WSJ: Murder of two female sailors proves media’s anti-war bias
October 31, 2007
Read this account of the murder of two women in the Navy by a male serviceman in Bahrain, and see if you can guess how the Wall Street Journal decides to play it:
“Mother blasts wall of silence”
THE mother of a sailor shot dead at the US naval base in Bahrain yesterday blasted the wall of silence surrounding her daughter’s death.
Jovie Paulino revealed her heartache at being forced to bury her child without a proper explanation of how she died.
Anamarie Sannicolas Camacho, 20, and her colleague Genesia Mattril Gresham, 19, were shot dead at the Naval Support Activity Base, Juffair, at around 5am on October 22.
Their alleged killer, fellow serviceman Clarence Jackson, 20, is still clinging to life after apparently shooting himself in the head immediately after the murders.
He is now at the National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, US, after being transferred to the US from a specialist hospital in Germany.
There has been no change in his condition and he has not regained consciousness.
“I have asked questions, but the only response (from navy officials) is ‘we do not know’,” Ms Paulino told the GDN from her home in Tinian, in the Northern Marinas islands, US.
“How much longer will it be before that changes?”
Ms Paulino said her daughter’s body is due to return home next week and as soon as she is laid to rest on November 5, she plans to pursue the navy more vigorously for answers.
She says her daughter had no part in any relationship between Ms Gresham and Mr Jackson and on the day of her death she was merely caught in the wrong place.
“She did not have anything to do with their relationship and she was just in the wrong place,” she said.
“I was assured that she had no involvement, except that she was her (Genesia’s) roommate.”
Ms Paulino, who served in the US Air Force for six years, is also angry at the way the navy have handled the shooting.
“I had entrusted my daughter to the navy when she joined and this is what has happened, I just don’t understand,” she said. “I was in the military and right now I feel so angry and disappointed. She put her life on the line for our freedom and the only thing they should do (in return) is protect her.”
Her comments echo that of Ms Gresham’s mother Anita, who earlier blamed officials for leaving her daughter exposed to danger from a man she said turned nasty when she tried to cool their “casual” relationship.
Ms Gresham revealed Jackson had a restraining order against him and had been on suicide watch, after he allegedly attacked Miss Gresham less than four months ago.
She was also angry that Jackson was allowed to carry a gun after his alleged attack on her daughter and that officials were not telling her what happened in the run-up to the killings.
According to Wall Street Journal Columnist James Taranto, this incident shows that:
1) The mainstream media is corrupt and anti-war by calling this “war-related death.”
2) Gays don’t belong in the military, and women only to a certain degree.
3) Relationships during war time will get you killed.
The San Francisco Chronicle published news of Camacho’s and Gresham’s deaths under the headline “U.S. Toll in Iraq,” and the text said they had died “in Iraq.”
This is false, as the Chronicle’s own Web site confirms. The paper has a database with details of all the deaths “in Iraq,” and both Camacho’s and Gresham’s entries show that they “died Oct. 22 in Bahrain during a non-combat related incident.
The incident does illustrate an uncomfortable truth: that romantic entanglements can be harmful to military discipline. This is why servicemen can be prosecuted for adultery, and it is one reason that the military excludes open homosexuals and restricts the roles in which women may serve. This was a horrific and senseless crime. Imagine how disruptive it would have been in a combat unit.
Ordinary humans would look at this as another example of unchecked violence against women in the U.S. military, the U.S. military’s inability to protect its own troops from those who attacked them in the past, and the overall hell that is war.
Not the Wall Street Journal. And not Glenn Reynolds. Two women are murdered by someone they should have been protected from, and it shows that the U.S. media is anti-war. And that gays shouldn’t be allowed to serve.
This is political discourse amongst the extremist right of the U.S. And it just gets consistently more horrific and inhumane.
-WKW
Brazil to host 2014 World Cup
October 30, 2007
It is now official, in just seven short years, I am going to have a really good time. Along with 200 million Brasileiros.
Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup. This is very good news.
Now, excuse me for the next seven years as I try and improve my Portuguese.
