Wow.

I really haven't a whole lot to say about this video, mostly because i'm stunned it came out of the mouth of a fourteen year-old kid with a radio show. Just...watch this.

Yes, 14 year-old Caiden Cowger really just did say that President Obama was trying to turn kids gay.

I'll try and process this tomorrow.

Battle Hymn of the TEA Party

In 1861, as the American Civil War began, a writer by the name of Julia Ward Howe hears a song called "John Brown's Body", a popular marching created by Thomas Bishop of Vermont, who joined the Massachusetts Infantry one year prior to the beginning of the war. Howe hears the tune sung by the company in command of the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Rufas R. Dawes. The man in command said that he had first come across the song by a man in his unit, Sgt. John Ticknor. Her companion, during her public review of the soldiers was a reverend, James Freeman Clarke, and he suggested that the lyrics in the song be changed. On the morning of November 18, 1861, Julia awakes with a blast of unexpected inspiriation, jots down the newly revised lyrics of the soldier's marching song on an old stump. One year later, in February of 1862, the lyrics are published on the front page of The Atlantic Monthly. The title of that song was called "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Today it is widely considered and regarded as an American patriotic song.

Much like "John Brown's Body" was re-structured into "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as a marching song for the soldiers on the front lines, two seinor members of the TEA Party has re-worked the famous tune into a song about TEA party favorite...Sarah Palin. I am not making this up.

Proud to be Seditious, Mark?

Dictonary.com defines sedition, as the following:

se·di·tion
–noun
1. incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government.
2. any action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion.
3. Archaic . rebellious disorder.

The U.S. Constitution also talks about what constitutes as an act of sedition:

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall write, print, utter, or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering, or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either House of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either House of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States; or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the Constitution of the United States; or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act; or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.

It is one thing to be completely ignorant about something.
It is another thing entirely to be completely ignorant about something, but still speak like you know what you are talking about.
Mark Noonan's latest screed throws him in the latter category.

After all, we were born of rebels:

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, speaking at a law school forum, said that GOP opposition to the Obama program “is almost at the level of sedition.”

Patrick later said the phrase was a mere “rhetorical flourish,” but this isn’t the first — or the fifth — time a prominent liberal politico has accused conservatives of approaching sedition in opposing Obama administration policies. See, the “almost” part is key, because then it isn’t offensive, right?

And the thing is, we’re not like the liberals who call themselves rebellious. No, not like that at all – liberals are slaves who, doing their master’s bidding, think they a “speaking truth to power” or whatever catch phrase of the day it is. We, on our side, are like this:

Words like 'sedition' used to refer to serious crimes and misdemeanors, but now, they've become political catch phrases, and have almost lost their meaning. I believe that until one of Rush's or Beck's empty-headed zombies attempts to overthrow the current government and/or make an attack on the life of a public servant in a high position of power, then it should be considered an act of sedition, and the Beck's and Limbaugh's of the world should stand trial along with the conspirators.
Having spoke my peace, back to Noonan's screed: Mark, you're in no position to take the moral high ground here, about how "liberals are slaves who, doing their master’s bidding..." because it has been well-documented time and time again that you acted like Bush's personal pit bull whenever a valid Bush criticism reared its ugly head.

Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined. – Patrick Henry

We refuse to give up that force and we won’t be cowed by hacks like Deval Patrick. Call us seditious and we’ll wear that badge with pride – we do, indeed, seek the overthrow of the liberalism being imposed upon us. There will be no let up on our part until liberalism is consigned to the ash heap of history.

First off, self-labeling yourself as 'seditious' isn't something something to be proud of. Being labeled as "seditious' is the equivalent of being called a traitor to your fellow countrymen. Why the hell would you want that label slapped on your conscious?
Secondly, your attempt to tag yourselves as the re-incarnation of the ideals Patrick Henry and the rest of our Founding Fathers fought for are an insult to Patrick Henry himself. Henry and the lot were railing against a King who taxed his subjects to the point where the Monarchy would find new ways to squeeze a profit out of the people who were already poor or low income. If you had no currency left to give to King George, then land, labor, and crops would be next on the chopping block. To make sure none of His subjects revolted, those who did would be made an example of, namely, through imprisonment or hanging from a tree in the middle of town. President Obama has nowhere near reached that level of dictatorial brutality, nor would it ever happen. Quit aligning yourself with men like Patrick Henry when the flip side of our democratic process doesn't go your way.
Finally, there is no way you will ever be able to vanquish the concept of liberalism. Ideas never truly die, and they always find a way to return to the forefront. How do I know this? Take a look at countries like China and North Korea. Years after the Cold War ended and capitalism beat out communism, the theories and practices of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, etc. still live on through the current leaders, and their primary economic platforms.

Stand down, Mark. You're just making a complete fool of yourself.

"You Lie!" Or: The new low in this country's national discuorse - and how to recapture our naton's sanity

I've gotta give Pres. Obama credit: He's going to stick to coaxing the better angels of America's nature and trust that there are some lawmakers on the other side of the aisle. I personally don't believe that the current batch of Republican lawmakers have any interest in working with him on health care reform, but I have been wrong before, and if this is the road Obama wants to go down on, then i'll trust that he and his administration knows what they're doing.

Having said that, Let me get right to the point of this new post: By now, mostly all of you know who this idiot is on the left: Joe Wilson the representative of South Carolina's 2nd district; also known as the man who shouted out "You lie!" during the middle of the President's Address to Congress.



Two thought were going through my mind when Joe opened his big trap: 1. "This is an Address to Congress, not a fucking town hall meeting!", and 2. "This character's gonna become a martyr for the conservative movement across the nation." And they didn't disappoint.

The reason why Wilson rudely interrupted the President's speech? Obama said in his speech that illegal immigrants would not qualify for credits for the health care plan. And he was right.

The President's seemingly simple statement that "the reforms I am proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally" is not hard to check. In the Senate Finance Committee's working framework for a health plan, which Obama's speech seemed most to mimic, there is the line, "No illegal immigrants will benefit from the health care tax credits." Similarly, the major health-care-reform bill to pass out of committee in the House, H.R. 3200, contains Section 246, which is called "NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS."

So not only did Joe rudely interrupt the Commander-in-Chief, he himself, lied about calling Obama a liar!

