Atta-girl Hillary!

What a magnificent job Hillary Clinton did tonight in her speech before the Democratic Convention in Denver. She was magnanimous, gracious and eloquent. She proved she has the grit and mettle to wage the kind of campaign that has already, at this early stage, left Obama a little battered and bruised.

I watched with tears in my heart, listening to her speak and thinking of what might have been. I certainly hope he proves worth losing her.

Humph!

george bush was captured on video today saying "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century". Wow. He should talk. What is this, "Do as I say, not as I do"? Methinks he speaks with forked tongue.

The John Edwards Affair: OMG, I'm So Done!

Raise your hand if you are done with these people (mostly men) who risk it all to keep Mr. Happy happy! I know I am.

Now we have former Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards, yet another guy who just couldn't keep it in his pants, who used his position of power to get it on, and then comes up with all kinds of lies and evasions to keep up the sham.

Poor guys. It's not really their fault, its all these terrible urges that they are powerless to resist, you know like dogs, it's just their nature.

If you're interested in learning more about this sordid mess read this article from the New York Times, click here

From Chris Matthews - I Hate Her!

This is from an article by Bob Somerby, from The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine 6/3/01:

In 1994, [Roger] Ailes hired Matthews for a show on NBC's "America's Talking" network. Ailes later moved him to CNBC, where Hardball was born.

chris matthews"He had a natural sense of moral outrage," said Ailes, now chairman of Fox News.

The outrage is no put-on. Aboard a recent shuttle flight to Washington, Matthews spotted New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Earlier in the day, he'd been complaining privately that, as first lady, she'd rejected a health-care plan that would allow nurses to give care to public school students because it was "too narrow-bore."

"In other words, 'I'm not going to get enough credit for this,' " Matthews told a colleague in the cafeteria of MSNBC headquarters in North Jersey. "Madonna won't get flowers brought to her. I hate her. I hate her. All that she stands for."

Tweety Matthews

I'm sure lots of you are aware of the flap surrounding Chris Matthews. There is an excellent chronicling of his offensive comments that lays out how he talks about Hillary Clinton as compared to how he talks about the men she is running against. It turns out the ratio of comparatively favorable and negative things he says about the senator run something like 8 negative for every favorable comment. Anyway if you are interested, check out the details here at Media Matters.

But, that's not what I want to write about. I really want to comment on that half-hearted apology he made, all 5 minutes of it, at the beginning of his show today. I was really turned off by it, because he conveniently skipped right past the dogged way he has hounded her in the past months, totally failing to address the noxious trend that is on record, there for all to see. None of us who support Sen. Clinton want to see her get special treatment, we just don't want her to be dinged at every turn for doing some of the same things that the men have done.

Chris Matthews will never get that. He thinks he is just telling it like it is. Problem is he is only speaking his own truth which can be summed up in the very telling remark he made some time ago about Hillary Clinton - "I hate her, I hate everything about her".

I am so proud for Hillary

So much has been said about Hillary Clinton's victory tonight in New Hampshire, I don't think there is anything I can add that hasn't already been said, and likely much better. It was just in time and has given her supporters a sorely needed shot-in-the arm. I am heartfully pleased for her and also a little more hopeful because I think she has such ability and, yes, even gravitas, I think she would make a great president.

Having said that, for some reason I feel moved to write about something else, because I have been troubled by what has been happening to Hillary, about the hyper-critical atmosphere surrounding her. So many people in the so-called "legitimate media" just excoriate her for the same thing they blow off in the other candidates. When has any presidential candidate ever been dinged for looking old and tired - complete with an unflattering picture - although it is quite true that many other presidential candidates (men) most assuredly have looked both old and tired? And, who has been subject to criticism for their laugh? The smart guys were calling it a "cackle" and discounting the image of a crone that word inevitable conjures up. When Hillary talks, she is characterized as trying to manipulate while other candidates who often are saying the same sort of thing are cast as being resolute.

Certainly some people stand out for the particularly harsh, judgemental negative way in which they have covered her campaign. I am of course thinking of Chris Matthews. He consistently finds a sinister meaning to every move she makes, every word she utters. If you watch his show, "Hardball" you can see for yourself. Watch the words that he uses in reference to her as opposed to others. Its totally clear to me that he holds her in contempt and is using his "lofty" position as a media analyst to lob bombs at her and hopefully ruin her campaign. Watch him, see if he talks about anyone the way he talks about her. See for yourself.

Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11

For an excellent and most thorough debunking of Rudy Giuliani's elaborately constructed and completely fallacious framework of his heroism at 9/11 and his expertise as a mayor, you must read Wayne Barrett's article on Giuliani from the August 7 edition of the Village Voice. It is devastating in its detail. This is the man who would be president. Really, really, really, everyone should read this.
Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11

Gonzales Testifies Yet Again Before the Senate

Alberto Gonzales, The Best and the Brightest??




What an appalling spectacle! This poor excuse for a lawyer, and worse, for a person who, however inexplicably, managed to pass law school and the bar exam, is so patently incompetent, there simply are no words.

