While I don’t expect to see Nancy Pelosi as a great political reformer, some credit is due. In honor of the first female Speaker of the House, a little School House Rock - Sufferin’ Till Sufferage:
–WKW
In a rah-rah blog at The Huffington Post, New Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi jotted down some words of positivity, leading with getting the hell out of the Iraqi death and money pit:
“I told my colleagues yesterday that the biggest ethical issue facing our country for the past three and a half years is the war in Iraq,” wrote Pelosi.
And while such words are pleasant, a final point she made showed that Pelosi is a politician who will gladly say whatever it takes.
“The new Democratic Congress will live up to the highest ethical standard,” Pelosi wrote.
While a change was mandatory, and while the GOP was selling off the entire nation piece by piece to friends and supporters, let’s not lose our minds. Democrats are politicians. There will be no great ethical changes. Ask pork king Jack Murtha about his ethical standards. Just because he knows when a war is a piece of shit doesn’t mean he’s some shining ray of ethical light.
They’re politicians, folks. Pelosi and the lot of them wouldn’t know proper ethical standards if they stuffed $20 billion in earmarks down their shorts. The fact that they’re currently perceived as more ethical than Republicans doesn’t make them any less of crooks.
–WKW
The Administration really is taking the “Right to bear arms” thing seriously. They’re letting Iran and North Korea get nukes. They publish nuke secrets on the Internet. Now, they give the stuff to India.
It’s the “If-everyone-has-a-gun-no-one-will-get-hurt” philosophy in action.
We just have to deal with the fact that every now and again, some kids will go nuts and shoot up the joint. With nuclear weapons.
From The Nation:
For decades, the official policy of the United States has been to discourage nuclear proliferation, particularly in southern Asia.
But the U.S. Senate now says: No more.
At the prodding of the Bush administration, the Senate voted 85-12 to allow the U.S. to ship nuclear fuel and technology to India as part of an initiative to encourage the expansion of nuclear programs in that country. At a time when the Bush administration is suggesting the U.S. might need to go to war to block nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea, the Senate has given its stamp of approval to proliferation in one of the most volatile regions of the world.
Yeah. This is all going to work out really well.
–WKW
Here’s a stellar comment to a blog at Unclaimed Territory, Glenn Greenwald’s blog:
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Why aren’t pundits and journalists calling Bush on this?
• freedom takes time to trump hatred.
McNamara’s 11 lessons from “The Fog of War”
• We misjudged then — and we have since — the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries … and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
• We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience … We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
• We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
• Our judgments of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
• We failed then — and have since — to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces and doctrine …
• We failed as well to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.
• We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large-scale military involvement … before we initiated the action.
• After the action got under way and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course … we did not fully explain what was happening and why we were doing what we did.
• We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Our judgment of what is in another people’s or country’s best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our image or as we choose.
• We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action … should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.
• We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions … At times, we may have to live with an imperfect, untidy world.
• Underlying many of these errors lay our failure to organize the top echelons of the executive branch to deal effectively with the extraordinarily complex range of political and military issues.
“As I told you, I am not going to comment on President Bush,” McNamara said, patting his briefcase. “I refer you again to the 11 principles. You apply them! …You don’t need me to point out the target. You’re smart enough!”
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–WKW
Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize winning economist that helped put 16 percent of the nation’s wealth into 1 percent of the pockets of the U.S., died today at the age of 94.
Friedman leaves behind many large corporations, including Exxon Mobil, WalMart, Chevron and General Motors.
“He was like a father to us,” said Exxon Mobil, wiping it’s eyes with krugerrands.
While many large corporations feel a sense of gratitude toward Friedman, the majority of the U.S. could give a shit and just wish they had health care.
–WKW
There would be no such thing as Godwin’s Law if comparing things to Nazi Germany wasn’t commonplace. Nonetheless, this section from “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” struck me as eerily familiar:
No one who has not lived for years in a totalitarian land can possibly conceive how difficult it is to to escape the dread consequences of a regime’s calculated and incessant propaganda. Often in a German home or office or sometimes in a casual conversation with a stranger in a restaurant, a beer hall, a cafe, I would meet with the most outlandish assertions from seemingly educated and intelligent persons. It was obvious they were parroting some piece of nonsense they had heard on the radio or read in the newspapers. Sometimes one was tempted to say as much, but on such occasions one was met with such a stare of incredulity, such a shock of silence, as if one had blasphemed the Almighty, that one realized how useless it was even to try to make contact with a mind which had become warped and for whom the facts of life had become what Hitler and Goebbels, with their cynical disregard for truth, said they were.
Remind you of anything?
–WKW
Showing once again that when he says “We must work together,” what he really means is “Screw you, hippies,” President George Bush today continued on his attacks of Democrats who seem to object to the Bush Doctrine of endless, badly fought wars:
“We hear voices calling for us to retreat from the world and close our doors to its opportunities,” he said in a speech at the National University of Singapore. “These are the old temptations of isolationism and protectionism, and America must reject them,” said Bush in Singapore.
