Saturday, October 22, 2011

Shamefully Sad and Long Live King Obama ...

National Pride:
It is difficult to articulate exactly why, but there is something very significant about a nation that so continuously finds purpose and joy in the corpses its government produces, while finding it in so little else.
Long Live King Obama (as well as his predecessor, King Bush). We keep our lives only at his prerogative.
... The President is not just entitled to kill anyone he wants in multiple countries around the world — with no oversight, transparency or accountability, no evidence presented, no obligation to capture or try them, no need to even explain the principles that guide these killings — but is to be celebated for doing so. And the piles of corpses of innocent people produced by this onslaught — of teenagers, infants, innocent women and men — are simply to be ignored.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

A most appropriate quote ...

... via digby.
"The top 1 per cent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn't seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 per cent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 per cent eventually do learn.
Too Late."
--- Joseph Stiglitz

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Funny that ...

Not light-hearted funny ...

In a mailing from
Barbara Boxer
Democratic Headquarters
was included a sticker stating
I am the
FIREWALL
STOP THE HARD RIGHT IN
2012
Well, if I'm the firewall then they've handed out all the passwords.

After all the democrats have done to make us irrelevant they think they can scare me into giving them money. I have to hand it to the ReThugs: they will just legislate that all monies goes to thru the hands Rich Robber Barons of the 21st Century who will then pass on what they think we may have should they not be needing a new yacht or gold enameled ballroom that week.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Obama's comedy act ...

Obama: We’ll Get Those Revenues Next Time
Don't hold your breath ....

Grijalva's double-dealing ...

I, for one, will not vote for Raul Grijalva again.
Grijalva Statement Opposing the Bill He Voted For Yesterday
Fooled again. There's obviously no point in supporting any of these creeps.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Obama's pirouettes ...

I keep reading how Obama is trying to appear the adult. But does secret deals, whining and complaining make one look adult?

To me Obama is looking quite immature and very much the fool. A cowardly fool at that.

At this point if the Rethugs could find an outwardly credible candidate to run for President I don't think Obama will have much chance. Once upon a time, in the days of hope, Obama was outwardly credible himself.

And who can really say that such a situation would be worse that what we have now with Obama-the-destroyer-of-Social-Security.

Monday, July 25, 2011

One of the best reviews ...

... of the negotiation style --if one can call it that-- of our disfunctional President.
The Return of Barack Obama and the Art of Negotiation
Isn't is amazing that Obama is sinking the US further than even Bush did. At least Democrats would fight Bush once in a while, but now with a Democrat, at least in name, in the White House Democrats have apparently deliberately reduced themselves to a pack of losers.

For those who seem to think that this is better than having a Republican in the White House all I can say is, perhaps, you should remove those blinders.

Obama had the opportunity but he chose to follow Bush's lead instead and continued on a path that leads the US over a cliff. The 'smart' man chose to follow the lead of the 'stupid' man. Go figure ...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

My respect for Bill Clinton continues his decline ...

Bill Clinton Hopes Democrats Don’t Use NY-26 Win “As an Excuse to Do Nothing” on Deficit
I was impressed with Clinton for refusing to let the ReThugs drive him from office and at the time I thought he wasn't a bad President. But I've changed my mind. It's clear now that Clinton did a lot of damage. As with Obama, Clinton is just so entrenched in the corporate/political corruption destroying this country that it's difficult to imagine there's even one uncorrupted brain cell in his head.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

State of the Nation ...

From: ThinkFast: May 13, 2011
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee killed an amendment by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) that would have closed the so-called “terror gap” — preventing firearm sales to suspected terrorists. GOP members want to protect the right of people on the FBI’s terrorist watch list to purchase firearms, arguing that preventing sales would “steal the Second Amendment rights of those placed on the list by mistake.”
All Republicans as far as I can tell, and way too many Democrats, appear to have no real problem with the no-fly list.