-WKW
Statement from William K. Wolfrum: “You’ve all been granted immunity”
October 30, 2007
“I’d like to again thank you all for standing by me during these troubled times. Your friendship and support truly means the world to me. That is why, after a brief review with some lawyers, I’ve decided to grant each and every one of you immunity. You are all immune. From anything and everything. Starting now.
This grant of immunity should help give you all a clean start in life, and put all those pesky, and often unfounded judicial issues to rest. And while I’ve learned that I have no power to grant any of you immunity from anything, the fact is, once you’ve given immunity, you can’t take it away. So there.
Once again, I’d like to thank you all for your help. Thank you for doing the dirty work behind the scenes, even though you knew you were likely breaking laws and spitting on morality. You all stood tall and did what needed to be done.
So enjoy your immunity and don’t screw it up this time (ha ha).
Thank you again and God Bless.
I have now retained counsel to examine this matter and I will make no further comment.”
-WKW
Dodd-Colbert ticket may be our only hope for 2008
October 26, 2007
In more or less the last few days, here’s a little of what we’ve seen from those running for President in the U.S.:
- Barack Obama is hanging out with homophobes and trying to explain why.
- Fred Thompson is telling people that the insurgents in Iraq are a just a bunch of kids with IEDs, while planning fundraising visits to fire-ravaged Southern California.
- Rudy Giuliani is not sure waterboarding is torture, is standing by an accused child molester in his campaign, and shows his loyalty to his home city by rooting for their most hated baseball rival.
- Mitt Romney is thrilled to have Bob Jones’ backing, even though Jones believes Romney’s religion is a cult.
- Dennis Kucinich is seeing UFOs and doesn’t have enough clout to get his name spelled correctly in photos.
- Tom Tancredo is willing to bet his candidacy on the World Series, while dreaming of grabbing every illegal immigrant regardless of age and tossing them out of the U.S. by the scruff of the neck.
- John McCain has somehow managed to piss off Fox News.
- Hillary Clinton may or may not support immunity for telecommunication companies, may or may not roll back executive powers, and may or may not support an attack on Iran, who knows, there’s a lot to it and she hasn’t read up on it all, but she will, and then it’s possible she may give an answer to some of these questions. Perhaps.
- Joe Biden says that Washington D.C. students don’t do as well as Iowa students because Washington D.C. has more minorities, so it’s to be expected.
It all leads to one simple conclusion:
Vote Chris Dodd-Stephen Colbert in 2008.
-WKW
Random things that never quite blossomed into blog posts
October 25, 2007
Occasionally I’ll start a blog post and either get distracted, or just blow it off as something I don’t want to follow up on. And then sometimes some odd snippet of an idea will hit me and I’ll jot down something, never to return to it.
So, as next week I’ll be heading off on a month-long vacation and really won’t be doing much writing whatsoever, I figured I’d dedicate a post to these half-baked thoughts, in their raw form:
This is pretty self-explanatory, but I just never completed the whole thought:
John Edwards: He needs to take one for the team
Like Al Gore before him, the media has made it clear that John Edwards is their whipping boy in 2008. So he just needs to suck it up and take the abuse.
But just to show Edwards that I’m not one to expect sacrifice from someone without giving something in return, let me hereby disqualify myself from being involved with any candidate of any type for the foreseeable future.
Ahem,
Wow, that Jesus, he sure fucked prostitutes, didn’t he?
That oughta do it.
Another one I got distracted from:
From Jill Lawrence’s gushing article on Rudy Giuliani in USA Today:
“Suffice it to say Republicans have never had a presidential candidate like this — half Woody Allen, half Rambo and 100% cerebral.”
And 33% able to stay married.
Ok, I don’t know what I intended with this:
Living in a world where Extreme’s Hole Hearted wasn’t universally worshipped was confusing and senseless to him.
Or this:
You know, honey is essentially bee cum.
This started out with promise I thought, but just sort of sat there, waiting for more words that never came:
“My Fellow Americans, Osama bin Laden … IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU! RUN! To Walmart, where if you buy two lawn deck chairs you get half off the third. Thank you and God Bless America.”