But i'm dead certain Joe knew that going in. In the age of Obama and the changing of the nation, facts and well-reasoned debates have taken a backside to which any ignorant relic of the Jim Crow era can grab a soapbox and a bullhorn and yell for all to hear, "OBAMA IS A GOD-DAMN SOCIALIST!" Instead of letting cooler heard prevail, we have a cynical, narcissistic talk show host in Glenn Beck who rises to power by making outrageous and out-of-left-field claims about the events of the day and mis-characterizing events and news-makers to fit Rupert Murdock's - and a party's - agenda; and shameless political opportunists like Sarah Palin, exploiting her youngest child to scare Americans by saying that her down-syndrome baby, Trig, will be at the alter of a group of bureaucrats who'll decide if he lives or dies; and disagreements over policy have turned into shouting matches at town-hall meetings. To put it simply: in this age, down has become the new up.

But as I look upon this sad state of discourse in American politics, and in America itself, I come to remember which matters the most: we have been down this road before. From woman's suffrage, to civil and voting rights; from the formation of unions to the formation of Social Security, we've had spirited debates about these issues, we have fought over the issues, some had shed their own blood to have their ideals realized, and many have tried to delay to make the changes necessary to strengthen our nation and to move our country forward. But, in the end, we passed Social Security, formed the unions, gave minorities and women the right to vote, strengthened anti-discrimination laws in the workplace and in businesses, and we are a better country because we met these challenges head on, despite the opposition, the cynicism, and challenges that threatened to intimidate our citizens.

We have been down this road before. We can (finally) pass health care reform if we allow ourselves to ignore the charlatans and the naysayers, and go forth with a determination that we can, and will reform our broken system for the betterment of our country, and for the next generation not yet born.

Allow me to quote U2 frontman Bono: "We're one, but we're not the same / we've got to carry each other, carry each other."

Pres. Obama to address nation's children on the first day of school? Don't tread on our children, you socialist bastard!

Tomorrow, kids all over the nation will be going back to school; grumbling, tired, wishing the summer that was 2009 didn't have to end on Labor Day. Those of us who remember the first day of school might remember the formula: say hi to all the friends who we've missed because they were traveling for the summer, get acquainted with new students, go to our new classrooms, meet our new teachers, watch the 44th President of the United States give an address to us about the importance of an education and persevering in school, learn the classroom rules (which is mostly a waste of time, because the classroom etiquette is the same in pretty much as the classrooms)...Say what now?!

Yes, President Obama will be talking the children, first thing tomorrow morning.

But some believe Obama's speech to the younglings is nothing more than a dastardly plot to force his liberal, Marxist agenda down the throats of America's youth, thus bringing us one step closer to a socialist nation! If this is allowed to happen, we'll be telling our grandchildren what real freedom in America used to be like...if we're still allowed to talk about what freedom used to be at all...

So what are these proud, non-backward thinking, and most certainly non-racist patriots going to do? I'll tell ya what these fine, angry, overweight rednecks won't do! They're not going to try and make a non-controversial act become a polarized spectacle that further embarrasses the political discourse in this country and makes the conservative base of the GOP look like they deserve to be in a mental asylum, rather than a viable political party! Wait a minute...

The public-school systems in both Collier and next-door Lee counties, a conservative pocket in southwest Florida that includes Naples, announced on Thursday, Sept. 3, that their students won't be seeing Obama's speech..."We tend to be very conservative here," says Dean. "This President is extremely liberal, and we worry that he's leading us to socialism."

School districts in at least half a dozen other states have made similar decisions not to air the President's talk. In one of those states, Minnesota, Republican governor and possible 2012 presidential aspirant Tim Pawlenty called the speech "uninvited" and voiced concerns about its "content and motive."

In Oklahoma, state senator Steve Russell rivaled Florida's Greer for hyperbole, calling Obama's talk "something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq."

Nope! No blatant use of exploiting people's misguided fears and intolerance to further divide and make it into another us-vs-them debate! After all, the Republicans are only looking out for the children.
More from the article:

Asked if the Collier school district would have made the same ruling about webcast "logistics" if Obama's Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, had proposed making a similar speech to U.S. students, a spokesman for Thompson told TIME, "exactly." But Dean calls it "a moot question" because "I don't think President Bush would have ever done it. He understood that this sort of thing starts in the home." But when reminded that Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, broadcast a similar speech to the nation's pupils, Dean says, "That was different. It was, if I remember, largely a say-no-to-drugs speech."

See? Pappy Bush was doing it to tell the children to not use drugs, while Obama is indoctrinating the kids the wicked ideas of taking personal responsibility for themselves in school! It's not like the GOP would ever preach that kind of leftist crap onto ordinary American citizens!

This whole episode would be side-splitting hilarious, if it weren't for the fact that the party that loves to stake claims on patriotism, Christianity, and putting country first, from the moment Pres. Obama stepped foot in the Oval Office eight months ago, have been anything but what they claim the GOP is all about. The Republicans are about one thing these days: bringing the president down by any - and all means - necessary, and if that means the country goes down with Barack Obama, so be it. As long it gets them back into power, the ends will always justify the means. Its one thing to be "the loyal opposition." It's another thing altogether to scare the base into doing the party's dirty work.

Someone please remove the soapbox from under Nonnan's feet

After some hesitation and a time shift, three major broadcast networks have agreed to carry Barack Obama's latest primetime news conference.

The event was announced Friday afternoon as Obama battles to bolster congressional support for an ambitious health-care overhaul while facing dropping approval ratings.

But broadcasters are struggling with falling approval ratings of their own; Nielsen's audience measurements show viewership in a summertime slump.

The conference will mark the president's fourth primetime press event since he took office six months ago. Such interruptions tend to wreak havoc with network schedules and can cost millions in lost advertising.

CBS, which airs only repeats that evening, agreed early Monday to cover the conference.

But for NBC, Fox and ABC, the decision was tougher. During a summer that's otherwise strewn with repeats, Wednesday includes all of their top-rated reality programs.

The report goes on to state that NBC was reluctant at first to carry the news conference, becasue the intended schedule (9 p.m. ET) conflicted with the networks reality show "America's Got Talent," which airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern. The White House then decided to change the time of the conference to get NBC to air it, one hour earlier, at 8 p.m.

Of course, Noonan bills the network's decision to air the conference as "The Final Degradation of American Government."

Mark, if you're so pissed off about this, then bitch to the big dogs at ABC, NBC, and CBS, you know, the ones who are going to televise the event to begin with, not the Obama White House. Furthermore, if Bush Jr. were still president, gave a news conference about who knows what, and one of the big three decided not to televise the event live, you and your traveling band of psychotic circus freaks would be on your collective soapboxes, bitching to anyone who will listen to you and scream that this is another case of that 'pesky liberal media trying to silence conservative viewpoints!', so please, spare me with your holier-than-thou bullshit, cause the only people listening to your rants are the freaks on your website and the imaginary voices in your head.

