll is 100%.
Let’s start this meme:
The party that cried ‘wolf.’
Can’t believe them anymore. We are less safe because we’ve grown accustomed to the constant alarms.
I humbly submit.
Promoting a constant state of fear was critical to the Nazi rise as well (bull horns in the streets etc.). Another compliment is the link between the secret service and the Nazi power drive. The searching out secrets of individuals in power also plays a key role. One wonders what “deep secret” Bush has on Tony Blair that would make the latter so subservient. On Lieberman, too is there also a “deep secret?” that Bush is holding onto. Or is Lieberman’s position framed principally by factors of Israel support payback? Reports the other day that Condi and shrub were in disagreement on the Israel ceasefire is noteworthy, because Bush apparently was insisting on support for the ongoing (and increasing) military drive deep into Lebanon.
Dana @
60
Yeah, ya gotta wonder, why all the fuss over a primary? Perhaps the Hamdi ruling rattled them.
It’s just wierd listening to Gopers lecturing us on how to be Democrats. BTW!!!
Beware of terror alerts over the next three months. Elections are expected to strike, possibly in the first half of november.
Steve @ 49
Over at Orcinus, guest-poster Sara (Mrs.) Robinson is doing a series on the authoritarian personality. She starts with Dean’s book in her first post, and says she’ll go on to talk about ways we can find “cracks in the wall” to reach those who are captive to this way of thinking. I hope everyone here reads her posts – it sounds like they will fit very well with our discussions, especially with the Dean book coming up.
I spent 2 hours stuck in the minneapolis airport on wednesday. Every tv showing Glen Beck. Even though I wanted to vomit, he seemed to draw large groups like moths to a flame. Where did he come from and how do we get rid of him. The reaction of people scared me. THESE are the people that scare me. (cnn)
Cynical Optimist — those two women were obviously rabid, venemous, lambshers of the left.
Or, they could be the majority of folks out there. We should laugh/roll eyes with them. Pass it on.
The neocons take their orders from fictional characters in Orwell novels. Of course, those character were drawn from people Orwell observed in his own day. A fondness for doublespeak and unrelenting fear doesn’t originate with W and pals.
It does stem directly from fascist elements of the last century and not just Hitler, Stalin, and the other axis leaders.
But you can bet your bottom dollar that our “great leaders” draw strength from the worst parts of the last century. Our country has been nourishing these strands of fascism especially since WWII (tests on citizens, hiring axis scientists, and just generally believing that government officials know best and we don’t need to know what they know or what they are doing in secret).
It was bound to bloom. What we do about it determines whether or not democracy, as we know it, survivies. The end of W won’t be the end of all this. It’s so much bigger than the neocons that our future will be characterized by fascist elements for decades to come. It will take utter catastrophe to force us to chose to route this all out. But we are just as likely to surrender to it (given the evidence of W’s reign) without much of a fight.
Wish it were otherwise, but as a nation we seem too comfortable to forcefully confront what threatens our way of life.
scarecrow @ 64
It worked! Lo and de-Bold!
Thanks for the pointer, scarecrow, and g’night Firedoggies!
”The death toll in Iraq is not that high.”
Oh, we don’t count the brown ones. And the others? Well, it’s just a number.
the Republican comprehensive guide governing:
BOO!!!!
Yes indeedy I’ve had more than enough and I’d like to say a couple of things.
First, this sites blogging on both the ‘net neutrality’ fight and even more in helping Ned Lamont gain traction against the scum Joe Loserman are classic examples of what many were talking about at YearlyKos in terms of netroots action.
Both those campaigns, as we all know, must and I know will continue here and elsewhere.
I submit there is another opportunity to attack the fascists oligarchy which has done so much harm to our nation.
That opportunity:
Impeachment of Mr. Bush. Specifically the grassroots efforts around the country which seeks to send resolutions of impeachment from cities, towns, states and other polities to the House of Representatives.
So, I submit for your consideration that this site get on board and take action!
If not now, when?
2,601.
It’s a number, just a number. Total U.S. troops klled in Iraq to date for the vainglory of George W. Bush.
19,323.
It’s a number, just a number. Total U.S. troops wounded in Iraq to date for the vainglory of George W. Bush.
0.
It’s a number, also a number. Total number of U.S. troops killed or injured to date by Saddam’s WMD.
http://www.bgladd.com/Just_a_Number.jpg
.
Ah, my beloved Garcia Marquez paints a stunning portrait. Thank you.
orangejumpsuit -
My dad’s a WWII vet. (He’s 82 now). He was a tailgunner, flying over France, and still considers his part in winning that war the most important, and proudest moment of his life.
In December of 2002 we had a long talk about the terrible prospect of being dragged against our will into the horror of a war with Iraq. He said:
Those IDIOTS in the White House don’t know a goddamned thing about war. Not one of ‘em has ever served in war, execpt Powell, and what’s his excuse for being such an IDIOT???
If we end up in war with Iraq it will be the biggest, dumbest, most dangerous mistake this country could make. And I think it’s gonna happen.
ReneD -75. Yes you are right. Traveling through Atlanta recently I was shocked. CNN everywhere, everyting about fear (babies dropping from windows, bird flu, kid thefts – you name it). Plus this past year my bank (Bank of America) has CNN going all day in the money take out area. I have tried to complain that I can’t concentrate – but to no avail. It is all FEAR, FEAR, FEAR. It really tends to transform what one thinks one can do constructively to counter. If you are afraid, it is unlikely you will speak out.
Everytime Bush talks he sounds like a third grader doing a book report in front of the class.
“This was a plot by Is–lamo fashists. They are evildoers. They hate freedom.”
But the brush clearing shrub travels in an echo chamber peopled with sychophants who gape and smile stupidly at the voice of Rove eminating from a burning bush that is not consumed.
Please stop me before I metaphor again.
shoephone — your dad has more wisdom and foresight that the whole of the Bush Administration together. Can we arrange a trade?
RWCole,
Check out the latest talk from Zal Khalilzad and John Fund. They are both talking about how Iran is planning on boosting terror attacks at the end of the month….In Iraq. So once again the motive shifts and now we are in Iraq to fight a proxy war with Iran. How many different reasons do these asshats need?
There is some smelly, stanky stuff going down.
-GSD
Oh and remember Tommy Franks talking about dead Iraqis…’We don’t do body counts’.
That was then,
This is now:
http://today.reuters.com/news/…..GHTING.xml
-GSD
Shoephone, what your pappy said in spades. If you can read any recent Kurt Vonnegut you will also get a sad perspective of a great American who witnessed the horrors of the Nazis and is now horrified by the U.S. government as run by the Bush/Coulter Republican Party.