Pretty much the same with this:
Reagan looked up from the desk, his eyes crazed and his face covered in cocaine.
“Fuck Grenada. Yeah, that’s right fuck them. And Bush, who the fuck told you to stop sucking my cock?! Work it, bitch!
The Press Secretary sighed. It was going to be another one of those days.
And again, I just never worked this into anything:
If George W. Bush were a tree, he’d be a fascist, asshole tree
Thanks for letting me clean out the closet, as it were.
-WKW
Muslims need to be like Christians and stop taking religion so damned seriously
October 24, 2007
Much like International “Ass Pimple Awareness Weekend,” the infamous “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” has taught us all numerous lessons. For one, now we officially know the spelling of “Islamo-Fascism.” It’s hyphenated, people. Here’s hoping the 2008 AP Stylebook reflects this.
Most importantly, what this week of hand-holding, parades and race-baiting has taught us is this: Muslims take their religion much too seriously.
Growing up a Catholic, I learned early on that my religion was something I did grudgingly on Sundays. It was not something to base my life on, or even really think about. It was something to get done on Sundays, preferably at the 10 a.m. mass, which Father Mayoni would blitz through in about 21 minutes, including sermon, because he was a big fan of the NFL.
As a Christian, I was taught many things, but thankfully never tested on any of it, because like everyone else, I barely paid attention and was much busier worrying about things like the girls that were attending mass, which sins I’d cop to in confession, and how I’d choke down the Eucharist.
In other words, I was the perfect example of a religious American.
This brings us to the big problem with Muslims - they take this shit really seriously. They pray every, single day. I think like five times. This is unheard of to the average American, who generally only prays when they need money, or they want their sports team to win. Rick Santorum put it best recently.
“Islam, unlike Christianity, is an all-encompassing ideology,” said Santorum. “It is not just something you do on Sunday…. We (as Americans) don’t get that.”
Plus, Muslims take their holy book literally. How crazy is that? They actually pay attention to all the rules, dress accordingly, eat accordingly, etc. Growing up a Catholic, that was just unheard of.
You see, the Bible is full of all sorts of nonsense that would really make your life miserable if you followed all the rules. Plus, the economy would just go to shit because everybody would be busy praying, trying to convert others and periodically giving all their shit away. Religion is fine, and all, but we have a gross national product to think of. The shellfish industry would tank if Christians in the U.S. took the Bible seriously. Plus there’d be stones and dead bodies everywhere. It’d be a true hassle.
In America, we only pay attention to the ancient words of our holy books when they have to do with homosexuality. Plus we all skim to the end and trip out on Revelations. Aside from that, we more or less pick and choose, as benefit the individual at any given moment. Because, really, all that “do not covet” nonsense is just inapplicable in a capitalistic society where the divorce rate is like 90 percent or whatever.
So much like “Ass Pimple Awareness Weekend,” has taught us all to avoid wearing a thong bikini during an outbreak, “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” has taught us something important: Muslims just need to ease up already.
For our Muslim friends, the lesson is this: eat a ham sandwich, have a beer and smoke a cigarette already. Cut your praying down to once or twice a month, and go to church just enough to be able to brag to your friends about it.
Because, really, that’s what religion is all about - bragging about it. It’s when you start taking all the rules of religion seriously that all hell breaks loose. That’s what “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” has taught us all - that Muslims need to stop taking their religion so damned seriously. Once they start doing that, then they’ll be perfected, like American Christians.
-WKW
How to help victims of the Southern California fires
October 24, 2007
Having grown up and lived a good portion of my life in Southern California, my heart goes out to those affected by the horrible fires devastating the region.
Via the Los Angeles Times are ways you can help those affected by the fires:
How to help
Charitable groups responding to the Southern California wildfires are seeking donations to assist residents affected by the fires.
American Red Cross: Cash donations can be made through www.redcross.org or through a local Red Cross chapter. Volunteers also are needed. Information on shelter locations can be found on Red Cross websites for Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange and San Diego counties and the Inland Empire. Donations of clothing can be made at Goodwill locations. Information: (800) REDCROSS or (800) 257-7575 for Spanish speakers.