They're as mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore!

I, or course, am talking about David Letterman's joke about Sarah Palin's kid getting knocked-up by Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees. Now the conservatives want him.....(drumroll, please)......fired from his gig as hos of The Late Show on CBS.

Sebastian Gray at HillBuzz has been giving lessons this week on how to get David Letterman fired for his rape jokes about Gov. Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter, Willow.

Today he has a post explaining that Republicans do not have the same tenacity as Democrats in working the system to get what they want — in this case, persuading CBS to fire David Letterman. He is correct. However, there is a bonanza of empowerment in it for Republicans if we make this a fight we are determined to win.

Sebastian says it will take 30 days of daily letter-writing to CBS and Letterman’s advertisers. That’s because for the first two or three weeks, they’ll just wait for the tempest to blow over. Not only do we have to keep it up, we have to make it build. This is our line in the sand. Letterman MUST BE FIRED NOW!!!

So I take it Jay Leno and Bill Maher should be protested as well? Both comedians have made jokes about the Governor of Alaska and her daughter, Bristol.

Furthermore, Letterman didn't mention Palin's 14 year-old, Willow when making that joke. She did that all on her own. Letterman's joke was tasteless (IMO, political leader's kids are - or should be - out-of-bounds), but Palin is out to make this bigger than what it needs to be.

You'd think the two apologies he gave this week would get him out of the trouble storm, right? Not with her supporters, apparently. And you know, when protesting, they only did it with class; no, unlike that dick on the late night comedy circuit, they would be protest their outrage, but would be respectful and not make total asses of themselves for all to see....

And somehow, Obama is considered the elitist

This is interesting.

When you have seven homes, that's a lot of garages to fill. After the fuss over the number of residences owned by the two presidential nominees, NEWSWEEK looked into the candidates' cars. And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one.

Let's recap.

Barack Obama - grew up with a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya who was never around; lived off of food stamps during his childhood; had to work his ass off to get to Harvard and served as president of the Harvard Law Review; worked as a community organizer in the southside of Chicago when he could have been working for Wall Street = he's an elitist snob who looks down on Middle America!

John McCain - married to a $100 million booze heirs and owns part of the Arizona Diamondbacks; has seven homes in different time zones, with 13 different types of vehicles; said multiple times that "the principles of our economy are strong" even though this week, Wall Street dipped almost 500 points on Tuesday, then 450 points on Thursday, and had some big banks go down in flames this week as well; have your economic adviser call Americans "a nation of whiners" when the economy's in the tank = a champion of the working class!

It just doesn't make any sense.

Chirs Matthews demonstrates how to handle RW water carriers

Bravo, Chris Matthews.

Who gives a rat's ass what Marion Cotillard says?

Not many people know who this year Best Actress Oscar Winner is (mostly in part because not many people have heard or, nor seen La Vie en Rose), but after this interview stating that the 9/11 attacks were setup by our own government, she'll be infamous with the fringes of the conservative wing of the GOP, and by moronic American citizens, both of whom are bound to make this non-story bigger than what it needs to be.

Typical French cunt....

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 08:49:21

Wow is this chick stupid, you'd have to be a nut job to actually believe any of that crap.

By Trax, on March 3, 2008 08:54:48

Anyone who is stupid enough to believe 9/11 was an inside job is a terrorist sympathizer and should be imprisoned then shipped off to the Middle East.

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 09:00:52

This explains why she won the Oscar. But it raises the question why she was not included in the making of the Obama Obama video. Hollywood is probably rallying to grant her instant citizenship.

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 09:01:50

Apparently she's a structural engineer. She must have received her degree from the University of European Cunts.

This is why women should not be allowed to speak publicly.

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 09:04:52

Anon 8:55, you may be one of the most skeptical people in the world, but you are also one of the most ignorant and naive. These conspiracy theories have been scientifically reputed and answered time and time again. Just because someone puts up a website, doesn't mean you have to believe it.

Why don't you, Rosie O'Donnell, and this French cunt (not worth remembering her name) just go kill yourselves and make the world a smarter place. Mother fucking idiots.

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 09:10:36

Why do liberals hate America so much? Why don't they leave the country if they hate it here and hate everything America stands for?

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 09:10:56

"MY husband is fighting oversees. I support our troops 100%- for them to be brought home SAFE."

It's spelled "overseas" and you'd know that if you really had a husband over there. A TRUE and PROUD American doesn't assume our government would plan 9/11, and people who support our troops know they're fighting a war on terror and dying for us because the terrorists want nothing more than to kill all Americans. Don't claim to be patriotic when it's obvious you have no idea what it means.

By anonymous, on March 3, 2008 09:32:12

If there's anything that really pisses me off about our nation, it's the following:
A.) How we make shit bigger than what it needs to be.
B.) When we do make shit bigger than what it needs to be, we reveal to the rest of the public, and to ourselves, the ugly and ignorant side of America and its citizens through our idiotic and nasty comments.
c.) How pundits, talking heads, and even our own elected officials use this trivial bullshit to fan the flames of uber-patriotism.
America, please, for the love of God, get over this.

Just in time for Black History Month....

I've read some vile tripe from the fringes of the right-wing, but this latest nugget is by far, the most insulting piece of garbage I've read. This comes from Jeremiah, the self-called "fundamentalist Evangelical" who believes the standard conservative Christian nonsense that gays are an abomination to the Almighty, Liberalism is evil, etc.

One of the most common arguments you hear coming from modern Secular skeptics these days is that, Christianity and the bible "support" slavery. What does the bible say? Were they treated like slaves were in the 1800s? Leviticus gives us some incite...

Leviticus 25:53 - He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year; you must see to it that his owner does not rule over him ruthlessly.

Hmmmm...Let's see, they got paid, were given plenty to eat, a place to sleep, they went to church (as was required by God), so forth and so on. Doesn't sound to me like cruelty or mis-treatment, but of servants of their own free will, willing to work, so they could survive

Yes, you heard right.

My black ancestors couldn't have possibly been cruelly mistreated because the Bible said so.

Let's take a look at how 'kind' the plantation owners were to my black ancestors.