Off to do housework. Have a good day, everyone.
Richmond, getcher self a real good set of earplugs. We need your sanity intact, y’heah?
LJ/A, I do hope you’re crafting a hot letter to that lunkhead M.D. who got your system so screwed-up!
Howard Dean is in Fargo today for a local picnic. Anyone have a good question if I get close enough??
Have a good one, NefLes, and we’ll catcha later.
Lamont and Reid pushing back on the Lieberman/Cheney lies:
http://www.boston.com/news/loc…..on_terror/
The year? 2001.
Cheney, “George, they attacked from the sky’s. Just like we planned. MWAHAHA!!!”
George, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Uncle Dick says the sky is falling.”
Maybe people have finally had enough of these evil clowns. They’ve tried to crochet doilies out of pig turds for too long. George, what you’ve been giving us is not a finally woven purse. It’s a sack of shit!
War criminal’s. All Rethuglicans and Democrat’s who supported Preznit Alfred E. Bush ought to appear before the Hague. Sooner, rather than later…
George, et al, you’d better go find another country to run into the ground. American’s are wisening up.
ReneND @ 91
Is there something wrong with the idea of Democrat campaigns including the words investigate and prosecute?
scarecrow @ 87:
But then I’d end up with chimpy as a father. And that would mean I’d have to kill myself.
Maybe we can come up with a different remedy. Cloning, perhaps…
ReneND
“Don’t you think the Bush Administration’s policies in the ME are exacerbating the hatred against the US? And if so, isn’t that creating more people like those in London who are angry enough to blow up planes?
Do you think the media understand this connection? “
A.Citizen (81): on net neutrality and netroots. One thing that surprises me on net neutrality is that an article hasn’t been made that this would be disastrous for education in rural America, libraries everywhere, and for International business. If everyone is going to have to pay to “upgrade” to sites, it is going to create a two tier system. Many key academic websites will not be available I imagine. I have tried to get my university (and professional organizations involved) but there is little response. Am I offbase on this?
Okay, I lied. Had to share this. Salon has an article on Martha Gellhorn, early feminist and onetime wife of Hemingway. Here’s a brief excerpt:
An ugly, pointless, witless process that squanders the world’s goodwill. How depressingly familiar.
The Saturday morning cartoons Christy posted are especially good this week. Most notably, the bloody steps in Iraq cartoon.
shoephone — good point. Okay, your dad goes to DC, the Bush team comes with me. I have an extra room, with a lock, and extra computers locked onto FDL, but no ability to comment. I’ll take one for the team.
Oilfieldguy @ 86
Actually, I think he sounds more like this, “This was… eh.. a plot by eh… Is–lama fa shits. They… eh… are evul doers. They… eh… hate freedom.” More time in front of the class hasn’t improved the presentation.
Be careful you two.scarecrow @ 101
OT – headline at the raw story – still unlinked:
NYT: Clearer timeline for wiretapping scoop: Developing…
any ideas?
meta @ 83
I heard that his #1 translator, Gregory Rabassa, had some serious juice-demons to overcome — anyone know about this? I need to research a bit more, it’s been a long time since I’ve slathered myself with the magic realism butterflies ….
Rabassa’s greatest translation (for moi, anyway), was Julio Cortazar’s HOPSCOTCH, the only novel that made me ACHE to learn another language … (this with a shoutout to Fred Fornoff, UPJ — if you’re here, please hit my name-linky!)
Where are real leaders? Hard to say, but they are not in the Republican Party and never named Bush.
I flew Thursday evening. It will be listed as some of my worst flight experience which did not include shreking children next to me for 5 hours.
I knew about the restrictions, put such things as makeup, mascara, lip gloss and over the counter ointments into my checked bag.
No fluids brought through security, only could buy and consume fluids prior to boarding the plane. Getting ready to board a flight that was now 30 minutes late, we were told that there would be NO DRINK service AND NO access to bathrooms. Normally the flight is a hour long so to me it was not a big deal BUT… we sat on the plane at the gate for over an hour prior to getting out to the runway. It was close to 1 1/2 hr wait until take off, then the flight did not to is usually 50 minute hop, no we flew way north, way east then south into Phoenix. We were trapped on the plane for 3 1/2 hrs with NO food, Drink or Bathroom access under threat of being arrested imediately on arrival.
We were threatened three times, once on boarding, once by the flight attendent and then by the first officer with imediate arrest if caught with banned fluids.
Who I felt sorry for, was the breast feeding mother a few rows up, did the restrictions of fluids interupt her milk production for her young infant? And who would give a fuck anyway?
So when I heard some idiot on the TeeVee say that travelers are taking this instride and will adjust did NOT talk to anyone on my 1/2 full flight on Thursday. The flight usually is completely full.
I am still angry over this, of paying for the pleasure of being imprisoned in a corporate jet for 3 1/2hrs. As a nurse, who cared about the elderly, those with medical conditions which those restrictions endangered? An elderly man with prostate disease, the renal compromised, the young infant who depended on breast milk?
Oilfieldguy @
95
Being a civilized party we use the term “Excercise (long overdue) Oversight.”
Hey lotus! Good to see ya.
Okay, one more excerpt from the Gellhorn article:
[snip]
And writing to Daniel Ellsberg in 1971: “The President assumes that the American people are moral imbeciles … The Founding Fathers cannot have intended a President and his small group of appointed advisors to perform like a monarch surrounded by his court. As if the people’s representatives and the people themselves were a general nuisance, and the job is to keep the whole tiresome bunch quiet: manipulate them.”
Just imagine what she’d be saying if she were around now.
Yeh, shoey, don’t think I’d be prepared to do the country THAT service, either. Die for it, yes; accept Chimpy as my substitute daddy for it, nuh-uh.
The Nefarious Leslie @ 99
An ugly, pointless, witless process that squanders the world’s goodwill. How depressingly familiar.
She was also a brilliant writer and journalist.
OT Rant alert.