Salvation Army: Cash contributions can be made through its website www.salvationarmy-socal.org or by calling (800) SALARMY.
Governor’s Office of Emergency Services: Businesses wishing to donate large quantities of goods for distribution to fire victims can call (800) 750-2858 between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Pacific time. Individuals wanting to donate items or volunteer to help with local disaster response efforts should contact the Red Cross or go to the governor’s CaliforniaVolunteers website at www.californiavolunteers.org.
United Health Group: Southern Californians coping with the emotional consequences of the fires can call a counseling hotline at (866) 342-6892. The free service provided by the insurance company will be available around the clock for as long as needed.
The Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Cash donations are needed to support efforts to provide emergency shelter for animals displaced by the fires. Contributions can be made through www.spcala.com or by calling (888) SPCALA1. Food supplies also are needed.
New Leash on Life: The animal rescue group needs help caring for evacuated pets at its Newhall facility. The group can be contacted at (661) 255-0097.
-WKW
Fuck apologies
October 23, 2007
So, Pete Stark, a man who has the guts to admit he doesn’t believe in a god, didn’t have the guts to stand by his statements against an imperialistic President who has sent Americans to their death in what basically amounts to imperialistic oil deal.
Fuck that.
There were several great posts and articles today that highlighted the inanity of American political discourse. First, there’s the reason why we’re in Iraq - the oil. From Jim Holt in London Review of Books:
Iraq has 115 billion barrels of known oil reserves. That is more than five times the total in the United States. And, because of its long isolation, it is the least explored of the world’s oil-rich nations. A mere two thousand wells have been drilled across the entire country; in Texas alone there are a million. It has been estimated, by the Council on Foreign Relations, that Iraq may have a further 220 billion barrels of undiscovered oil; another study puts the figure at 300 billion. If these estimates are anywhere close to the mark, US forces are now sitting on one quarter of the world’s oil resources. The value of Iraqi oil, largely light crude with low production costs, would be of the order of $30 trillion at today’s prices. For purposes of comparison, the projected total cost of the US invasion/occupation is around $1 trillion.
Who will get Iraq’s oil? One of the Bush administration’s ‘benchmarks’ for the Iraqi government is the passage of a law to distribute oil revenues.
In commenting on Holt’s piece, here’s what Moonbat at Mahablog has to say: “What’s galling to me is that it’s been obvious from day one that getting the oil was a huge reason behind Operation Iraqi Liberation, and yet this is the elephant in the dining room, that no one dares talk about.”
One would think that at this point, only a complete idiot, or mindless right-wing fanatic would argue that Iraq has anything to do with fighting terrorism. It doesn’t. It never did. It had to do with taking over Iraq, and taking its oil. Period. But, as Arthur Silber points out, we aren’t allowed to speak about that, because truth is no longer a part of the national discourse:
For this is where we are in the United States, nearing the end of the Year of Our Lord 2007: the truth is not merely unpleasant, an uninvited guest who makes conversation difficult and awkward. Truth is the enemy; truth is to be destroyed. To attempt to speak the truth on any subject of importance requires a deep reserve of determination, for to speak the truth requires that one first sweep away an infinite number of rationalizations, false alternatives, and numerous other failures of logic and the most rudimentary forms of thought — as well as the endless lies. On that single occasion in a thousand or a million when a person overcomes these barriers and speaks the truth, he or she discovers an additional, terrible truth: almost no one wants to hear it.
So while the truth is out there, the political discourse forces us to look the other way. And the truth is blaringly loud, especially when it comes to the thirst for oil and conquest of this administration. Because they have no plans on ever leaving Iraq, not without the oil, at least. And they are working overtime to create another supervillian in Iran, so the U.S. can further its empire in the Middle East, as well.
Because somehow, we’re now supposed to believe that Iran poses an existential threat to the entire globe, and it’s up to the U.S. to stop them. Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria points out the lie of that:
The American discussion about Iran has lost all connection to reality. Norman Podhoretz, the neoconservative ideologist whom Bush has consulted on this topic, has written that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is “like Hitler … a revolutionary whose objective is to overturn the going international system and to replace it in the fullness of time with a new order dominated by Iran and ruled by the religio-political culture of Islamofascism.” For this staggering proposition Podhoretz provides not a scintilla of evidence.