According to both the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Brion Davis and the Marxist historian Eugene Genovese, treatment of slaves was both harsh and inhumane. Whether laboring or walking about in public, people living as slaves were regulated by legally authorized violence. Davis makes the point that, while some aspects of slavery took on a "welfare capitalist" look......

Was this the kind of humane treatment you spoke of, Jeremiah, or is this what you were talking about?

On large plantations, slave overseers were authorized to whip and brutalize non-compliant slaves. Slave codes authorized, indemnified or even required the use of violence, and were denounced by abolitionists for their brutality. Both slaves and free blacks were regulated by the Black Codes, and had their movements monitored by slave patrols conscripted from the white population which were allowed to use summary punishment against escapees, sometimes maiming or killing them. In addition to physical abuse and murder, slaves were at constant risk of losing members of their families if their owners decided to trade them for profit, punishment, or to pay debts. A few slaves retaliated by murdering owners and overseers, burning barns, killing horses, or staging work slowdowns. [30] Stampp, without contesting Genovese's assertions concerning the violence and sexual exploitation faced by slaves, does question the appropriateness of a Marxian approach in analyzing the owner-slave relationship.[31]

Or was it this random act of kindness you spoke of Jeremiah?

Genovese claims that because the slaves were the legal property of their owners, it was not unusual for enslaved black women to be raped by their owners, members of their owner's families, or their owner's friends. Children who resulted from such rapes were slaves as well, as they took the status of their mothers, unless freed by the slaveholder.

Jeremiah was right. Such loving kindness did the Southern slave owner showed toward my ancestors.

Here's how the slaves were treated in terms of living conditions:

According to Genovese, slaves were fed, clothed, housed and provided medical care in the most minimal manner. It was common to pay small bonuses during the Christmas season, and some slave owners permitted their slaves to keep earnings and gambling profits.

Hey, at least they were being housed, clothed, fed and during the holiday season, paid, isn't that right?

Jeremiah: your words were not only blatantly ignorant and false, they were also out-and-out insulting to the memory of our black ancestors who were robbed of their humanity because of their skin color and because of centuries of racial prejudice and the racist thinking that the white man was superior over all beings.

You ought to deeply ashamed of yourself.

The 'War on G.I. Joe' - another fictitious display of outrage from the right-wing

First it was the phony 'War on Christmas' baloney, courtesy of media blowhard Bill O'Reilly.
Then came the Brokeback Mountain controversy from the Christain Right and the right-wing shock jocks.
Last year, there was the Superman Returns saga over how the Man of Steel was now being portrayed as an international figure instead of an American one.
And just last week, O'Reilly was bent out of shape over J.K. Rowing outing Albus Dumbledore of the Harry Potter book series as a homosexual.
And now, the new pseudo outrage the right-wingers are concerning themselves with is Paramount's decision to give the action-figure G.I. Joe a whole new look for the silver screen.

Hollywood now proposes that in a new live-action movie based on the G.I. Joe toy line, Joe's -- well, "G.I." -- identity needs to be replaced by membership in an "international force based in Brussels." The IGN Entertainment news site reports Paramount is considering replacing our "real American hero" with "Action Man," member of an "international operations team."

Paramount will simply turn Joe's name into an acronym.

The show biz newspaper Variety reports: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer."

Well, thank goodness the villain -- no need to offend anyone by making our villains Arabs, Muslims, or foreign dictators of any stripe these days, though apparently Presbyterians who talk like Scottie on "Star Trek" are still OK -- is a double-crossing arms dealer. Otherwise one might be tempted to conclude the geniuses at Paramount believe arms dealing itself is evil.

Yes. The right wingers are outraged about the equivalent of a male Barbie Doll getting a new face lift for the big-screen adaptation. And, as expected, the travesty reached the ears of the rabid, daydreaming Bush fanatics at Blogs for Bush.com, and its crackpot editor, Mark Noonan.

For crying out loud - "GI Joe" is as American as baseball and apple pie...do the people at Paramount really think the kiddies want stories of Euro-weenies rather than real American fighting men and women? With a wealth of new-minted heros in Iraq to be used to educate and inspire a new generation of American youth, Hollywood wants to opt for a version of the UN's blue helmeted international jokes...

Wrong, Noonan. Hollywood wants to make a bucket load of money, both domestically and globally.

I've put this off for far too long

Allow me to steal a quote from General Douglas MacArthur:

"people of the blogosphere, I have returned."

Sorry for the lack of postings, but once again, life has other plans for me. Damn.

Anyway, I am safe and my family's house is one piece. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the thousands of San Diegans who have lost their homes to these destructive wildfires. Here's the updates i've kept about the fires over at Newshounds's Off-Topic Corner.

As in all tragedies such as these, you have stories of people in the community lending a helping hand, and you have stores that make you want to get violent over the lack of humanity in people. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly stories that came out of the Wildfires 2007.

The Good: Regardless of what you think of the Spanos Family, here they did good work, by giving $1 million to the Fire Relief Fund.

Alex and Dean Spanos announced today a commitment of $1 million to aid victims of San Diego County’s wildfires and also to support the community’s firefighting efforts. The Spanos family made a similar donation of $1 million to the Chargers Fire Relief Fund following the destructive wildfires that ravaged San Diego in 2003.

“I can’t believe this is happening to our community again,” said Chargers President Dean Spanos. “But no matter how bad it gets, the people of San Diego always find a way to pull together during hard times, and that makes us all so proud to live here and be part of this community.

You also had members of the Chargers football club who helped out the evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium.

As is custom during the season, Chargers players had the day off Tuesday, but like usual, a few of them chose to dedicate their free time to helping others.

Safety Clinton Hart spent most of his day at Qualcomm Stadium where thousands of people have made temporary homes while wildfires continue to sweep through San Diego County. Hart helped distribute food, water and supplies to those supplanted from their homes. He also dished out smiles and hugs and signed countless autographs.

“It was good to see people keeping their chins up and staying positive through a tough time,” Hart said. “I wanted to go down there and encourage people. I spent a lot of time talking to people who were away from the crowds and hanging out by themselves. I had some really good conversations.”

Hart also spent several hours at Qualcomm Stadium Monday night. He was so encouraged by the hundreds of fellow volunteers that gave their time to helping others that he decided to go back Tuesday.

Most importantly, I would like to thank all the firefighters who have worked tirelessly to save as many homes as possible. You guys put yourselves on the front lines while putting your own lives at risk. Thank you for all that you have done.

The Bad: Unfortunately, there are some people who just don't have any humanity whatsoever, as is the case with the anonymous asshole who started the Santiago Fire up in the O.C.