No problem that is until it's a question of prohibiting someone on the list from buying guns. To a Republican, and apparently to some Democrats, that is just absurd. Prohibit a terrorist from obtaining firearms? That just won't do! It's their Constitutional Right, after all to have weapons. Like many people on this freedom-protecting list, they might not be terrorists anyway, as there's no control of who gets on the list nor any mechanism to get the innocent off the list. In general, the no-fly list appears to be a generalized US Government I-don't-like-you list. The Republicans, of course, highly approve of this means of government control and punishment. Just think of the fun they had putting Senator Kennedy on the list.

Am I giving Republicans too much credit when I assume that they don't think most of the people on the list are terrorists? And that's the reason they don't want the ability to purchase guns to be tied to such an embarrassing fiasco as the US No Fly list?

Until further proof of their perfidy I will assume that the inaccuracy of the list is the reason they don't wish to tie gun purchasing ability to the list and not that they actually want terrorists to have guns.
9/11 First Responders To Be Run Through FBI Terrorism Watch List Before Getting Health Care Benefits
Definitely, let us keep the sick from benefits because the US Government has decided to target them. Who cares what beneficial service they may have provided in the past that earned them such a benefit. They are now on THE list. That's all that matters. No health care but they can still get a gun.

------------------------
About the state of our nation: What can I say that I haven't said before? Just notice that all the wrangling is about what membership on this list will effect. Nothing that I've seen addresses the use and abuse of this list. Nothing that I've seen attempts to put some control on how someone gets added to this list. Nothing that I've seen provides a mechanism to get off the list. The draconian nature of this list appears to concern no one in the political sphere nor the justice sphere.

What else can I say about the state of our nation that this example doesn't elucidate?

Newt is becoming as pathetic at McCain did during his Presidential bid for fame, glory and power ...

Gingrich: I Totally Would Have Voted For Paul Ryan's Budget

Gingrich Apologizes To Ryan, Begs Dems Not To Use His Quotes In Ads

Monday, May 9, 2011

The American Way?

Is it my imagination that the goal of US Politicians is to make our society as complicated and illogical as possible?
Florida Bill Would Bar Doctors From Asking Patients About Guns
So a pediatrician asks a parent about gun ownership and then refuses care because the parent refuses to answer such a question.

Now, of course, all those touchy NRA types want to prohibit a pediatrician from asking such a question.

I think the concern here should be that this pediatrician refused care BECAUSE the parent refused to answer the question. Perhaps some parents would be perfectly amenable to a discussion about gun safety around kids (or pool safety, or food safety or car safety or airplane safety or potential danger from terrorists or ...).

But this is one creepy pediatrician who won't care for a child because the parent wont state whether they own a gun.

IF a new law is needed, and I'm not suggesting that is the case, perhaps a law limiting the reasons that physicians can deny care would be more appropriate.

Physicians are NOT our moral guides. They are neither trained to be such and most of them are not equipped for such a role. From most of them the best we can expect is that their own prejudices don't interfere with how they do their job. They have training, skills and knowledge. And we can hope they have integrity and empathy and the ability to communicate effectively with us when we need their skills.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

I wish we were 'a nation of laws' ...

Isn't this backwards?
"There was no indication" that Osama bin Laden wanted to surrender to U.S. forces who killed him on Sunday night, Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
No indication? What, do we now automatically shoot everyone in the head who doesn't indicate they wish capture over death? I don't personally know what bin Laden's preference might have been but unless he was armed and threatening his captors/killers I would think at that point it would not be his choice but the choice of those with the guns who were apparently in a position to capture him alive.

Why do politicians and the military, apparently always, lie first and then try to contain the fallout as the facts start to emerge?

I wish we were 'a nation of laws' and that we had captured bin Laden alive and had put him on trial (a real trial, not our current Kangaroo Courts for Islamic Peoples).

I certainly understand that a real effort to capture bin Laden alive might have failed and that they would kill him rather than allowing him to endager themselves but so far the information I've read seems to indicate that this was an execution squad.

I do think we, as a nation, have done somewhat better in the past. To have a self described 'Constitutional Law Professor' imitate an imitation Cowboy in lack of principle and outright criminality is devastating. Perhaps Obama isn't imitating Bush. Could he be competing with Bush to see who is the most despicable?