Here is the reality. Iran has an economy the size of Finland’s and an annual defense budget of around $4.8 billion. It has not invaded a country since the late 18th century. The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 times greater. Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are quietly or actively allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on?
I have a great sense of trepidation about the 2008 elections. There seems to be this feeling amongst progressives - mostly unsaid - that if we can hold on until 2008, Democrats will get a stranglehold on Congress and take over the Presidency and sanity will return. But for one, that just isn’t a given. Americans have seen now that democracy in the U.S. has reached a hit-and-miss, gray area. Maybe it will be a landslide. But maybe the results will leave us mortified.
And two, even if the Democrats take over everything, who’s to say that the course will be corrected? The U.S. will still be fighting to maintain its occupation of Iraq, and could very well be fighting to overthrow Iran. Or worse. And it’s not like oil will suddenly stop being relevant.
Today was one of those days that these issues, these truths, struck me hard and left me feeling sad and powerless. We are a nation at the tipping point. A nation where the economy, the constitution, freedom and its very existence are hanging in the balance. We are a nation that scoffs at international law, implements torture, unleashes armies of mercenaries, spies on its own citizens, takes away health insurance from its own children while mocking them, and a whole boatload of other atrocities and scandals that would make the Founding Fathers wonder why they went to all the trouble.
Basically, the current U.S. position on foreign - and domestic, for that matter - affairs is that we want to take over the world’s oil supply by force. And that’s going to end badly. Yet the House of Representatives is voting on resolutions because of the faux outrage syndrome seemingly perfected by the right, because Pete Stark said what he felt. In fact, he said what the majority of Americans felt.
And he apologized for it.
Fuck that.
-WKW
The United States: A nation that tortures innocent people and hides the evidence
October 23, 2007
This is not America:
“A tale of two decisions (or, how the FBI gets you to confess)”
The long and the short of it was that an Egpytian national, Abdallah Higazy, was staying in a hotel in New York City on September 11 and the hotel emptied out when the planes hit the towers. The hotel later found in the closet of his room a device that allows you to communicate with airline pilots. Investigators thought this guy had something to do with 9/11 so they questioned him. According to Higazi, the investigators coerced him into confessing to a role in 9/11. Higazi first adamantly denied any involvement with 9/11 and could not believe what was happening to him. Then, he says, the investigator said his family would go through hell in Egypt, where they torture people like Saddam Hussein. Higazy then realized he had a choice: he could continue denying the radio was his and his family suffers ungodly torture in Egypt or he confesses and his family is spared. Of course, by confessing, Higazy’s life is worth garbage at that point, but … well, that’s why coerced confessions are outlawed in the United States.
So Higazy “confesses” and he’s processed by the criminal justice system. His future is quite bleak. Meanwhile, an airline pilot later shows up at the hotel and asks for his radio back. This is like something out of the movies. The radio belonged to the pilot, not Higazy, and Higazy was free to go, the victim of horrible timing. Higazi was innocent! He next sued the hotel and the FBI agent for coercing his confession. The bottom line in the Court of Appeals: Higazy has a case and may recover damages for this injustice.
As I read the opinion I realized it was a 44 page epic, too long for me to print out. I blogged about the opinion while I read it online and then posted the blog as I ate lunch. Then something strange happened: a few minutes after I posted the blog, the opinion vanished from the Court of Appeals website! I had never seen this before, and what made all the more strange was that it involved a coerced confession over 9/11. What the hell was going on?
Read more: Kevin Drum, Matthew Yglesias, High Clearing, Slashdot, N.Y. Times, Brad DeLong, Eschaton.
George W. Bush loves talking about how history will judge him. But there’s no question that future historians will be extremely harsh on the U.S. And rightly so.
-WKW
Fictional character Ronald Reagan was gay
October 22, 2007
Fictional character Ronald Reagan was gay, announced blogger William K. Wolfrum today. The controversial announcement stunned many fans of the one-time non-fictional President.