One of the larger fires in Southern California was deliberately started by someone with apparent knowledge of arson, a fire official said Thursday.

The Santiago Fire in Orange County was started in two places along a little-traveled road, according to Chief Chip Prather of the county's fire authority.

The fire, which has burned more than 25,000 acres, was started in brush just off Santiago Canyon Road, not close to homes. It spread rapidly, indicating the arsonist had some knowledge of winds and other factors.

"It is a confirmed arson. There was evidence found at the scene. That is the purpose of our early declaration of it being an arson-caused fire," Prather said. He would not describe the evidence.

To the jerkoff who did this, let me say this: enjoy Hell. You've earned a one-way ticket.

As I have learned though the Virgina Tech Massacre, some right-wing clowns don't know when to keep their fucking mouths closed during a time of tragedy. Insert radio talk show host Glenn Beck as a candidate for Asshole of the Year with these idiotic comments.

I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today.

There's a name for people who act like this during troubling times like what San Diego County - and most of Southern California for that matter - went through: selfish, mean-spirited pricks.

That's all i've got for now.

Rush Limbaugh is an innocent bystander! And those who exposed him are just trying to silence him!

Here's a nice case of right wing lunacy to begin the month of October: all of us are now aware of how conservative radio talk show host/drug addict/America's no. 1 doucebag Rush Limbaugh stepped in it - again.

LIMBAUGH: Another Mike, this one in Olympia, Washington. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER 2: Hi Rush, thanks for taking my call.

LIMBAUGH: You bet.

CALLER 2: I have a retort to Mike in Chicago, because I am a serving American military, in the Army. I've been serving for 14 years, very proudly.

LIMBAUGH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER 2: And, you know, I'm one of the few that joined the Army to serve my country, I'm proud to say, not for the money or anything like that. What I would like to retort to is that, if we pull -- what these people don't understand is if we pull out of Iraq right now, which is about impossible because of all the stuff that's over there, it'd take us at least a year to pull everything back out of Iraq, then Iraq itself would collapse, and we'd have to go right back over there within a year or so. And --

LIMBAUGH: There's a lot more than that that they don't understand. They can't even -- if -- the next guy that calls here, I'm gonna ask him: Why should we pull -- what is the imperative for pulling out? What's in it for the United States to pull out? They can't -- I don't think they have an answer for that other than, "Well, we just gotta bring the troops home."

CALLER 2: Yeah, and, you know what --

LIMBAUGH: "Save the -- keep the troops safe" or whatever. I -- it's not possible, intellectually, to follow these people.

CALLER 2: No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.

LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.

CALLER 2: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they're willing to sacrifice for their country.

LIMBAUGH: They joined to be in Iraq. They joined --

CALLER 2: A lot of them -- the new kids, yeah.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know where you're going these days, the last four years, if you signed up. The odds are you're going there or Afghanistan or somewhere.

CALLER 2: Exactly, sir.

Amazing. Veterans of the Iraq War who now choose to speak out against it are being lectured by this gutless coward????? The same man who joined the ranks of other Vietnam era draft dodgers such as Bush Jr., Cheney, and DeLay, by claiming that he had a boil on his ass that prevented him from running??

What's more amazing, or un-amazing, is that the rank-and-file lapdogs, ranging from the GOP blogsites, to the Fox Propaganda Network, are actually defending this idiot's comments, and some of the wingnuts are even blaming........wait for it.......Hillary Clinton and George Soros for Oxycontin's act of random idiocy on the air!

Unfortunately, as folks around the country saw this play out on their television sets and newspapers, few were at all familiar with the organization behind the smear campaigns, or that this same group started the firestorm which ended with radio host Don Imus being terminated by NBC and CBS in April.

Maybe more importantly, even fewer citizens are aware that this organization is linked directly to Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as billionaire leftist George Soros.

It gets even better from here, folks.

CAP is heavily funded by the aforementioned billionaire financier George Soros, and in turn works closely with Media Matters to remove potential roadblocks (like Don Imus) from Hillary Clinton’s path to the White House. According to Bill O’Reilly, some of the money Soros gives to CAP eventually finds its way into the coffers of Media Matters, though Media Matters disputes this................

Is the picture becoming clearer? Hillary and her backers have created an advocacy network whose expressed goal is to take down all of her critics in the media.

In fact, after Imus was fired by NBC and CBS, Media Matters published a 6,000-word article entitled “It’s Not Just Imus,” listing other political enemies of the Clintons such as Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, and John Gibson.

Yes, the picture is becoming clearer.........just how is it that the liberals are labeled 'conspiracy theorists' when the nutters on the right are coming up with inane shit like this?

And yet, even with the original recording of the incident and the transcript of the remark, the ever-faithful right-wingers are still in denial about it ever being said, even going as far as to say that poor Rush is being taken out of context!

This kind of insanity really shouldn't be new to me, or to any of the Americans who aren't dumbed-down ditto-heads. Hell, it's the kind of Orwellian-type thinking (up is down, ignorance is strength, etc.) that this country has had to endure ever since the current administration set the standard that anyone who dares disagree with the GOP or the plan of action is either un-American or unpatriotic. i just can't figure out what's more pathetic here - Rush Limbaugh himself, or the shrinking minority of die-hard wingnuts/Bushbots who defend him and easily punish those who exposeed the jackass.

Either way, it's just another episode of the three-ringed freakshow that is the right-wing world.

Hate mongering doesn't take a day off

You would honestly expect that on the 6th anniversary on 9/11, there would be at least a day without politicization, right? Well, there was. The College Republicans and College Democrats at San Francisco State decided to join together in commemorating the horrific events of September 11, when a group of protesters pulled this stunt.

Regardless whether the opinions of the communists protesters was accurate, it was highly inappropriate for them to do this on the day of remembering those who died in 9/11, as were the methods.

Unfortunately, for Leo Pusateri, he wasn't aware that two wrongs don't make a right.

There's a name for individuals who pull this kind of a number: certified assholes.

The Religious Right and contraception/abortion: Ignorance is bliss

If you want to know just how stupid and ignorant the right-wing Christian zealots (and the Catholic Church) are, check out this discussion on abortion and contraception.

At any rate, we won't set our sights on contraception AFTER we get abortion banned because our sights are ALREADY set on contraception...though we have a lot of work to do among Catholics, first, because after Vatican II it was mistakenly assumed by most Catholics that contraception was no big deal. It is, of course, a big deal and now the Church is starting to re-emphasise that if you don't want children, don't have sex.