Friday, April 15, 2011

Perhaps it's a case of wanting to be fooled? ...

It just isn’t credible to believe that Obama’s new promises about these two issues. Not after he previously made them repeatedly, only to break his word when he had the chance to fulfill them.
So Obama is giving us, once again, promises that he has already broken. Gee, I suppose there may be someone to whom Obama speaks truthfully, but it certainly isn't to the people of the U.S.

Why listen to his speeches?

Monday, April 11, 2011

Surely, this is too kind ...

The President Is Missing, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: What have they done with President Obama? What happened to the inspirational figure his supporters thought they elected? Who is this bland, timid guy who doesn’t seem to stand for anything in particular?
I realize that with hostile Republicans controlling the House, there’s not much Mr. Obama can get done in the way of concrete policy. Arguably, all he has left is the bully pulpit. But he isn’t even using that — or, rather, he’s using it to reinforce his enemies’ narrative.

...
... it looks from here as if the president’s idea of how to bargain is to start by negotiating with himself, making pre-emptive concessions, then pursue a second round of negotiation with the G.O.P., leading to further concessions.

...
What’s going on here? Despite the ferocious opposition he has faced since the day he took office, Mr. Obama is clearly still clinging to his vision of himself as a figure who can transcend America’s partisan differences. And his political strategists seem to believe that he can win re-election by positioning himself as being conciliatory and reasonable, by always being willing to compromise.

But if you ask me, I’d say that the nation wants — and more important, the nation needs — a president who believes in something, and is willing to take a stand. And that’s not what we’re seeing. [emphasis added]

Well, maybe it's not so kind after all. Unless one sees Obama's actions as proof of deliberate deception during his campaign, which I guess I do suspect. Either he is deceitful and pathetic or weak and pathetic. Some choice.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

What's the best one can say about Obama? MIA? ...

MIA?

How about: Obama has from before he was elected worked against over 90% of all Americans?

Or why not just call him what he is: a traitor to those who voted for him?
Democrats Offer Strong Pushback to Ryan Budget… Except for MIA President
Obama's done almost everything that Bush did. What makes him any better than any Republican? At least the Dems in the House and Senate would have pretended to moderate the actions of a GOP President. Instead we have then working with a traitorous pretend Dem in the White House. Really, how is that better than having them knuckle under to at ignorant, vicious and intellectually deficient President like George W. Bush?

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Steeped in villainy may be a good enough description, or indictment, of the Republican Party and the majority of its members ...

... but what then is an adequate description of the majority of the members of the Democratic Party? Or at least of the of those who are 'wielding' power in the party?

In order to avoid obscenity I used the dictionary to come up with some descriptive words that might adequately express my contempt:
foolish, silly, unintelligent, idiotic, scatterbrained, nonsensical, senseless, unthinking, ill-advised, ill-considered, unwise, injudicious; inane, absurd, ludicrous, ridiculous, laughable, risible, fatuous, asinine, mad, insane, lunatic; ... crazy, dopey, cracked, half-baked, dimwitted, cockeyed, harebrained, lamebrained, nutty, batty, cuckoo, loony, loopy ...
At this point in the history of the ol' US of A it's unlikely that ridicule will influence the accumulation of sludge that remains in the party at all ... but at least I've tried to have my say before they work on killing me. I am 69 years old this month. I am reasonable healthy with no major health problems and it's entirely possible that I will live more than 10 years at which time the Thugs and malicious Dems hope to throw me into the jaws of the marvelous and cannibalistic US 'health' insurance mafia. I'm deeply sorry for those who come after me. You are inheriting an increasingly disturbed and malevelent society.

Deep Breath, Keep It Simple

Medicare is such a popular program and people are so against abolishing it that you have to really work hard to flub the debate and obscure what its enemies are trying to do to actually let it get abolished if you're trying to save it. But congressional Democrats and the White House do seem to be giving it the old college try.
...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Just like Torturer Bush, Torturer Obama fires truth sayers ...

