The Pussies...

So, I believe it was Will Rogers who said, "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat." 

Boy if that ain't the fucking truth. Anyway, the Daily Show highlighted this tonight, and I was glad to see it, but I thought I would put in my two cents. 

So, the Democrats have decided to not back their Party Leader (you know, The President. Republicans don't have this problem.) Apparently, closing Gitmo is just Not worth the money and/or trouble.  All of this smacks of caving into the current Republican Hysterics about how we somehow can not house Dangerous Terrorists on American Soil. 

All the jokes have really been made (thank you, Mr. Stewart), but really America, if we do one thing well, it's locking people up. We have one of the highest Incarceration rates in the World if not the highest. Hell, we Locked up All the Japanese during WWII.  Do you think THAT was easy? No, but goddamn it when we trample Civil Rights in this country We Do it Right, goddammit.  

However, I like Steven Benen's take on this. So, all the Repub bitching is clearly political, so let's say that a McCain had won and He was trying to shut down Gitmo and Nancy Pelosi was making a stink. What would the arguments from Limbaugh, Hannity and Co. be like? Well, they aren't hard to predict. Here's a taste, click the link for more.

-- Democrats believe in the midst of two wars and an ongoing terrorist threat, national security decisions should be made by 535 lawmakers instead of the Commander in Chief. 

(Boy, that DOES sound fucking familiar.) Again, it's not HARD to debate these idiots, someone just has to DO it.

Anyway...

The Cowards...

Hello all, been awhile, but I have a lot to say, so let's see if I can stay sober enough, long enough to get it all out.

So, for the last couple days, Jesse "The Gov" Ventura has been making the rounds on all the talk shows. And, not really being a fan, he's spectacular.  I really and truly do not care about Jesse. I thought it was a bit ridiculous that he was elected Governor. It was much more a comment on the ridiculous state of politics (and perhaps the insanity of Minnesotans (or whatever the hell they call themselves)).  

Anyway, as I was saying, apparently Jesse has a book out and he's been going around making the talk show stops and it's pretty impressive. Jesse is just going toe-to-toe with a few of these right-wing jack-ass idiots and their bully-pulpits on the tube. He went after that idiot Hasslebeck on the View, he went after Fucking Idiot Hannity, and, my personal favorite, he went after this douchebag I've never heard of on Fox and Friends. 

The thing is I don't find Jesse a particularly brilliant debater in any of the interviews. He basically says the same OBVIOUS things over and over again. 

1) Waterboarding is torture. Jesse has been waterboarded as a part of his SERE training in the SEALs. I don't know if any of you know any SEALs, but in the strictly Republican version of 'real' men... SEALs Are Real Men. So, shut the fuck up and listen to Jesse.

2) America does NOT FUCKING TORTURE. Or at least we didn't before the Bush nightmare. Now, this is highly debatable, as America has had it's fair share of absolutely horrendous policies both domestic (slavery, Indian genocide) and foreign (let's not even go there), but to set up a Government Torture Policy and to try to Justify it by law... well, I think many of us hoped we were past this. Thanks, George!

3) We are a country that Supposedly obeys the Rule Of Law, and this is really the main point of point Number 2 up there. We have agreed that Torture is against the Law. We've prosecuted the Japanese for things like Waterboarding. Supposedly everyone is subject to the Law in this country (well, we know that's Bull Shit, but still...). 

4) Just because Cheney and Yoo SAY something is Legal Doesn't Make it FUCKING Legal. That's for a court to decide with, what's the word, a JUDGE. Or at least we need Congressional Approval. I mean, Hell, I work at a Law Firm. If we could just Write Briefs and call them legal, well, that'd make things a lot easier on the attorneys.  Just because you take a Shit Sandwich and call it Fried Chicken doesn't make it so.

What's really depressing is that this Proves that it's not Hard to debate these people, you just have to be Tenacious and Loud enough to do it, because they all argue with Volume not Facts. And Jesse is nothing if not Tenacious and Loud. 

So, sorry, this went a little long, but it REALLY pisses me off. This is a ridiculous 'debate', and the only reason it's going on is because a Big part of our current media are these Right-Wing cowards that coddle this shit.  Watch the Hannity clip where he's talking about the Evil People flying Planes into our Buildings. You can practically Hear the piss running down his leg and pooling in his shoes.

Christ, I don't want to die at the moment, particularly by some fuck killing for Allah (or Jesus or Oil or Whatever), but how Debased are people willing to be?