Reagan, who was for a long time a real-life human, became a fictional character in the mid-1980s, when revisionist historians rewrote him as the greatest conservative in the history of American politics.
While the reality was that Reagan turned the U.S. from the world’s largest international creditor to the world’s largest debtor nation, committed treason by overseeing the illegal sale of weaponry to Iran (most conservatives agree the U.S. has been at war with Iran since the 1970s), conducted his own “War on Terror” (against Nicaragua), refused to utter the word “AIDS” as the disease spread wildly throughout the planet, and helped create a nation with rampant wealth inequality, revisionist historians have created a Reagan that is, in fact, completely fictional
Many “Reaganites” (fans of the fictional character) have credited Reagan with single-handedly destroying the Soviet Union and being a fiscal conservative, honest politician and ultra-moral superhero. Still, most historians agree that Reagan’s affect on the fall of the Soviet Union was minimal and has been overblown, that he plunged the U.S. into harrowing debt, created a class-structure system in the U.S., guided the Iran-Contra affair, started wars with nations the size of Wichita, and saw several of those in his administration be convicted of various crimes.
Nonetheless, most of this history has been rewritten, as things such as his failed first marriage are glossed over. In 1992, with the election of Bill Clinton, Reagan ceased being an actual human being all together and became completely fictional, according to most reports.
Wolfrum, a non-descript blogger who reportedly is overly concerned with his beard, announced that since Reagan is a fictional character, history can now be revised in any way, according to any writer’s whim.
“If the fictional history of Reagan is that he destroyed the Soviet Union and was a fiscal conservative, then anything goes,” said Wolfrum. “If you’re willing to argue that Reagan was those things, then you don’t have a leg to stand on if you want to argue he wasn’t gay.”
While admitting that many historical revisionists would be outraged by the announcement, Wolfrum seemed unaffected.
“I don’t really see what the big deal is,” said Wolfrum, dabbling in historical fan fiction for the first time. “So he was gay? This should be a boost for the entire LGBT Community, actually. Plus, it’s not like he’s a real person anymore. He’s a work of fiction now. Like Dumbledore of the Harry Potter series. Or John Wayne.”
-WKW
American citizens to build border fence between federal government, rest of U.S.
October 21, 2007
AMERICA — Having come to the irrevocable conclusion that the federal government has become a danger to every man, woman and child in the nation and the planet, U.S. citizens today announced a plan to build a border fence separating the federal government from the rest of the United States.
The fence will be an intricate design, and, when completed, shut off the White House, Congress, Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Supreme Court, and all other Federal offices. While some are considering the move radical, research reports over the past several years has shown that the U.S. federal government has armed terrorists, helped strengthen terrorist organizations, allowed Osama bin Laden to remain on the loose, stolen billions of dollars from U.S. citizens, and just generally been a nuisance.
“We’ve really seen enough,” said one high-ranking citizen official. “The government can go on trying to do whatever it is they’re doing, but it’s time the American people contain them once and for all.”
The border fence - which will use none of the haphazard techniques the federal government used on the fence on the U.S.-Mexican border — will be guarded by the family members of the nearly 4,000 troops killed thus far in Iraq and Afghanistan. Retired U.S. generals like Gen. Ricardo Sanchez and others will be in charge of supervising the effort.
Government officials were irate at the proposed plan and quickly attempted to speak out.
“We will not stand for such actions, which smack of communism and …, ” the official said before being cut off and locked in a closet.
Building of the fence will commence next month after bids are turned in by American companies to see which can do it quickest, most efficiently and at the least cost. One sticking point will be that many American companies have simply forgotten how to turn in bids on such projects.
“Basically, everything the government has done the past seven years has been on no-bid contracts,” said an American citizen. “So we’ll have to walk some of these companies through the process.”
While the project will be costly, many expect work to be done for free, and that there already are millions of volunteers showing up with shovels and pick-axes. Some citizens have shown up with flaming torches, but they were quietly sent away. Other money for the project will be collected via bake sales. Organizers have also asked those who were looking to donate to the 2008 Presidential campaign to instead donate to the fence project, instead of essentially just giving the money to big media conglomerates.