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tells the truth (however reluctantly) about the ongoing torture of PFC Manning and Obama and his henchmen show him the door.

Just like Bush, Obama says we don't torture thus establishing himself as a liar in front of the world.

Everyone around Obama must pretend to be as stupid-blind as he is (or as he pretends to be).
State Department spokesman steps down amid flap
Of course, if Hilary Clinton had any integrity she would resign also. But who would expect her to have any more integrity than Obama as she's still working for a man who has step by step established himself as the current Torturer-in-Chief of the United States of America.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Bye, bye, American Dream? ...

Once again, Digby says it best ...
"The American Dream was the life that this guy led. He worked his way up to a decent life where he could own a house and raise his children and retire when he reached old age. Now people like him are being attacked as the enemy. In other words, Americans are turning on themselves. Hopefully they'll figure out that they're being played before it's too late."

Friday, March 4, 2011

Quantico becomes Guantanamo ...

Well, why not? After all Obama is Bush's successor in mind and perversity as well as in his place of residence. Instead of closing Guantanamo, as he promised, Obama is bringing Guantanamo to us all.

Glenn Greenwald writes about the latest disgraceful conduct by US authorities perpetuated on Manning.

UPDATE II: Lt. Col. David Coombs, Manning's counsel, just posted the following:

Last night, PFC Manning was inexplicably stripped of all clothing by the Quantico Brig. He remained in his cell, naked, for the next seven hours. At 5:00 a.m., the Brig sounded the wake-up call for the detainees. At this point, PFC Manning was forced to stand naked at the front of his cell.

The Duty Brig Supervisor (DBS) arrived shortly after 5:00 a.m. When he arrived, PFC Manning was called to attention. The DBS walked through the facility to conduct his detainee count. Afterwards, PFC Manning was told to sit on his bed. About ten minutes later, a guard came to his cell to return his clothing.

This type of degrading treatment is inexcusable and without justification. It is an embarrassment to our military justice system and should not be tolerated. PFC Manning has been told that the same thing will happen to him again tonight. No other detainee at the Brig is forced to endure this type of isolation and humiliation.

I'm already disgusted anticipating the Obama loyalists and right-wing fanatics who will jointly defend this.

I think I'll go vomit ...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Monday, January 10, 2011

Palin and Giffords ...

Right on!

What we have here is an attempted assassination of a politician by an insane crank at a political event, in a state where the political discourse has been an unrelenting howl of eliminationist rhetoric and characterization of anyone to the left of Genghis Khan as a traitor and enemy of the state…and now, when six (including a nine year old girl) lie dead and another fourteen are wounded, now suddenly we're concerned that it is rude and politicizing a tragedy to point out that the right wing has produced a toxic atmosphere that pollutes our politics with hatred and the rhetoric of violence?

Screw that. Now is the time to politicize the hell out of this situation. The people who are complaining are a mix of lefty marshmallows whose first reaction to the fulfillment of right-wing fantasies by a lunatic is to drop to their knees and beg forgiveness for thinking ill of people who paint bullseyes on their political opponents, and right wing cowards who are racing to their usual tactic of attacking their critics to shame them into silence. This is NOT the time to back down and suddenly find it embarrassing to point out that right-wing pundits make a living as professional goads to insanity.

Stop apologizing, backing down and going all wishy-washy every time the right wing corporate bozos start their demented war dance.

This is what it felt like in the 60's when a plane stopped in the USSR ...

... Many Americans may not perceive it, but much of the world, as a result of such actions, sees the U.S. not as "Leaders of the Free World" but one of the greatest threats to privacy and other core liberties. Watching people afraid to fly through the U.S. -- including its own citizens -- is just remarkable. And the spectacle of Homeland Security agents detaining whomever they want, and then unilaterally stealing their laptops and cellphones and keeping them and digging through them for as long as they want -- all without a warrant -- is a powerful sign of how far things have fallen.

I remember sitting practically holding my breath when a plane I was on made an unplanned stop in Russia. Now it's us in the role of the big bad bully. How proud-making!