First Noonan, abortion is not - I repeat - is not going away for the following reasons:

1st reason: it's noting short of political suicide! Unless the GOP can manage to win an election (without resorting to the tricks they pulled in Ohio in 2004) without the majority of women who support abortion, there is no way you guys will overturn Roe vs. Wade.
2nd reason: God forebid this abortion is outlawed, it will only be a matter of time before the pressure of protesters force govt. to make it legal again.
3rd reason: you're only putting women in more risk to turn to the old days of getting an abortion..........and we really don't want to go down that road.

Second, just telling someone to not to have sex isn't the be-all-end-all treatment against unwanted pregnancy and preventing STD's. People (especially young people) need to be educated about the risks of having sex and they need to hear all the choices that are given to them, not just your own.
And third, Mark, ".......but contraception is wrong........." what bullshit, contraception's the thing that would prevent me from Jonathan Jr. or from having VD, and btw: who the fuck are you to shove your holier-than-thou views onto others, from a man who lives in...........Las Vegas, a place riddled with gambling, prostitution, and sex?
Noonan, just remember: "Judge not, least ye be judged."

I'm not dead, i'm just really busy

Hey everyone! No, i'm not dead people, i've just been one busy seventeen year-old: the June issue of The Ranch Review is all sent off, my SAT testing is complete, and all I have left are my End-of-course exams, and then.......summer.

It turns out that a lot has happened over two weeks, so let me try and get caught up with current events.

Paris Hilton's had a bad week: First, the twenty-something enters prison, then after three days, she gets out of jail because he's suffering from "medical problems", and now a judge today sentenced Ms. Hilton back to jail! That didn't sit to well with Paris.

Paris Hilton was just ordered back to jail in Lynwood to serve out the remainder of her sentence! She'll get credit for at least 5 days already served.

Hilton left the courtroom in tears, screaming, "Mom, Mom, Mom." Hilton was also heard saying "It's not right."

One witness said that Paris was "physically escorted" out of the courtroom by a female deputy.

Hilton's mother was later seen pacing the hallways, telling reporters, "I'm paralyzed right now." Paris' father Rick is still in the courtroom.

As someone once said: don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Here's a video of the utter madness of the paparazzi when Hilton was taken to court by the local authorities.



Right-wingers really are stupid: Like you didn't already know this. By far, the dumbest thing i've read this week - Mark Noonan takes a page from the Religious Rights poster-child nutjob Sam Brownback in denying evolution because his religion says it's bullshit. Not only does the discussion about evolution go out the window (as well as the facts that other posters made), but it brings out a lunatic out of the debate who based ALL of his opinions of the matter......on the Bible. The stuff posted from Jeremiah reminded me of reading Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

"The bible, Jeremiah, is a book of man-made renderings. Man, in his need for comfort and reassurance on a sometimes hostile planet, invented a father-like figure to oversee his daily life. A supreme being that would bestow blessings as a reward for good behavior or issue punishment for bad conduct. If this gives particular consolation to an individual, I see nothing wrong with that."


At May 31, 2007 06:17 PM

Let's pick your statements apart piece by piece shall we!

#1. "The bible, Jeremiah, is a book of man-made renderings"

First of all, CO, the bible, CO, is not just a book, it is the infallible Word of Almighty God, based primarily on His instruction as to how we should live! Which is a life pleasing to Him!
The Criteria herein, through the work required for Jesus Christ, Lies the the key to a successfully happy and joyful life, and are proof of His presence within this world is real, and the Faith it requires to sustain each and every life. Words by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--

Words by the [Father].
"The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Genesis 2:18

Words by the [Son].
The Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Matthew 8:13

Words by the [Holy Spirit]
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Acts 13:2

Notice anything in the last two verses? The key is FAITH.

#2.
"Man, in his need for comfort and reassurance on a sometimes hostile planet, invented a father-like figure to oversee his daily life."

Ivented???? That's pretty shallow there, CO! On top of that it's a pretty dangerous statement to be making too! Every life, CO, is at the mercy of Almighty God, and alot of people have made that mistake all too many times, Just ask the rich man in Hell, remember him? When he lifted up his eyes out of Hell, begging for a drop of water just to cool his tongue!!!!!!!

#3. "A supreme being that would bestow blessings as a reward for good behavior or issue punishment for bad conduct."

You state it as if taking life for grantit. That's a sad depressing way to look at it, doncha think?
You still don't get it do you! God gave you a CHOICE. He even sent His ONLY Son Jesus Christ to DIE, a cruel, CRUEL DEATH!!! He loved you that much, so you would believe and want to appreciate and love Him!!!!

Do you want to serve Him?...Or, Do you want to reject Him and be [eternally] lost, Forever and ever to never see peace again?

#4."If this gives particular consolation to an individual, I see nothing wrong with that."

Then why do you so ignorantly, INSIST, on God as being someone made-up????????????

CO, you may not give a hoot about other people and their relationship with Christ, But I do!!

But you will, one of these days, only then, your worries will have just begun!!

Posted by: Jeremiah at May 31, 2007 07:26 PM

Now granted, I am a Christian, but I don't dive into the depths of denial because a book (which was written and interpreted by Man, not by God) told me otherwise.

And the idiot of the week goes to: Gary Shefield, for this idiotic and racist comment regarding why there are few African-Americans playing baseball.

In an interview with GQ magazine that's currently on newsstands, the typically outspoken Tigers designated hitter said Latin players have replaced African-Americans as baseball's most prevalent minority because they are easier to control.

"I called it years ago. What I called is that you're going to see more black faces, but there ain't no English going to be coming out. … [It's about] being able to tell [Latin players] what to do -- being able to control them," he told the magazine.

"Where I'm from, you can't control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that's a person that you're going to talk to with respect, you're going to talk to like a man.

Wrong, jackass. Latinos are playing baseball because it has become a popular sport in places like Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and other Latin-American countries, it's not because they can be controlled. I would expect to hear this comment coming from a racist redneck, but haring the kind of comments come from my ethnic background is disheartening and disturbing.

Hoffman gets 500th save, Padres break out brooms against Los Angeles: What an exciting three days of Padres baseball! First, the Padres win with a run and a pair of hits. Then Trevor Hoffman reaches a milestone, not even reached by Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith: his 500th career save. And last night, down by four, the Padres come from behind in the last of the 9th to win 6-5, sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers at PETCO Park.

Now don't tell me that the Padres are, in the month of June, the National League's hottest team.