I understand what is going on but I am still pissed off about it. Yesterday, the UN was at the point of declaring a ceasefire, right? What was Israel’s reaction? To begin a major new operation, to triple the number of their troops in Lebanon, and to fire on a large civilain convoy. So the UN declares the ceasefire and Israel accepts it (sort of). What does Israel do? It starts a sprint for the Litani River and bombs the civilian power station for the city of Tyre. Now the reason the Israelis say they can do this is that their Cabinet will not meet until late Sunday to “consider” the UN Resolution they have already accepted and so the ceasefire will not “officially” go into effect until Monday at 7 AM. So see, it’s really OK. What’s more in what can only be called amazing chutzpah, the Israelis are claiming that they are doing this to help the Lebanese government by cleaning the South of Hezbollah ahead of the reoccupation of the area by UNIFL and the Lebanese Army. You know the way the Israeli armed forces have been so successful so far in clearing the areas nearer the border. And what makes this ring even hollower is that they purport to accomplish what they could not do in the last month in the next 48 hours. The IDF frustrated and smarting from its failures over the last month and a, let’s face it, craven Israeli leadership desperate to claim victory however and wherever it can are plunging into this last minute orgy of death and destruction and endangering the whole peace deal while they are at it out of childish spite and anger. They are like the kid who knows he can’t win the football game and so takes the ball and runs off the field with it. This is no way for a country to act. It is no way for adults and leaders to act. It leaves me wondering yet again why it is that when offered the choice between peace and victory, the Israelis always go for victory, even when it is manufactured and illusory.
end rant.
raw story is telling us ny times will give an accurate time line concerning the illegal wire taps
just a heads up…should be interesting
ember @ 102
Yes, you are right. However I did not know how to spell his human dial tone impersonation.
Nefarious Leslie –
Gellhorn was always spot-on when it came to unearthing the bullshit of nationalism. Unfortunately, her personal demons made her incapable of being a good mother. She was horrible to Sandy, basically humiliating and berating him from the time he was five years old (he was too fat) and abandoning him to boarding schools when he was a teenager and freezing him out while she endlessly traveled the world, in search of her “self”.
OT:
From Media Matters:
IMO, no way 18 years of Senatorhood gives one the sort of purblind hubris needed to embark on the fool’s errand of an independent run that Lieberman proposes.
…He’s in on the con.
meta @ 83
Y yo tambien. Meta, not sure where we are on the blogger ad idea, but if you need to contact me, it’s leslieinca (at) gmail.
Bush should go live with Michael Jackson. He could keep bubbles company and the house is already presumably set up for the chimp lifestyle.
shoephone @ 115
Yes, the article does mention that she was the mother from hell to him. I wonder if he survived her?
thanx me to me 113
meta, you still here?
Rene,
Ask Howard Dean why he conquered Europe and allied himself with the Japanese and the Italians back in the 1940’s.
The RNC wants to know.
-GSD
meta and medaka –
I was impelled to Spanish courses post-college by my goal of reading Cien Anos in the original. Almost got there at one point … but then life intruded and now I barely remember mierda.
NefLes, thanks so much for the haunting Gellhorn passages.
here’s a sample of small town america covering santorum and his twisted message.
http://www.thederrick.com/stor…..6008.shtml
Just don’t have a healthy disagreement with his boyfriend Dubya because that would be “at our nations peril.”
Wadda dick.
Strike that. A dick serves a useful function. Joe does not. Even his p*nis is merely a handle for Rove to turn him over with.
scarecrow, 87: “shoephone — your dad has more wisdom and foresight that the whole of the Bush Administration together. Can we arrange a trade?”
Shoephone’s dad has it right. Never having served, these chickenhawks think of war as just moving around pieces on a playing board. Rumsfeld was a Navy instructor pilot but I do not believe ever saw live action. I am convinced he sees war as a lot like moving pieces around on a playing board. Cheney had five deferments, while Bush got drunk on NG time.
In a just war, casualties are the price of vigilant defense; in an unjust war, casualties border on crimes on the part of leaders. Why the hell else did we have the Nurenburg trials?
Powell is an enigma for the ages, seduced by the idea that he could influence things from within, failed to resign when he saw that he could not. Constantly at war with Cheney’s gang, he was undercut by Junior. He will rue it till his dying days because for all his misled loyalty to Bush, it accomplished nothing, possibly made things worse. Underneath it all, he probably felt he owed it to Poppy to keep the son in line. Tragic.
Mr. President, why do you never mention the anthrax attacks?
You know, when several members of the opposition party were attacked with deadly anthrax and instead of “cutting and running” home and quitting congress they stayed and did their jobs?
Why don’t you ever give credit to the brave members of congress who didn’t give into the fear of those attacks?
-GSD
About time, I lived in the wilds of Northern Mi in 2001, and was totally shocked by the fear that the local people showed.
The bushco terrorist policy can be summed up this way; when in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.
That may have been a little strong.
kaytmine –
I could never last without bathroom access for 3-1/2 hours. And I doubt all the people who downed their liquids just before getting on the plane could either. No wonder those kids were screaming. I’d be doing more than screaming. If the airline security dumbells keep with these policies they’ll be looking at either:
1) passenger lawsuits
or
2) people choosing NOT to fly. Ever again.
Don’t worry, though. When all the U.S. airlines file for bankruptcy, the republicans will make bloody certain we tax payers bail them out one more time. Economic failure has become a habit with this bunch.
This just about says it all, from today’s
Boston Globe… written by a guy from Jamaica
Plain who hits a dinger
“THE BUSH administration’s overt politicization of the latest terrorist threat is as disappointing as it was inevitable. Trying to relate a case of brilliant investigative police work to a military occupation in a civil war zone is a cynical canard at best. The British success is more a repudiation of the Bush strategy than any sort of affirmation. Police work, not military action, prevented a horrific act. NBC broadcast a report on March 16 demonstrating the ease of bringing explosive chemicals onto airplanes. Now the day after a raid on terrorists by British police, Homeland Security banned liquids on flights? What took so long, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff?”
Jack
OFG — I thought you were wittily understated — next time, tell us what you really think !
squirrel hiller, My God. Santorum sounds like a total nutjob. Goebbels has nothing on him. When I imagine who might vote for such creeps, I shudder. Lately, the creeps aren’t even trying to hide it.
Every time I read about law enforcement foiling a terrorist plot I am reminded that the FBI was prevented from persuing a lead that may have prevented the September 11th attack. I am reminded that this administration has still failed to implement the policies and proceedures recommended by the 9-11 commission. I am reminded that while this administration has done little or nothing to secure the nation, it has made great strides in stripping freedom and liberty from its citizens.
I am going to a fund-raiser featuring Congressman Murtha tonight. I hope to be able to ask him if he will campaign with Ned Lamont. He should, it would mean one more vote for his side.