Because, hey, who doesn’t look back fondly to the Pre-World War II days, some 65 years ago, when U.S. Republicans were firm isolationsists. Since then, the U.S. has really just been minding its own business with the occasional imperialist action in Iraq, Iraq again, Korea, Colombia, Vietnam, Cuba, Bosnia, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, Palestine, Libya, Lebanon, Iran, Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, and a few dozen other nations we entered militarily for varying purposes and goals.
But don’t think for a second we’re going to go back to the way things were some seven decades ago. And don’t even get started on going back to Prohibition, either. Or the Whig Party.
–WKW
Many liberal blogs are up in arms about the new U.S. law, which will come into play in January, making it mandatory for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to review every U.S. passenger who will be taking an international flight. Basically, you need the State’s permission to leave the country in the U.S. now.
And while blogs like Crooks and Liars’ ““Vy Vould You Vish To Leave Ze Fatherland?” complain about this trampling on civil liberties, they go a step too far when they start comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany.
You see, the Nazis basically let people come and go:
From “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich:”
“Nazi Germany permitted all but a few thousand of its citizens who were in the black book of the secret police to travel abroad … Nazi rulers did not seem to be worried that the average German would be contaminated by anti-Nazism if he visited the democratic countries.”
So see, sure they had a no-fly list, but it’s not like they had to check EVERYBODY before they got on airplanes, like the U.S. is going to do.
So please, enough with hysterics. The Nazis weren’t THAT bad.
–WKW
I hate to sound like the aging sportswriter that I am, but for the love of dog, are the Scoop Jacksons and Bill Simmons of the world really the future of the medium? Both can be somewhat entertaining, but Simmons and his 76,000-word narcissistic spewings, and Jackson’s hipper-than-thou nonsense get real annoying, real quick in my book.
Jackson’s effort today, a hysterical grouping of words regarding the Phoenix Suns starting the season 2-5, is a true monument to one-sentence paragraphs. Here are some actual paragraphs.
It seems like Jekyll and Hyde, the Britney and K-Fed, for the Phoenix Suns from last year to this year … damn.
2-5?
Then this.
So, what is wrong?
No pride.
Or am I reaching?
Or pride.
Maybe it’s just me. Perhaps I’ve become a creative curmudgeon. Personally, however, I can only think of one reason why ESPN highlights crap like this on a consistent basis.
No pride.
UPDATE: Appears ESPN hired another long-winded, one-sentence paragraph lover.
–WKW
A bit of what I’ve been doing at TravelGolf.com:
If O.J. Simpson can get iffy, so can a golf blogger
In a career full of glorious achievements, including gaining 2,003 yards rushing in 1973, the Naked Gun movies, the murders of his wife and her friend, and the O.J. Simpson Trial, O.J. Simpson is preparing for his next blockbuster smash - his new book “If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened.” Read more
De La Hoya-Mayweather bout will highlight how age matters more in boxing than golf
Having recently signed up a mega fight that will occur in May 2007, the Mayweather-De La Hoya bout will be a perfect example of how age is different in boxing than in any other sport. De La Hoya goes into the fight with edges in experience, quality of opposition and weight. He’ll leave the fight bloody, battered and stopped. Read More
An important tip for all golfers: Beware of rugby players
Up to 14 teams and 428 players can compete on the field at the same time during a rugby match. Read more
John Daly, Britney Spears get divorced: A new power couple awaits
On a day when election coverage should be the only news that matters, two massive events have shaken the United States, leaving the elections in the dust. Both John Daly and Britney Spears are getting divorced.
Read More
–WKW
Deciding to form the ever-popular “exploratory committee,” Rudy Giuliani has taken the first step toward a 2008 Presidential run. The former Mayor of New York is one of the first Republicans to dip his foot into the waters of a potential presedential run.
Non-partisan experts, however, have said Giuliani faces nearly insurmountable odds in his quest, however, as there is little chance Americans will vote for a candidate whose name ends in a vowel.
The experts also agreed it’s highly unlikely Americans would pledge their support to candidates whose names end in -ingrich or -obama, either.
–WKW
Pronunciation: sek-’ter-E-&n
Function: adjective
1: of, relating to, or characteristic of a sect or sectarian
2: limited in character or scope : PAROCHIAL
Now, let’s use it in a sentence:
From 1861 to 1865, the United States of America was embroiled in sectarian violence, with the North sect fighting the South sect.
–WKW
On Veterans Day, we must always remember those who sacrificed everything - their lives, their personal lives, their families and every that there is on this planet. To those who offer their lives for a greater cause, we salute you. As someone who has never served, I can’t begin to imagine what veterans of the U.S. have gone through, or what a day like this means to them.
Of course, neither can these guys.