I mean just look at his performance. When asked how he could justify asking then Attorney General Ashcroft to sign a legal document while he was ill and under the influence of mind altering medications, precipitating a frantic call from Ashcroft's wife to acting Attorney General Jim Comey when she heard Gonzales et al were en route, all he could say was that there is nothing in the rules that prohibits doing so and Ashcroft could always have said no.

Or how about his testimony in support of his previous claim that there was no dissension over the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) despite reports of threats of mass resignations in the Justice Department. The real reason for the raid on Ashcroft's hospital room, alleged Gonzales, was not the TSP, but another secret program. Said he, the visit was made at the urging of the so-called Gang of Eight after an emergency meeting, because of concern about this other secret program expiring that night. Only, some of the Gang of Eight have already come out with denials of Gonzales' version, saying that discussion did not happen, the only matter discussed was the TSP. Oh, and by the way, back then the Justice Department sent a document to then House Speaker Dennis Hastert documenting that the matter discussed at the meeting was the TSP. It is, in fact, still in the Speaker’s records. So...nobody as yet recalls this other secret program including the folks at the meeting where it was supposedly discussed, and documents produced at the time identified the subject as the TSP. Hummmhhh...kind of sounds like a bald faced lie, don't you think?

Obviously george bush and his rottweiler cheney believe they can do whatever they damn well please, and keeping this incompetent nincompoop, who can't get his lies straight, pleases them for the moment. If only Congress had the balls to actually take action to restore some of the balance of power and give this guy the boot.

Ah well, I can dream can't I?

Wouldn't it be great if he won???

Intellect or Mass Hypnosis????

So much has happened since my last post. Where to start??? Gonzales? The "surge"? How about the Democratic majority that thus far has been stymied by this Svengali? Through it all I am overwhelmed with my dismay with the American public, which now seems to be aware that something is rotten in Denmark, but still is willing to believe anything bush and his cronies say without requiring substantiation. They are still awed by the office and give him the benefit of the doubt because they don't want to believe the president would lie.

It is startlingly clear to any who would look, that bush and his cronies have lied and manipulated over and over again. Worse, the media, or as I like to call them, the steno pool, until recently has dutifully recorded all the crafted versions of the facts coming out of the administration with nary a challenge, nor even a clarification. Although they regularly characterized what Clinton said while in office, usually in terms of "what he's really saying here is....", the media has been glaringly absent on such analysis of bush, cheney or rove speak. In my darker musings, I have pondered whether the media types have been in bed with the bush folks.

The problem with this is the so called "smart" American public is way too preoccupied with American Idol and Anna Nicole to inform themselves on something so unrelated to their daily lives as the activities of politicians. They are content to allow themselves to be played, to be pandered to, to be manipulated by savvy pols who know just what to say to scare the public into submission. And the compliant media has been the perfect conduit for spreading the propaganda.

I can't help but wonder where we would be if the people and the media made them back up their assertions, no longer accepting the blanket statements just because they came from the president or one of his flunkies. Until that happens, there is really no reason for them to do anything different because what they are doing works. Whenever the public seems to be wondering off the reservation, just say "9/11", "al Kaeda", and "Osama" a couple of times, mention how we're doing this over there so we don't have to do it here, and we all dutifully fall in line.

"Oh judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts. And men have lost their reason."

Supporting Our Troops?

Am I the only one struck by the irony implicit in so many right wingers wrapping themselves in the flag, using the troops as their own sort of personal beaning bat to beat up on anyone who dared come between them and their beloved war? Think about it. Anyone who says its time to end the war is not "supporting the troops". Anyone who complains about the poor prosecution of the war, is "demoralizing the troops" and so on. To listen to them, one would think that they are very concerned about the welfare of our troops, right?

Yet, when one compares the right wing rhetoric with their actions, there is a bit of a disconnect. Those same folks who pay so much lip service to supporting our troops sit quietly by while our troops are allowed to go to war with unarmored Humvees and inadequate body armor. They lose not a moment of sleep even as they ignore the reality that few, if any, of the troops are supplied with helmet liners that are known to prevent the concussive brain injuries that have proven so damaging to the mental functioning of those with these injuries. Click on this link for more information about helmet liners Operation Helmet

Now we learn that for a least the past two years, our brave war injured have been living in squalid conditions while undergoing outpatient treatment at Walter Reed. For more details see Dana Priest's Washington Post article here Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility (free subscription required). These past two plus years, the soldiers' complaints about the conditions have been minimized, or worse yet, ignored until Ms Priest's series blew the lid off the scandal.

Appalling. Wake up America! Use your brains and figure out who really supports the troops.

Sigh....

I miss Al Franken.

Have we had enough of the hypocrisy yet?

Ted Haggard, President
National Assoc. of Evangelicals and Advisor to President Bush


Or as Tom Friedman asked "Just how stupid do they think we are?" As I think about Ted Haggard and his dual life - one part evangelical icon, one part meth user, closet gay man - I am reminded yet again of my weariness of these folks who, from atop their high moral ground, presume to tell the rest of us how to live our lives.

