"Where else would you go when you have an ax to grind?"

Friday, January 18, 2008

Gentlemen, consider yourself warned
Bedtime conversation tonight between me and my five-year-old daughter, whose obsession with princesses often worries my progressive side. I swear to Ghod every word is true.

Me:Okay Miss Lucy, time to get your pyjamas on, it's bed-time.
Her: (imperiously) I'm not a "Miss."
Me: You're a girl, right? I didn't get you mixed up with the other kid did I?
Her: (giggling) I'm a girl, but I'm not a "Miss."
Me: You look a bit young to be a Mrs., did you get married and forget to invite me? What do you mean you're not a "Miss?"
Her: (triumphantly) I'm a "Ms."
Me: (somewhat stunned at the sophistication of the five-year-old mind) What do you mean? Why are you a "Ms." and not a "Miss"?
Her: (with much eye-rolling and a patronizing tone I suspect I better get used to) Daaa-aaad! "Ms." is better than "Miss"! It just sounds better.




Maybe I'm projecting a bit, but maybe I'm doing a better job than I thought.  I couldn't be prouder of my daughter. The princess thing had me a little worried at first, but to her being a princess means A) you're the boss and B) fabulous clothes and pets (On watching Aladdin: "Dad, Princess Jasmine has a tiger. Why can't we have a tiger?") - the idea of waiting for some goofy prince to come and save you doesn't seem to even have ever occurred to her, she's more likely to be the one doing the rescuing.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Because America needs more flabby, middle-aged, wealthy, white, nativist reactionaries in power
What with the writers strike and the need for surefire material their hosts can riff on endlessly, I can only guess that the producers of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show and The Late Show are behind this. A movement has begun to draft Lou Dobbs for President of the United States

Monday, January 14, 2008

"You can't bring the Constitution in here, this is the National Archives"

It may come as a surprise to some that the Constitution of the United States now no longer applies within government buildings or to government employees or to those in close proximity to government employees.

"Impeach Bush" t-shirt wearers forced to leave National
Archives Constitution Display in DC"

(snip)

"It was when I got to the Constitution that a security woman said to me, 'Miss, you need to go see that man over there.' I asked why. She said it was because of my t-shirt. I asked, 'Why my t-shirt?' She simply responded that I couldn't wear it in the building. At this point the big, burly security guard that she wanted me to go to, approached me.
"I said, 'What happened to the First Amendment?' The security woman told me to lower my voice. I raised my voice. Susan from Code Pink came over and offered me a jacket to cover my shirt, and I stayed."
Suzanne Haviland reported that a guard told her, "The reason I'm stopping you is that you are wearing something that criticizes the President. I'm a federal employee, and I'm not allowed to criticize the President."

(snip)



Even with a 180 degree change of direction in governement philosophy in the United States, it is going to take decades to get the shit stains out of the Constitution. It isn't like you can just send a 200 year old document out to be dry cleaned.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

George Bush proves the nonexistance of God

Because if there was a God, he/she/it/they would be chucking the thunderbolts, raining down fire and brimstone and unleashing a plague of locusts on George W. Bush's pasty hypocritical ass right now in a way that would make the Old Testament God look like a flat-out pussy and his treatment of Job on par with inflicting a minor hangover



Emphasis and links all mine:




Bush warns world must rally to confront danger of Iran

The Associated Press
By ANNE GEARAN – January 13, 2008


ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late."


Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines stability in Lebanon, sends arms to the hardline Taliban regime (coughbullshitcough) intimidates its neighbors with alarming rhetoric and defies the United Nations by refusing to be open about its nuclear program.


"Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said in a speech about democracy that he delivered about midway through his eight-day Mideast trip, which began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact — an accord he said whose "time has come."


Chiding U.S. allies who have withheld civil liberties, Bush said governments will never build trust by harassing or imprisoning candidates and protesters. But his rebuke was general, and he did not single out any U.S. partner in the region for oppressive practices.


"You cannot expect people to believe in the promise of a better future when they are jailed for peacefully petitioning their government," Bush said. "And you cannot stand up a modern, confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms."

Bush's speech, reprising the call for democracy in the Middle East that he made in his second inaugural address, was delivered in one of the few countries in the region — the Emirates — where democracy has not been a vital issue. In other countries in the region, especially Egypt, the fight between democracy activists and autocratic governments has been much more pointed and controversial.


The president lauded some democratic reforms among Arab nations. He urged the Arab leaders to show support for the fragile Iraqi government, open their societies and provide backing, and possible funding, to help make an Israeli-Palestinian agreement stick.


(snip)

Bush spoke at the Emirates Palace, at an opulent, gold-trimmed hotel where a suite goes for $2,450 a night. Built at a cost of $3 billion, the hotel is a kilometer long from end to end and has a 1.3 kilometer white sand beach — every grain of it imported from Algeria, according to Steven Pike, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy here.


Half the audience was dressed in western attire and the other half in Arabic clothes — white robes and headdresses for men and black abayas, many with jeweled edges, for women.


In renewing his "Freedom Agenda" — Bush's grand ambition to seed democracy around the globe — the president declared: "We know from experience that democracy is the only system of government that yields lasting peace and stability."


Yet he was speaking about democracy in a deeply undemocratic country, the Emirates, where an elite of royal rulers makes virtually all the decisions. Large numbers of foreign resident workers have few legal or human rights, including no right to citizenship and no right to protest working conditions.


Some human rights groups have accused the Emirates of tolerating virtual indentured servitude, where workers from poor countries like Sri Lanka are forced to work to pay off debts to employers, and have their passports seized so they can't leave.


Shortly after landing during a steady rain on the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Bush met at a ceremonial palace with Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who was appointed president of the United Arab Emirates in 2004 following the death of his father, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan. The UAE president presented Bush with a ceremonial sash that looked like a thick golden necklace about two feet long. A portrait of the late president hung on the wall behind them.


After the speech, Bush ventured to a sprawling horse farm for a traditional desert dinner, outside of a tent set up in the sand. Large carpets with colorful red and white pillows were set up for the meal.

Before eating, Bush was shown several prized falcons, and even took a turn holding one. When the bird moved suddenly, Bush jumped back a bit, but quickly recovered. "You're making him nervous," Bush told the assembled media. "He never had a press conference before."



An earlier version of the same story quoted Bush as saying: "This new era is being built with the understanding that power is a trust that must be exercised with the consent of the governed."

Where is your mighty vengence now, oh great omnipotent, omniscient sky-wizard?