Or these guys:
Dennis Hastert
Dick Armey
Tom Delay
Roy Blunt
Bill Frist
Mitch McConnell
Rick Santorum
George Felix Allen
Trent Lott
Richard Shelby
Jon Kyl
John Cornyn
Tim Hutchison
Christopher Cox
John T. Doolittle
Saxby Chambliss
Jack Kemp
Dan Quayle
Eliot Abrams
Paul Wolfowitz
Vin Weber
Richard Perle
Douglas Feith
Rudy Giuliani
Michael Bloomberg
George Pataki
Lindsey Graham
Dana Rohrabacher
John M. McHugh
Todd Platts
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Condoleeza Rice
George Will
Chris Matthews
Bill O’Reilly
Paul Gigot
Bill Bennett
Ann Coulter
Pat Buchanan
Rush Limbaugh
Michael Savage
John Wayne
Pat Robertson
Bill Kristol
Sean Hannity
Kenneth Starr
Antonin Scalia
Clarence Thomas
Ralph Reed
Michael Medved
Charlie Daniels
Ted Nugent
Toby Keith
John Ashcroft
Jeb Bush
Karl Rove
Newt Gingrich
Ronald Reagan
Phil Gramm
–WKW
If ever there was one moment that changed the direction of a nation, it was George Allen’s macaca moment. It was a moment that encapsulated everything that was wrong with the GOP. And while no one can say if that cost him the election or cost the GOP the Senate, one thing is clear to me - it cost Allen the election and cost the GOP the Senate.
Yes, there he was, George Allen, one-time chosen one, at a rally staring down at a young Indian-American, and as casually as could be, as if no one would either know or deny him this right, Allen started calling him a monkey and started humiliating him publicly. It was shameful and hard to watch.
“Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia,” Allen told the dark-skinned student filming the event for the eventual winner of the Senate race, Jim Webb.
But make no mistake about it, that’s what the GOP had become. From George W. Bush poking Matt Lauer in the chest or waving his arms angrily whenever anyone asked him a tough question; to Rush Limbaugh openly mocking a much-loved and Parkinson’s stricken actor in Michael J. Fox; to Ann Coulter mocking 9/11 victims; to Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld snarling at anyone who would not accept their endless lies; to the Jack Abramoff situation; to a Congress held hostage and sharply veering toward a dictatorial attitude and so much more — what Allen did was make it impossible to overlook — these were bad people that flown off the edge of normal, American discourse.
Some will get what’s coming to them. Bush and much of his team should expect to spend the next two years being investigated on a score of issues, and rightly so. Time will tell if the Democratic party can handle the job that’s been put in front of them. Will they maturely work toward resurrecting a system that has become corrupted beyond rational belief? Or will they go hell-bent for revenge and only exacerbate the problems of the U.S. government?
Time will tell. Only one thing is certain - the world now can look at the U.S. again and not see Americans as completely out-of-touch, narcissistic enemies of the planet. They can see that Americans are not all reckless cowboys, intent on enriching corporations and going on imperialistic sprees. Americans can still do what’s right.
And we have a racist ex-Senator from Virginia who couldn’t hide his true self to thank for it.
–WKW
Having not gotten the memo that the U.S. is in an “End-of-Times” type battle of civilizations with Islam, voters in Minneapolis elected a Muslim to Congress, leading top American conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt and Michael Savage to piss themselves in horror.
Keith Ellison was elected on the platform of united labor, minority communities, peace activists, which led experts to make another big discovery:
“We were able to bring in Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists,” said Ellison, sharpening his baby-skinning knives as he prepared to devour the nation’s young. “We brought in everybody.”
Democrat Keith Ellison was elected as the nation’s first Muslim member of Congress on Tuesday, easily winning a Minneapolis-area district Republicans had not carried since 1962.
Ellison isalso Minnesota’s first nonwhite representative in Washington, which he implied wasn’t that big of a deal.
“I think the most important thing about this race is we tried to pull people together on things we all share, things that are important to everyone. We all need peace, and this Iraq policy is dangerous to our country,” said Ellison, who has called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops, leading the entire Fox News team to simultaneously crap themselves with the horrifying realization.
Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society, said Muslims followed the campaign closely, and that they are more excited about seeing a Muslim in Congress than they are concerned about Ellison’s strong liberal views.
“We are monotheistic, but we are not monolithic. There are things within our own community that we disagree about,” he said. Ellison’s views “might be a concern but I think the overall factor of having a Muslim voice in Congress overrides those types of concerns.”
Bray’s comments gave credence to the long-held stereotype that Islamofascistnazikillers are generally, card-carrying Republicans.
Reports have surfaced the Ellison could be a thorn in the side of prominent Neo-Conservative think tanks throughout the nation, who have strongly advised President George W. Bush to bomb the “nation” of “Blackmuslimdia” in order to show that the U.S. is truly willing to go the extra mile when it comes to fighting the Islamofascistrapists.
Ellison and officials from Blackmuslimdia have had no comment.
–WKW