To Leo.....

Remember when I blogged about Leo Pusateri calling me out for supposedly calling Chimpy an idiot and a coward (which I didn't, i said he was "incompetent" and "intellectually-challenged")?

Well I've decided to respond to Mr. Pusateri's comments.

Leo? I hope you're reading this blogs, cause I have a few misconceptions I need to clear up with your post, which by the way, was flattering:

First, I said that the Shrub was incompetent, not stupid. I'm not sure if you realize this, but incompetent and stupid are not the same thing. Here's the definition of stupid:

1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.

Now, the definition of incompetent:

1. not competent; lacking qualification or ability; incapable: an incompetent candidate.
2. characterized by or showing incompetence: His incompetent acting ruined the play.

Second, let me explain why I called the president incompetent and intellectually challenged. I called Bush incompetent because all the studying he did in Harvard and Yale and his terms as Governor of Texas couldn't help him fight a war with competence, or rebuild New Orleans, or hire qualified officials to high-ranking positions of power (Alberto Gonzalez and Michael Brown ring any bells, Leo?). I called Bush intellectually challenged cause, if you've listened to the man for five minutes, you'd see he couldn't string together a coherent sentence if his life depended on it.

Thirdly, no one called Bush a coward, but I did find it ironic that you invoked Bush's service to the National Guard, which is honorable work, which I would have given him credit for.......if the Shrub hadn't gone AWOL on his service as Salon.com reported in 2004.

Bush flew for the last time on April 16, 1972. Upon entering the Guard, Bush agreed to fly for 60 months. After his training was complete, he owed 53 months of flying.

But he flew for only 22 of those 53 months.

Upon being accepted for pilot training, Bush promised to serve with his parent (Texas) Guard unit for five years once he completed his pilot training.

But Bush served as a pilot with his parent unit for just two years.

In May 1972 Bush left the Houston Guard base for Alabama. According to Air Force regulations, Bush was supposed to obtain prior authorization before leaving Texas to join a new Guard unit in Alabama.

But Bush failed to get the authorization.

In requesting a permanent transfer to a nonflying unit in Alabama in 1972, Bush was supposed to sign an acknowledgment that he received relocation counseling.

But no such document exists.

He was supposed to receive a certification of satisfactory participation from his unit.

But Bush did not.

He was supposed to sign and give a letter of resignation to his Texas unit commander.

But Bush did not.

He was supposed to receive discharge orders from the Texas Air National Guard adjutant general.

But Bush did not.

He was supposed to receive new assignment orders for the Air Force Reserves.

But Bush did not.

On his transfer request Bush was asked to list his "permanent address."

But he wrote down a post office box number for the campaign he was working for on a temporary basis.

On his transfer request Bush was asked to list his Air Force specialty code.

But Bush, an F-102 pilot, erroneously wrote the code for an F-89 or F-94 pilot. Both planes had been retired from service at the time. Bush, an officer, made this mistake more than once on the same form.

On May 26, 1972, Lt. Col. Reese Bricken, commander of the 9921st Air Reserve Squadron at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, informed Bush that a transfer to his nonflying unit would be unsuitable for a fully trained pilot such as he was, and that Bush would not be able to fulfill any of his remaining two years of flight obligation.

But Bush pressed on with his transfer request nonetheless.

Bush's transfer request to the 9921st was eventually denied by the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver, which meant he was still obligated to attend training sessions one weekend a month with his Texas unit in Houston.

But Bush failed to attend weekend drills in May, June, July, August and September. He also failed to request permission to make up those days at the time.

Now, this list goes on for a while, but hopefully, you get the point: Bush cut and ran from the Guard.

Lastly, Leo, let me translate what you told me, to what you're actually saying:

Well, Jonathan--I must forgive you for your shallow thinking.

Translation: I've got nothing on this kid.

I mean, as a 16 year old and a probable victim of indoctrination by liberal teachers,

Translation: Acting like a condescending prick will really put this snot-nosed brat in his place!

your life's experience has not allowed you to see reality.

Translation: I am in no way aware of what either irony or hypocrisy mean.

Glad I could clear some of these misconceptions up for you, Leo!

The perks of pissing off Bush apologists

Who knew pissing off Bush apologists would pay off like this?

To Jonathan...

Who commented:

Be careful how you vote.

Cause you'll never know when your country will wind up with an incompetent and an intellectually-challenged president like Dubaya.


Well, Jonathan--I must forgive you for your shallow thinking. I mean, as a 16 year old and a probable victim of indoctrination by liberal teachers, your life's experience has not allowed you to see reality.

So for yours, and for the edification of your fellow shallow thinkers, many well into their forties, I bring you the following, courtesy of EJECT! EJECT! EJECT!

Somewhere in Texas, a Village is missing its Idiot. I chose this one first since it's the only one that has a particle of real wit. But the Bush is an idiot meme is very tired, and the most cursory look causes it to fall apart like -- how can I make them understand? -- like a lemon almond biscotti left too long in a grande' caffe verona.

For starters, you can of course point to the fact that the man did graduate from both Harvard and Yale, but that was with a C average, and clearly, the idea of being merely in the middle of the pack of those getting advanced degrees from America's two preeminent universities cuts you no slack from those community-college theater major drop-outs who love to level the charge.

So let's leave that aside for a moment – Poppy's connections and all that – and take a moment to look at this, if you will:



This is a Convair F-102 Delta Dagger. It is a second-generation, supersonic fighter-interceptor. It cruises at 845 mph.

There were some minor aerodynamic problems with the F-102. For example, at certain power settings and angles of attack – like, say, take-off -- the jet compressor would stall and the aircraft would roll inverted. It is no picnic, skill-wise, to fly a modern F-16 with advanced avionics and fly-by-wire flight control systems. The workload on the F-102 was far higher. The F-16 has an accident rate of 4.14 occurrences per 100,000 flight hours. The F-102's accident rate was more than three times that: 13.69 per 100,000 hours. 875 F-102A interceptors were built; 259 – almost 30% - were lost to accidents or enemy action while serving in Vietnam.

George W. Bush flew hundreds of hours in the F-102.