*ilson46201 @ 132
It went to moderation. I didn’t think it would see the light of day. I must constantly remind myself that wingers lurk here in search of screeching unhinged liberal comments to hold up and scream eureka!
masaccio — be sure to let us know what Murtha says about campaigning with Mr. Lamont …
134:
Murtha’s one strong voice will drown out the forlorn bleatings of a hundred Liebergoats.
things that trapped in moderation usually get sprung promptly — by hitting F5 and refreshing your entire page, you’ll see it was set free …
http://www.LieberLoser.com
http://www.Sore-Loserman.com
It’s just my take on it but for years now but
this Administration has been trading on fear,
IT”S EVERYWHERE! Movies,news,magazines,books!
Where on a real fear trip in this country!
Martha Stout has written an interesting
account of “The Sociopath Next Door”
On every level some of the people in this book
resemble our leadership
Lotus (90). Thanks for your advice on the earphones (though the visuals are just as bad). Ironically, tomororow I head out for Nigeria (via Heathrow – major ouch), not only with no fancy earphones on board, but also no carryon luggage, no laptop, hardcopy manu for editing, or even books (except something purchased inside Heathrow security- assuming there is anything readable and I have time to buy it as I rush to transfer), and no cell phone for when I arrive. In short: 26 plus hours with zip but really dumb inservice films (assuming they work). Also no change of clothing (and phone), if (as frequently happens) we arrive late. Basically all one can bring on board the flight in Heathrow is a small wallet, glasses (no case), passport, air ticket, and a few prescribed pills and “lady’s hygienic products” (only enough for the flight duration) – these in a clear plastic bag. Am I going to be able to kill someone with a 40 page manuscript and a soft pencil? A tube of lipstick? A copy of the Nation? Talk about fear-promotion. And for what? To rout out terrorists? More are being produced in London and elsewhere each day the Middle East debacle continues. If the Brits and US would just announce they would leave Iraq Nov 5 (say), the US would agree to give up its Saudi bases, and Israel troops would agree to be replaced by International troops in Lebanon (and US would put economic pressure on Israel to sign a real peace agreement and land adjustment with the Palestinians), terrorism would be dead. Finished. End of story. But, this is the new Crusades, the End Days, the new domino danger. It sucks, and it is far worse if you are actually living in the Middle East.
Political leaders from the military-industrial complex come and go – they are a part of any political process. They are odious, but we needn’t fear them – just identify them, report on them fairly, and vote them out.
But for the rise of the Blogs, these m-i “revolutionaries” would have complete control of the “radio station”, and the result of that would be something to genuinely fear. This is why the Lamont win is such a watershed.
Media Matters has a great analysis of the mainstream media coverage of Lamont-Lieberman — it’s beyond pathetic, and it’s no longer Fox News that’s completely biased. The Blogs are *huge* (and by the MSM, to be completely discredited) because, for an increasing sweep of us – the Blogs are only media that merit any trust. That such an ad-hoc media could gather enough power to swing an election has to be terrifying to the Fox-News Fascists.
All that’s needed to turn things around are “grown ups” to rise up speak the truth of all this. ReddH asks the right question: where are they? Democratic leadership: Who’s side are you on????
My Pet Algerian.
Bush is reading Cam-Moose.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/…..jfr54.html
How French of him.
Is this ongoing backpedal on the “attack on France” so heavily pushed by the brainfarting Bush/Coulter Republicans back in the run up to the invasion of Iraq?
Notice that the “freedom fries” were removed from the House menue recently and that the U.S. has been working hand in glove with the French to cut a U.N. peace deal for the Israel/Lebanon crisis. Now Bush is reading French shit.
Two words. FLIP-FLOP.
-GSD
Oilfieldguy @ 129
Or not.
Oilfieldguy @ 129
No, it was outragious and perfect,
Wait until they catch a terror group trying to use drug mule tactics. You will have to come to the airport three hours early and line up for your body cavity exam. Then it will be full body x-rays and women of child bearing age will have to come two hours earlier for their pregnancy test.
The 3 part BBS series, “The Power of Nightmares” addresses the “fear” topic of this post. A good history of its use by extremists on both sides of the issue. I try to get all friends to watch it. I guess I don’t have many friends, only one has said they watched it.
http://video.google.com/videop…..mp;q=power of nightmares
GSD – “Sptizer spots” had me confounded for awhile last night. Any idea if they can be seen online?
amazing article here:
http://www.informationclearing…..e14501.htm
The Nefarious Leslie @
117
Thank you. I will email you later today with details. We are going to make this happen.
marksb @
34
I really think the problem is that the press doesn’t run the quotations. Conyers has been hammering away for years now, but his reports get no coverage. It could be that there needs to be some hook, like censure to hang the stories on. Lamont/Lieberman may become such a hook–especially if Lieberman continues to utter Republican fearmongering talking points.
I also think there has to come a point where the absurdity reaches a level that even reporters deeply committed to “balance” will start to respond. But I’d have thought we’d passed that point some time ago.
Spitzer spots here:
http://www.spitzer2006.com/mai…..s=spitzer3
fran! Good to see you back, kiddo! How’s your brother coming along?
Richmond — (shaking my head nearly off) you’ll be in our thoughts, is all I can say. May you have some epiphanic experience a la TRex as a reward!
The kicker of the whole thing, those banned items, were put into zip lock bags and put into my checked luggage. So those items that were going to blow me up, were still ON THAT Plane! And in Phoenix, they donated all the confiscated items to the homeless shelters (ya they can blow up).
http://americablog.blogspot.co…..rport.html
I have been traveling for the last 5 years for my job. There are a huge number of Americans who commute to work via the airlines. These restrictions will not just affect the airlines bottom line, who are those of us who travel to our clients sites going to continue to do business when the hassle & expense becomes too prohibitive.
siun @ 153
thanks, siun, I’ll check it out
GSD -144 – LOL (or what ever is the equivalent en Francais). On flying generally. Many many more businesses now are only using corporate jets. So, increasingly it is only “us” who are hurt. But, in their view, keeping people holed up at home is good, can’t have people going off to France or someplace and learn that there are other viewpoints. High gas prices helps this too. And of course if you have to work 3 jobs and have no vacation time (or health coverage), that makes it even easier, especially if you get your kids to start work right after high school without their brains being ruined in college. Oh yes, and now there is a drive by the people who brought us No Child Behind to have national tests for university courses (i.e pre-determining content), and of course, defining what courses one should and should not be teaching. Remember don’t trust anyone with a college degree. How else can we keep people thinking that Eve emerged from Adam’s rib, and birds and fish emerged fully formed through god’s good graces.
Nef Leslie – yes, he survived her, but I don’t doubt his scars are deep. She was really abusive to him (emotionally). Her own father expected perfection from her and it poisoned their relationship. Hemingway, as I’m sure you know, treated her with disdain and disrespect when she started becoming more famous than him. Seems like she handed down all those same behaviors.