Are you as tired of the sanctimonious, holier-than-thou prattling of the truly saved? Are you weary, as I am, of the religious right and it's many proclamations of moral superiority over the great unwashed (those of us who don't wear our religious beliefs on our shirt sleeves) only to find, yet again, it comes down to "Do as I say do, not as I do"??? (Or put another way, the rules don't really apply to them.)

There is a word for that....It's HYPOCRISY. When all is said and done, they - and we - would be better off if they just concentrated on how they can live a moral and righteous life, leave off the smug, pompous, pious preaching, and leave us to seek our own religious and moral compass.

Please!!!

For more information, read this article from Newsweek: Morality Tale: A Pastor's Fall From Grace

Fingernails on the Chalkboard

Why is it that the man who is arguably the most powerful man in the world - when dickie lets him anyway - is unable to pronounce a simple word that he chooses to use a lot??? It's pronounced new-clear, genius!

Why Do We Keep Listening to These People???

It's so obvious they are trying to manipulate us by scaring us into compliance with their world view. Such a cynical tactic, because it seems as if they are saying "We'll just play to their fears and they will fall in line behind us just like always". Anyway, thought you might find a different take on their line of bull interesting. Take a look at these articles and decide for yourself. They give new context to the comparisons made by the posse members during a media blitz last week.

The True Iraq Appeasers by Peter Galbraith , The Boston Globe.
Iraq-Nazi Analogy Tough to Swallow by Steve Chapman, The Baltimore Sun.
Oh, and by the way, the photo is of Rumsfeld with the guy he characterized as a latter day Hitler.

The Press Conference

Thank you, Fred Kaplan, for putting into words what the fawning (or is it the cowardly?) mainstream media folks failed to address in their coverage. You must read this. Here's the link. What a Moronic Presidential Press Conference!

Okay so I haven't blogged much lately

But, I had my reasons. Pretty much I guess it could be chalked up to my dismay with being outnumbered by the gullible ones in the majority.

And, I have also been very busy lately, too. I practically have a whole new life, and am still wrestling with organizing my time with the new stuff.

Haven't changed my mind about georgie and his henchpeople.....still can't stand them, still don't trust and, thanks to their astoundingly incompetent bungling coupled with their completely misplaced arrogance, they are the last people who should be charged with keeping us safe!

This is our protector?

I just can't believe the incompetence and arrogance of this man...the worst possible combination for a president. He supports this unbelievable deal to allow a United Arab Emirates company to operate ports in some of our largest cities. He is going to use his first veto since he took office to block any effort to suspend the deal. Oh, and by the way, he didn't know about the deal until after the fact. He's gonna keep us safe?? Right!

george The Incompetent

You’ve got to check out this article from the Washington Post. It presents a compelling case on the performance of our president. It's titled "Bush the Incompetent".

For a while now I have been saddened and disappointed in our American public's complacent attitude as this man mischaracterizes, stonewalls, makes end runs around the constitution and mired us in this oh-so-poorly conducted "war". Even after disaster upon disaster happens in Iraq, as the toll on our young men and women continues to grow, we sit around and shrug and say to ourselves "Oh well, however unpleasant, there just isn't an alternative".

And, when the pitifully small percentage of media people who work up the cajones (little shriveled ones) timidly question his statements, the ethics issues that still threaten to overrun his presidency, the debacle after Katrina, the prescription drug plan (the infamous Medicare Part D) that debuted to near catastrophic results on the elderly sick, the stonewalling and all the rest, he knows that he has but to bring out his old reliable "national security" umbrella, and all the worrisome troublemakers go away.

When you really think about it, most people just don't have the time to look into these things on their own, what with the demands of work and family. So they have to evaluate bush based on little or no factual information. They're so busy living their lives, they won't notice the damage being done until the effect shows up on their doorsteps. Of course by then it may be too late.........

If you can find the time, read the article. Here's the link:
Bush the Incompetent

Abramoff Ticking Bomb......

You all know who Jack Abramoff is, right? He's the connected superlobbyist who laid out scads of money and other goodies to the powerful and near powerful in congress in return for certain political favors. Anyway, Jackie boy got caught with his hand in the till, so to speak, and now he is having to pay the piper. He has made a plea deal in which he has reportedly agreed to give up some of his congressional friends who have so often shown their gratitude for his patronage over the past several years. As yet unnamed, these scoundrels must be feeling the heat of impending doom.

In a show of bravura, there's been a slew of denials from the likes of Tom Delay, Dennis Hastert, Byron L. Dorgan, and Robert Ney. Hark back to the similarly heartfelt denials of wrongdoing from former congressman, current prisoner Randy “Duke” Cunningham. As you may recall he maintained his innocence right up until he agreed to a plea bargain that required him to confess all - the yacht, the home sale, taking handfuls and handfuls of money and a dizzying array of goodies in return for political favors. He did confess, tearfully, before the glaring lights of TV news cameras.

One can only look forward to a similar fate for these others who also deny any wrongdoing...