Now look at this:



This is the cockpit of the F-102 Delta Dagger's successor, the F-106 Delta Dart (I could not find an F-102 panel, but they would have been very similar)

Now, picture yourself in this chair, at 40,000 feet, traveling at one and a half times the speed of sound. Now imagine that someone has painted the windows white – you are flying on instruments. Now imagine that not only do you have to be able to fly blind, by referencing these instruments, but that you also have to stare into that orange jack-o-lantern of a radar, and interpret a squiggle that will lead you to your target. Now imagine that in addition to not hitting the ground, or your wingman, and watching the squiggle, you also have to turn those switches on the right side panel to activate weapons systems, to overcome enemy countermeasures…without looking outside, as you hurtle through air at -40 degrees F, air so thin that should you lose pressure, you have about 4-6 seconds of consciousness before you black out and die.

I maintain that the instant George W. Bush closed that canopy and took off on the first of his many solo hours in an F-102, it is quite impossible that he was either an idiot or a coward.

Here is a random question from the instrument rating exam I had to pass a few years ago.

Refer to figure 91:



What should be the approximate elapsed time from the BOSEMAN (BZN) VOR to the DUBOIS (DBS) VORTAC if the wind is 24 knots from 260 degrees and your intended True Air Speed is 185 knots? (The magnetic variation is 17deg. E)

A. 33 minutes
B. 37 minutes
C. 39 minutes

(It's C., obviously)

If he had been a civilian rather than military pilot, Dubya would have had to have passed 60 questions like this with at least 70% correct. Questions on weather, radio communications, mechanical systems, aerodynamics, pilot physiology, airspace, navigation and a hundred other things. But, since he was military, he also had to know how to operate that primitive in-flight radar, plus weapons systems, rules of engagement, electronic warfare, hydraulics, fuel systems…it goes on and on.

People like Michael Moore and Bill Maher and Keith Olberman would not be able to figure out how to close the canopy on an F-102. These people would be weeping with fear when those afterburners light up and you barrel down that runway hoping that engine doesn't flame out and roll you inverted into the asphalt, or when you're rocketing through the soup at 300mph watching two little needles chase each other, praying the next thing you see out the window is a runway and not a mountain goat.

George W. Bush is not stupid. It's not possible to be a moron and fly a supersonic jet fighter, and everyone knows it.

To which I responded:

Leo, I really can't understand why in God's name you'd still support this man.

This is a man who's idea of restoring honor and integrity to the White House is by surrounding himself with yes-men who kiss his ass at every turn, instead of hiring qualified people to positions of power and importance.

This is a man who took our nation to war with the wrong country and now refuses to come to the inconvenient truth that he f***ked up and it's time to leave and let the Iraqis figure out what they're going to do with their country.

This is a man who equates protecting our freedoms with wiretapping our phones.

This is a man who equates bi-partisanship with having a rubber-stamp Congress carry out the wishes of the executive branch.

If that's what makes me a liberal, then i'll wear the badge with honor.

Not a bad birthday present, no?

Shameless

When the Virgina Tech shooting happened, I, like many Americans, were shocked and stunned that this is happening again. I was hoping that we could come together and grieve with the students, professors, administrators, and family members about the lost souls who were killed unnecessarily in the worst campus shooting in American history, and put aside the debate over who knew what, what should have happened, what didn't happened, etc.

I was wrong. Again.

Even in the face of an unspeakable tragedy like the VA Tech massacre, right-wingers somehow found a way to make the massacre look like it was the victim's fault; that instead of fighting back, they ran for their lives, even jumping out of classroom windows to get away from the madman who was unloading on the students. It's the kind of attack that only a self-serving, heartless and spineless coward could ever say or make.

Nathaniel Blake and John Derbyshire are the two cowards who could stoop to such a low.

The first pair of remarks were from Blake, a blogger at Human Events.com:

College classrooms have scads of young men who are at their physical peak, and none of them seems to have done anything beyond ducking, running, and holding doors shut. Meanwhile, an old man hurled his body at the shooter to save others.

Something is clearly wrong with the men in our culture. Among the first rules of manliness are fighting bad guys and protecting others: in a word, courage. And not a one of the healthy young fellows in the classrooms seems to have done that.

When Kip Kinkle opened fire in Thurston High School a few years back, he was taken down by students, led by one who was already wounded. Why didn’t that happen here?

Like Derb, I don’t know if I would live up to this myself, but I know that I should be heartily ashamed of myself if I didn’t. Am I noble, courageous and self-sacrificing? I don’t know; but I should hope to be so when necessary.

Are you out of your fucking mind, Blake? Really? You have no right, and absolutely no right whatsoever to judge what the students should have and should not have done during the mayhem that took place. What the students did was basic human nature; any one of us would have ran for their lives to avoid being shot at. This isn't some kind of Rambo/Die Hard action movie where the bad guy is stopped and the hero gets to walk away bloodied up and scarred, jackass. But since you feel you're such a tough guy, why don't you sign up to fight in Iraq, chickenhawk? Let's see if you have the stones to wake up one morning and praying that you or your men aren't the casualties of a roadside bomb or an IED.

John Derbyshire over at National Review Online, however, had the most disgraceful posting about the aftermath of the campus shooting:

As NRO's designated chickenhawk, let me be the one to ask: Where was the spirit of self-defense here? Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals, why didn't anyone rush the guy? It's not like this was Rambo, hosing the place down with automatic weapons. He had two handguns for goodness' sake—one of them reportedly a .22.

At the very least, count the shots and jump him reloading or changing hands. Better yet, just jump him. Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am. And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad.

Yes, yes, I know it's easy to say these things: but didn't the heroes of Flight 93 teach us anything? As the cliche goes—and like most cliches. It's true—none of us knows what he'd do in a dire situation like that. I hope, however, that if I thought I was going to die anyway, I'd at least take a run at the guy.

You're right about one thing, John. This isn't like Rambo. THE STUDENTS YOU MOCKED WERE ACTUALLY KILLED IN COLD BLOOD.

Of course, there were other right-wingers who are just as guilty of politicizing the VA Tech shooting. Debbie Schlussel concluded that the VA Tech shooter might be part of a terrorist attack, our good friend Ralph exploits the tragedy by blaming liberals for exploiting the VA massacre themselves, and the trolls over at News Hounds use two threads to shrill for the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution.

Earlier I said I was wrong again because this isn't the first time rank-and-file conservative talking heads have exploited a tragedy to further their own agendas.

Ann Coulter smeared the Jesery Girls - the nine wives who lost their husbands on 9/11 - to sell another one of her pointless books.

Even before the body count was full in New Orleans, Sean Hannity tried to politicize the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

And let's not forget how this Bush Administration used the fears the American people to sell us a bullshit war based on false information and lies.

There's only one word to really describe the actions of the frauds who use tragedy to further their own agenda: Shameless.