I’ve always greatly admired her for being the first American woman to traipse around in the muck, the mud, and the blood of war. And she was literally, “in the trenches”. But her real talent was telling the stories of the people suffering in wars.
Hemingway imagined himself the macho soldier in his writings. But it turns out that most of us are affected more deeply by the human stories of war. I think if Gellhorn were alive today, she’d be reporting on the suffering of the Iraqi and Afghani people. And she would certainly be in Darfur and Chad, telling that story as well.
meta – did you see my note a while back about volunteering at the VA?
As my Republican neighbor said, fear sells. It sells everything on TV. The sad part is Madison Avenue becoming the driving voice of our government.
I was just in England, at Blenheim, Winston Churchill’s birthplace. They had an exhibit of his life and that famous quote to rally the English where he says
…I have nothing to offer you but blood, sweat and tears…
a truly astounding paragrah which closes with a comment about the terror caused by the enemy…
911 took down a couple of buildings. It was a sucker punch. It called for police action against the people who did it. We still haven’t arrested them. We still haven’t had a trial of even those of the group we’ve caught.
Instead we have a war on great fear, persued by spreading more fear amoung the populace. Aren’t we stronger than that?
While at Blenheim, I was struck by the battle the earlier Churchill in 1706 won against the French and Spanish at Blenheim, Austria. In an 8 hour period 12,000 allied troups were killed and 20,000 French and Spanish. Such historic death tolls make our current conflicts and instruments of war seem tame. Queen Ann was so greatful she made Churchill the 1st Duke of Marlborough.
Inspired by this post, I just wrote and sent this letter to the editor of my local newspaper:
“We have nothing to fear but fear itself” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Can you imagine hearing such inspiring words from George W. Bush? Instead we hear “Fear! Fear! Surrender your Constitutional freedoms to us or the big, bad boogieman is gonna getcha!” And, after the Brits foiled the plot to bomb aircraft, by investigation rather than military action, the Bush Administration tries to use renewed fear to revive dying support for their failed policies and disastrous war on Iraq.
American who buy into Bush’s fear-mongering are terrified childen, clutching teddy-bears and wetting their pj’s. Bush feeds the fear, scaring widdle American scaredy-cats into trashing the Constitution that defines what it means to be an American. Through Bush, Osama bin Laden is winning.
You who have bought into Bush’s exploitation of terror need to change your pj’s and find some courage. Raise a selected digit to the terrorists and fight back with smarts instead of thousands of sadly wasted livesandhundreds of billions of wasted dollars. Raise that digit by voting in November for those who will try to salvage our defense from the neocon ruins. Bring back the courage of FDR and Americans of his generation.
Pun,
The spots are just great work. I think that Spitzer went outside of the old political hack shop to get those spots done and it sure shows.
Richmond, now the “small government” Bush/Coulter Republican party wants to install top down groupthink into the one of the last independant bastions of thought.
As I said…once they round up and cow the teachers and the judges it’s curtains.
-GSD
When I woke up to the news on Thursday morning it was to hear CNN anchor Daryl Kagan (sp?) h this is scary stuff…oh so scary” and my first thought was “What if the response on December 7 & 8 1941 was “this is so SCARY…what can I do!!” Yes the world has gotten dangerous. Suck it up.
During the 2004 Summer we vacationed in Victoria Canada, staying in wonderful hotel on the bay, sightseeing all the wonderful sites, touring the Parliament building. What was so shocking was not seeing guards with machine guns standing outside a government building, not having to go through a screening process, not having our bags searched, having the news, radio & TV was presented without the sensationalizing and tabloid meme found here.
I have a strong craving to leave the country or just go deep into the outback to “get away”.
Feel the victim with PTSD…..
Christy – thank you for this post, and thank you to KFM. It reminds me of the scene in Catch-22 where a young soldier (Nately, I think) is talking to the old Italian man in the brothel. The soldier says that it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. The old man says, “I think you have that backwards – it is better to live on your feet than to die on your knees.”
My Pet Camus.
-GSD
GSD @ 162
I agree – they’re very effective. In particular I liked “this little light of mine” and the one in which the narrator says “it wasn’t about who we were standing up to, but who we were standing up for“.
(minor graphic quibble: the fade in/out of theSpitzer for Governor logo – a blurry diagonal pattern – is kind of odd. Like trying to focus a camera through a chain link fence.)
katymine – you are absolutely right. And a sizable number of those suitcases never get where they are going on time. So how are you going to go to your meeting without the reports? And, more lost laptops. Oh, and the move now in place at some airports to have pre-approved passengers. So, anyone found to be protesting the war (remember the Quakers?) will not be allowed to fly like the others.
“911 took down a couple of buildings. It was a sucker punch. It called for police action against the people who did it.”
I saw a short peice of an interview of Guiliani last night and he emphasized that this is a “war” not a police investigation…..and I thought “how were the alleged bombers found? By military force or police work??” I think we need to emphasize the fact that it is intelligence (something this admin has never met) and police work that is working, not bombs in Iraq.
astralplame @
159
No, I’m sorry I didn’t. I’ve been away for a couple of days. Can you point me in that direction or how do I reach you?
Watching the Spitzer spots and all the marks of Hillman’s genius for Ned, I just hafta sigh and dread the dreck that’s starting to float into local TV news in the Orlando market.
Especially those Gooper attack ads with the male and female voices set precisely halfway between sneer and snarl.
GOD, I hate campaign-ad season.
So smart, so young, taken from us so tragically, RFK:
HillSman’s genius for Ned
GSD & Punaise – the Spitzer spots are done by a Madison Ave guy – can’t remember the name but he did a lot of Visa ads, etc.
On the flying thing – Katymine’s experience was unusual I think. I flew out of BDL on Thursday, security was fast, I did have to check my chapstick, etc and couldn’t board with my usual venti iced black tea and liter of fiji water – but my laptop, etc came with me and there was beverage service and bathrooms were open. Sounds like Katymine hit a bad one but the experience was not universal.
That said, I’m holding off on another trip to the UK until I can carry a book and moisturizer!
new thread – Blue America: Dave Mejias, NY-03
I usually read some of the comments but not today.