Organizers said they feel confident this is the right move, and quickly a “coalition of the willing” consisting of 173 other nations have announce their support.
“It’s really nothing personal,” said one U.S. citizen. “George W. Bush and the rest of the government can stay where they are, pass laws or not, and pretend they’re relevant. It’s just time we boxed them in completely, ignored them, and got on with the business of getting the United States back to being what the Founding Fathers wanted.
“Eventually, in fact,” the citizen continued. “Once the fence is complete, we hope for it to be a zoo-like structure where citizens can watch how a corrupt government works. You’ll be able to toss ‘bribes’ at them and such and watch them scurry about and be corrupt. It’ll be entertaining and educational.”
-WKW
They’re cousins, identical cousins all the way
October 19, 2007
From Chicago to Honolulu.
But Dicky’s only seen the sights
From Halliburton and the House of White
What a crazy duo!
But they’re cousins,
Identical cousins all the way.
One pair of matching bookends,
Different as night and day.
Where Barry adores cards and bets,
A cigarette and societal safety net,
Our Dicky loves executive control,
A fascist state is his ultimate goal
What a wild duet!
But they’re cousins,
Identical cousins all the way.
One pair of matching bookends,
Different as night and day.
Barry has a chest sans hair,
His Audacity of Hope a breath of fresh air,
Our Dicky wants all Muslims in cells,
Opponents he tells to fuck themselves
What a crazy pair!
Still, they’re cousins,
Identical cousins and you’ll find,
They laugh alike, they walk alike,
At times they even talk alike
You can lose your mind,
When cousins are two of a kind.”
-WKW
With thanks to Liss and The Patty Duke Show
Friday dog blogging
October 19, 2007
Yes, my wife and I are, in fact, crazy dog people.
-WKW
If Chris Dodd puts a hold on the Telecom immunity bill and everyone ignores it, did it really happen?
October 19, 2007
If a candidate for President puts a hold on a controversial eavesdropping bill that would grant immunity to big telecoms, and no one reports it, did it really happen?
Because at this very moment, the coverage of Dodd’s hold on the FISA bill is underwhelming, if not completely nonexistent:
CNN.com: No Mention of Dodd or FISA
Huffington Post: No mention.
FoxNews.com: No mentions (But ran a story that the bill passed the Senate Intelligence Committee)
National Review: Plenty of Pro-eavesdropping articles, no mention of Dodd.
Drudge Report: No mention of Dodd or FISA.
Politico: No mention of Dodd or FISA.
ABCNews.com: No mention of Dodd or FISA.
CBSNews.com: No mention of Dodd or FISA.
MSNBC.com: No mention of Dodd or FISA.
Google News: No mention of Dodd or FISA.
Heck, no one even is covering the fact that it appears Harry Reid plans on sticking it to his own and going around Dodd’s hold.
For a political junkie, Dodd’s move meant that maybe, just maybe, some politicians were ready to climb out of the pocket of the telecom industries and other donors and start doing right by the American people and the Constitution. Does it all just mean that the rule of law only matters to hardcore political junkies? Is Joe Torre not managing the New York Yankees that much more important than whether the government can spy on its citizens?
But it’s Dodd’s hold is likely to be a completely empty gesture if no one reports it. It truly appears that despite Dodd’s action, the Telecom industry has already bought its amnesty.
-WKW
Thank you, Chris Dodd
October 18, 2007
It truly was looking that there was no politician out there willing to do more than give lip service about fighting for the Constitution. It took a while, but someone has. It remains to be seen where this will all lead, but for this one moment, only four words come to mind.
The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons.
No more.
I have decided to place a “hold” on the latest FISA bill that would have included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President’s assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.
I said that I would do everything I could to stop this bill from passing, and I have.
It’s about delivering results — and as I’ve said before, the FIRST thing I will do after being sworn into office is restore the Constitution. But we shouldn’t have to wait until then to prevent the further erosion of our country’s most treasured document. That’s why I am stopping this bill today.
If you believe the rule of law means something, click here to show your support to Senator Dodd.
-WKW