What I want to say is this, and I say it calmly and with conviction; It is time to stop this president and his administration. We must remove them from office, now. They are a threat to America and the world, they have no plan for anything unless it is to enrich a select few. They are ruining this country financially, socially, and philosophically. It is time to exercise the rights we were endowed with by The Declaration of Independance, the Bill Of Rights, and the Constitution of the United States of America, documents with the blood of our forefathers on them as they fought and sometimes died bringing them to fruition. Our liberty, our democracy are under direct threat, not from without but from within. They are a grave, exponentially increasing danger to the fragile stability of the world we live in. I could fill pages with their transgressions and they would all be verifiable, and there would be some who would call me a traitor for my heresy that is not heresy, but what they cannot do is back their rhetoric with facts on the ground, no longer can they wrap themselves with with the cloth of lies spun incessantly to coat the truth, the horrible, stark, evil truth of their actions. We are not fooled, our eyes are open, and we cannot wait, the time upon us. Again these words are not written in anger, they are written as one would write who loves his country and the healthy humanity of those truly free.
GSD. A trite truism, but true. If you actually read, you tend to be liberal. But, at the same time there is something else at play now. Starting with the drive a few years back to get universities to stop investing in companies that support Israel until the Palestinians were better treated, there was a real push back. Summers at Harvard was key to this, with those who opposed the Iraq war early on (and to some degree now) being accused of anti-Semitism. The impact was like an ice cold shower, dampening all discussion. I think only now (and thanks to websites like FDL) are things being discussed more openly.
meta – it is here
Haven’t read all the comments on this great thread, but I’ll tell you, I am not laughing at Bush. His power scares the crap out of me. He still has time to do enormous damage and he will if we don’t get rid of him or neuter him completely.
He’s already gutted and politicized the CIA to such an extent that only extreme loyalists to his regime remain. So yes, we’re less safe. It’s all politics all the time. He doesn’t care about this country, he doesn’t understand the concept of public service. He’s a very frightening spectre on the landscape and I’m not sure what we can do about it.
And could someone explain the Gabriel Marquez references? Are you referring to the writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Where, what, when?
I do understand that my experience Thursday was unique as others said their experience was very different. I also have a close friend who had a long planned vacation to London to fly out Friday. He cancelled his trip just because he did not want to fly 15 hours without a book, music or anything but his eyeglasses & wallet, trusting his pda, cell phone and laptop to his checked bag. Anyone know how much the Feds are settling baggage thieft charges? Seattle is known as the WORST.
Somehow I always look for the other motive that BushCo actions may also include. Airlines were whinning about all those carryon baggage and instead of cutting it down with their own internal rules, hey why not have the TSA & the Feds be the bad guys? I do have to say that there was very little carryone with most bins completely empty. We got on and off really fast. Now baggage claim was a madhouse.
Nefarious Leslie -
Those Gellhorn quotes are incredible. I’m going to find out more about her and READ. Thank you.
Jenny (179): A few months back I stayed at a BB in the South while on a lecture tour. At breakfast I started talking with a couple. The guy, a man in his early 40s, turned out to be Homeland Security. He was well educated (MA from the K-School) and said that he was close to quitting the agency he had been part of most of his career because it had become so politicized. He was disgusted – and very saddened. —- On a different point (air travel), I have made it a point this last year or so to talk with the sometimes right-wingers who are seated next to me to try to find some common ground (national budget fiasco for example, or the need for teen birth control)), also to try to make them realize the left is not a hissing cobra, to be dismissed as evil. Basically I have been trying to project the idea that we all share a desire for a stronger, fairer country. What do we do about the media, however? It only seems to be getting worse. The CNN announcer labeling Lamont as the considered terrorist candidate was one of the worst. And if Coulter did indeed send white powder to the NYTimes, shouldn’t she be in jail.
The only thing this plot failed to do is actually anybody. The Bushies have certainly reacted as if it were successful. Terrorizing the nation anyway. Republicans stated they would use Terrorism to get elected and we see now what they meant.
No Deaths, but plenty of Terrorizing.
Jenny from the Blog @
180
Hi Jenny. We were noting a stunning portrait of Fidel Castro by Marquez in today’s Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cuba…..76,00.html
astralplame @
178
Thank you. Although I’m not sure what this means for me….I’m coordinating the “I Am a Blogger” video project that was conceived on a thread here a few days ago and generated from Ghostman. Have I volunteered for something more???!!!
I think Ann Coulter will one day “snap”. And go “postal”.
maddy @ 176
I wanted to add one thing, this is not a partison issue, there is no room for that, and I say to all reasonable people, whatever your political persuasion that we must join together link by link, to make this a reality.
Bush seems “out of the loop” in his “war on terror”.
International law enforcement agencies observe BushCo using intelligence for political purposes and the recently foiled plot suggests they are sharing intelligence on a “need to know” basis.
meta @ 186
Well, I think that excellent volunteer opportunities at VA hospitals will exist as long as the US has a standing military. The blogger ad project (for which my hand is raised if I can be of service) is something that can do specific good right quick. Maybe serial volunteer projects, rather than bunches at once?
I sure am tired of being treated like an idiot and a coward just because the President is.
Their anti-terrorist plan is confiscating all liquids at the airport? That’s not a plan at all. That’s an admission that you don’t have a clue about what to do.
If you take away women’s makeup, Osama has already won. That is, after all, right out of the Taliban playbook.
Next week, for their own safety of course, all women will be required to travel wearing burquas. Just until the terrorist threat is eliminated.
I am so sick of these Republican cowards! They sell out America at every turn.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 188
hasn’t she been doing that for years, in a way?
Richmond 184:
Yeah, I don’t understand how Coulter got away with it either. And our media is obscene. I think I mentioned a few times here already that I refuse to watch. My TV has been off for a couple of years now to all news programming. I just can’t take it.
meta 186:
THANKS, META! I will read this one for sure.
astralplame @
190
Oh, OK, I see. Sorry for the confusion.
The blogger video project is going forward. We’ve had some very talented people agree to participate to make it happen. I’m in the process of developing a project prospectus and a timeline. If you have a particular skill or ideas you’d like to contribute to this project, please email me at metaqwest AT yahoo DOT com and we can exchange more information.
I’m sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.
this line makes me uncomfortable as does evoking wwii in general regarding our current conflict(s). i realize the point wasn’t to compare the current gwot to wwii, but to compare the courage of then and now (a good point too i might add). still, imo, there are too many on the right who are itching to employ a heavier hand against our perceived enemies and thoughts of the good ol’ days of hiroshima and nagasaki get them all manic with bloodlust.
but i’m one of those who thinks nukes should never be on the table and everyone should disarm. and, talk like that might not be the best way to get elected in the violent country we live in. but, we should all be careful with tough talk. sometimes you get called on it…
I get the make-up ban now, and (in Britain) the requirement to put female personal hygiene items necessary for the trip in a clear plastic bag for boarding. You see, women (of child bearing age) shouldn’t be working in the first place. Women who are pre-Menopausal need to be at home taking care of their husbands and children. Only hussies would put on make-up outside the home anyway. Welcome the new Taliban!
katymine @
107
This really needs to be put out there – this airport nonsense is beyond insane.
TSF #173
And you have a good idea who was really behind his assination.
punaise @ 192
Yes she has. But, I mean really, really postal.
I think with Ann Coultergeist, there’s real potential there.
sandlin @
198
TSF S orry #172
Oklahoma kiddo @ 199
I read this, submitted the question of “what would she do if she REALLY snapped” to my mental image generator, and received a mental picture of her tearing her blouse apart on national television. It is sad but true that women who require attention to feel they exist will eventually resort to baring their bosom.
astralplame @
201
going breastal
astralplame @ 201
Oh my God! Please please spare me the visuals. I’d have to be dragged kicking and screaming to a spectacle like that.
I’m with you OK kiddo.
Not. A. Thing. I Could. Watch. (I know my limits.)
Ho. Lee. Shit.
Speaking of Nobel Prizewinners . . .
Gunther Grass admits he was Waffen-SS
Posted on last thread….but I wanted to get the word out. I hope you firepups are all having a great Saturday. There are a little scattered showers here in NOLA today but it takes the edge off of the August heat! Lovely Sat. to all of you!
**************************************
Just checking in a little late today. Thanks for this post.
Something that people can do is come to New Orleans. Everyone needs to know that the French Quarter and uptown are fine. Great restaurants are open. Please visit us on your vacation. Please come spend money here. It will help our economy greatly for people to visit.
Many people think everything is destroyed. Much is but not all. We need visitors to come and bring the positive news back to their home states.
My sister went back to Jakarta recently with a “New Orleans is for Loving” shirt on. She was greeted at every turn by people saying but isn’t everything still destroyed?
Christmas is a lovely time to visit. The weather is pleasant, no hurricanes and there is a whole Christmas in NOLA celebration. I’m just saying…
Again, thanks for the post.
lotus -
Just saw your comment on another thread re your quintessential age theory! Hmm, now I’m wondering what my real age is… :)
The term “homeland” just completely creeps me out. It is SO Nazi.
Richmond says:
August 12th, 2006 at 9:41 am
You might want this:
TV-B-Gone
[snip]
‘Enter the TV-B-Gone, a small television remote that hangs on your keychain and turns off virtually any television with the press of button. “Now, what would be the purpose of such a device?” you may be asking yourself. Well, without revealing too much of our devious nature we can think of a few things. Imagine sports bars or annoying talking head shows that appear on monitors at the airport. Add to that your own creativity and we’re pretty sure you’ll come up with some ideas. All you need to do is press the button and keep pointing it at the TV until it turns off (which may take up to 69 seconds). The next 69 seconds will be spent quietly, or not so quietly, enjoying the perplexed expressions of the TV automatons.’
They say it has the off codes for about 200 models of TV!
Ha, Jenny!
Well, lessee, if you’ve never been aware of this phenomenon yourself, maybe your quintessential age is “TBD”!
That or, could be, my theory is full-of-it, I spoze . . .
Shell @
208
Yeah, me too. I’ve always felt weirdly itchy since it’s inception into our national gobbly speak.
masaccio @
135
PLEASE ask Congressman Murtha to campaign for NED!
PJE!
Jeez, where were you and youR magic teevy-killing-gizmo Tuesday afternoon!!!
There I was stuck in the waiting room of a mammography suite, with four other women, a blaring soap opera that we none of us wanted inflicted on us, AND NO CLICKER!
And I can’t tell you how often that’s happened to every woman in this place.
Am I right or am I right, grrrls?
Tristero over at Digby’s place touches on something I’ve been wondering about since shortly after this plane plot was revealed.
In short, what a different world it would be had the Bush administration been even half as competent, (or even remotely as interested), as the British authorities in dealing with terrorism.
meta @ 211
Yes – I can’t see what is wrong with calling it simply “national security”
lotus @ 211
Lotus, no, your theory is 100% fabulous. I’m pretty sure my quintessential age is around 7 years old. (hey, I could go younger but I’ll stop at 7… heh).
Wow, I’ve hit the big-time. My response to lotus is in moderation.
*ilson, are you playing with me? :)
To answer John’s question on winning the war on terror, we win it when the military-industrial complex goes bankrupt – which means we’ll never win it. Little boys love plastic ray guns and killer video games: Big boys love bombs and missiles and land mines and bunker busters and tanks.
Testing to see if this (%) puts me in moderation.
lotus -
the last time I was in the “mammography suite” I was alone in the room, terrified of how the lump I’d found would be diagnosed. The TV was playing a looped video on how to do self-exams, and all the options available should the diagnosis turn out to be the big C. It didn’t assuage my fears at all. I spent the whole time in tears. Luckily, mine was a non-cancerous fibroid – which the damned mammography machine didn’t even detect! (The ultrasound did).
Thankfully, it all turned out benign. But was very scary, nonetheless. I would opt for NO TVs in doctor’s offices whatsoever. It just makes the experience surreal. As if you’re not flipped out enough already when you walk in the place…
MsAnnaNOLA @
206
There’s been some discussion about having YKos in NOLA, as well as the 2008 Democratic Convention. Anybody know how those efforts are proceeding?
shoephone/lotus -
Yeah, the waiting room is incredibly inhospitable. Temperature hideously cold, atmosphere dreary (even if they think it’s cheery it’s horrible)… Usually airless and windowless (and if there are windows they’ve never opened) which creeps me out and makes me feel claustrophobic on top of everything else. THE WORST. I don’t know how anyone even works in those offices. I’d lose my mind.
Oh and forget the TV. I’ll stand out in the hallway before I suffer through that!
lotus @
213
I have told everyone in my Sports Medicine Doctor’s office that I do not consider the television, recently installed in the waiting room with NEITHER volume nor channel changer, an improvement. I ask every visit to have it turned off. Not surprisingly, the office staff is on my side; they immediately comply, probably because they can say to the doctor who sees his expensive plasma screen dark, “Well, the patients asked us to turn it off….”
Sorry folks, turns out those “birth pangs” were just acid reflux.
Carry on.
-Condi Rice
TeddySanFran – From Daily Kos last month: New Orleans drops bid to host Dem convention.
GSD @ 224
707 to GermanShepherdDawg
Whew — I’m RILL proud of your clean report, shoey!
I’m such a curmudgeon I won’t book any hotel unless the windows open. :) And it has to be more than 6 freakin’ inches!
OK. All my comments are going into moderation now. I’ll try not to take it personally. *sniff*.
I really hope Ned starts campaigning in full force this next week. The swiftboating has already begun and he needs to HIT BACK HARD starting now. Give those neocons an inch and they take a mile. I really believe we can’t let up on our senators. I know the leadership has done the PR thing and come out in support of Ned, but where Schumer and Dodd are concerned, it seems tepid at best. I want to see the Democratic Senators actively campaigning for him.
Leiberman fashions himself the tireless protector of the homeland, but his entire self-fulfilling prophecy of being the maverick on the outside, has put him out in the cold for good. He’s pathological and I say we give him the full brunt of our displeasure. Ned can stay above the fray, be the classy guy he is. But we need to fight fire with fire on his behalf.
I want to know exactly when the Big Dog is going to travel the state of CT with Ned on his arm. And I’m not feeling particularly patient about it.
Teddy, heh!
Last time I was in my GP’s — under the mega eye of a wallhung TV on POX News — I strolled up to the counter and quietly asked if they’d turn if off because it wasn’t doing my BP a bit of good. They did, and the whole waiting room went up in a cheer.
(flowah turned and dipped a curtsy)
Weird, Jenny, because I’m seeing them what-I-think-is instantly. Hmmm.
lotus -
I think we have a secret tunnel of communication… or somethin’. Well, something’s telling me to get off the computer (probably my quintessential 7 year-old (hee) so I’m off for now!
Well, so according to schedule, Israel is setting an appointment to stop the war on Monday.
RAW STORY
Published: Saturday August 12, 2006
“Israel will halt its war in Lebanon at 7 a.m. Monday (midnight EDT Sunday night), a senior Israeli government official said,” according to the Associated Press.
“The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sensitive matter with reporters,” continued
the AP report.
I hope this fits in with everyone else’s schedule. And hope this doesn’t spoil your weekend.
WHAT AN OUTRAGE.
…lotus, changing the culture, one switched-off TV at a time!
shoey, I think his campaign starts full-out again tomorrow morning on the talk shows.
Seems to me the Lamonts did the right thing to take themselves off to Maine for four days’ re-charging time this week, though. Exhausted candidates are mistake-prone candidates . . .
Oomboy, shoey, and we see what a dent I’m making . . .
meta -
DISGUSTING. sigh.
meta 234, yeh, what YOU said.
ON TOPIC
Read this good observation from CR
http://cunningrealist.blogspot…..watch.html
How many Lebanese children will be the last to die for a schedule????
Yep, I’m looking forward to seeing Ned on Face the Nation tomorrow. Mostly because Schieffer usually sounds like the voice of season and reason. We’ll see how he treats our guy tomorrow.
But I’m even more looking forward to seeing Cokie Roberts’ head explode on This Week. After all, she predicted that a Ned win would “destroy the Democratic party!” She’s the butt of her own joke.
The cease-fire solves nothing. The reasons that most of America’s politicians are hated by most in the Middle East remain. This war will continue.
shoey 242 — copy that!
shoephone @ 242
Eeeggghhh, Cokie, George Will, Sam Donaldson, blah, blah, blah. Isn’t it funny how they got rid of all those old yappers only to bring them all back one at a time, like we missed them or something? Cokie just gives me a headache. She’s so sanctimonious.
Okay, it’s time for me to get off the computer because it is such a beautiful day here and I can’t allow myself to miss out on the last vestages of our NW summer.
One more thing – I often wonder how Steve Roberts can stand to live with that prim and proper prig Cokie anymore, but that kind of speculatin’ is probably beyond my ken.
(just sayin’…)
New thread from Jane.
ANTHRAX ….
shoephone @ 247
How can Laura stand to live with George?
I say we retire the terms “terorrism,” and “terrorist” in favor of “conservative religious crime” and “conservative religious perp.”
I blogged about exactly the same issue on Kos today.
The Nov. 2005 Harpers also covered the same issue.
See my blog for more, too.
i said something similar a couple of months ago:
i grew up during the 60’s, when america had a real enemy…the soviet union: a country 8 times larger than our own, with a real government, a real army, the third biggest population in the world, and more nuclear war heads than needed to blow our entire nation to smithereens.
i managed to survive without having a nervous breakdown every two weeks; we all did.
as i said on my blog, we are just sick and tired of it all.
imho, this is the tact the dems need to take in the coming months: let’s stop being afraid, and start taking action. let’s find bin laden, and prosecute the terrorists. let’s stop flaying around like chickens with our heads cut off.
let’s be adults again.
Thanks Lotus,
He took ten steps yesterday.we are guarded but
also thrilled~
lotus @ 154
LJ/Aquaria @5
“Me, I go right into West or South San like I own the muddafuggin town, and nobody messes with me. A white woman in her 40s. I’ve seen them mug your classic scared white coward bigot, but me–left completely alone. Why? Because I didn’t see the locals as the dreaded OTHER.
Exactly. You’ve pinpointed the precursor of violence. Not seeing the locals as the “dreaded OTHER” is peace. Dharmic words, thanks.
55 percent approve of BushCo’s handling of homeland security (up 11 percent)…and 50 percent (up 14 percent) of U.S. citizens believe that WMD (of lethality and quantity claimed by BushCo and Colin Powell before the U.N.) has been found in Iraq.
Why do I get the feeling that this 11 percent is part of the 14 percent who’ll believe anything BushCo and their MSM talking heads spout?
I was reading Neal Boortz’s webpage where he states that WMD definitely has been found in Iraq and downplays Democratic fact-based statements that the artillery shells located by our forces in post-2003 Iraq have all been depleted, degraded, old, old, old, munitions from the Iran/Iraq war waged during the 1980s.
So, where’s all the huge amounts of WMD that Colin Powell (and by extension BushCo) said would be found? And not only tons and tons of the stuff, but highly lethal sarin and mustard gas missiles?
Anyway, then Boortz made a typical wingnut analogy, saying that if what the U.S. had found was NUKES, even if from the 1980s, no one would say that no WMD had been found in Iraq.
I agree. NUKES found in Iraq would definitely indicate that Saddam Hussein had WMD. But no NUKES have ever been found, just old 1980s-era munitions scattered hither and yon around Iraq that have leaked much of their poisonous gas in the intervening decades and lost almost all their potency.
In other words, Boortz is making an apples and oranges analogy. But, of course, gullible wingnuts will fall for it everytime. As apparently either 14 percent or 11 percent of U.S. citizens have once again.
The Bush administration is the most dangerous enemy our liberal, democratic nation has ever faced.
Well, that was spot on. My sentiments exactly.