I hate all these spineless fucks so much. God Bless you, Jesse. Preach on, Brother.

Anyway....

Now he gets it...

So, on Fridays I enjoy reading Bill O'Reilly's column in the NY Post. Enjoy is probably the wrong word, but I am a bit of an intellectual Masochist and Bill-O is certainly skilled in delivering migraine inducing pain. 

Occasionally, however, I actually do agree with Bill-O. He is not always insane, he does have a bit of a common-sense/populist streak that allows him to occasionally say something that makes sense. On these occasions I always feel a little dirty and disappointed as I am Much more comfortable disagreeing with O'Reilly. Plus, when I disagree it usually means a blog post. 

So, you may imagine my disappointment when Bill's column from last Friday (yes, I'm behind) was entitled something like, "Give Obama a Break." I couldn't find the original title, but I did find the article reposted under the title "Obama Derangment," which is almost as good.

The thrust of the article is this, Bill-O participated in the wide-spread and ridiculous practice of 'grading' the President's first 100 days using, well, grades.  If you read the article, you'll know, but to reiterate for the lazy (which I understand), Bill-O gave Obama a "B" in Domestic Policy, a "C" in Foreign Policy (not a big fan of the "Apology Tour" is Bill-O) and a "C+" for Leadership... whatever the hell that means.

Now, marks like these aren't exactly going to get you into Harvard, but I have to hand it to Bill, for being a guy who is Largely in the tank for the Republicans, and a guy who regularly speaks to Glenn Beck without murdering him, these are pretty good grades.  

So, what was the response from Bill's audience? Well, naturally he got a lot of hate mail. One person apparently thought Bill had Lost His Mind (Only NOW you think this?) because "Obama deserved 'Fs' across the board." 

Bill-O then goes on for a fairly eloquent couple paragraphs about how fairness and restraint are cornerstones of American Democracy and Society. It is a very good point. HOWEVER, one can not help but notice, and perhaps even point out to Bill, THESE ARE YOUR PEOPLE!! 

Bill has made a Living demonizing 'liberals' and anyone else he happens to disagree with. He has Glenn "Obama is a Nazi" Beck on his show every other fucking day. How Unaware can you be? Seriously? You can't feed people on hate and intolerance for Years and then sit back in astonishment when they suddenly display Hate and Intolerance. 

The thing is Bill won't change his ways, he doesn't see the need. He will just boggle at the intolerance of his constituents while he continues to rant about the ACLU and Code Pink and ACORN and whatever "Pinhead" he decides to call out that week. 

Part II  (Forgive me, this is a long post.) 

So, this ties into another thing I was thinking of. While I honestly do believe that a lot of these crazies actually do believe the shit they shovel, they are, in their own way, in a bit of a psychological cage. Let's take Rush as an example. He has for years blamed every single problem in America on the Liberals. Now, this is patently false, but a) Rush Believes it (yes), and b) Even if he Decided he didn't, there's NOTHING he could do (except retire and live out his life in comfort and ease from his amassed fortune.. That MOTHER FUCKER). He has got his own audience so worked up over Liberals, that if he changed his schtick he would lose his audience. 

I honestly don't think they can bring their own audience back from the edge. Take the people writing Bill-O. Bill did something perfectly reasonable (I Know!). He gave moderate grades to a President he does not like after a Very short period of time. Compared to the idiots out there calling for Secession this is ridiculously fair behavior. Now, did his audience respect him enough to give his arguments a chance? Did his audience just let this obviously ridiculous exercise pass? No, he, BILL O'REILLY, got enough hate mail he decided to write a whole column about Obama Derangement Syndrome.  Now, given Bill-O I would postulate that only One hate letter (from a Republican) would be enough to set him off, but I suspect it was much more than that. 

I'm sure that not everyone that watches Bill-O or listens to Rush or whoever is a crazy. But I'm fairly certain that there is a Large segment of this population that is Convinced that Liberals are going to burn the world down and use the bodies of the Conservatives to stoke the flames. And while Bill and Rush and Coulter perhaps did not Start these ideas they sure as hell are keeping them aflame with plenty of fuel of their own. 

But you know, Fairness is the cornerstone of our society.

Anyway....

Stop or My President will Torture!

Wow. So I haven't blogged in near a month. Hope it's worth the wait. I've learned from a couple posts (egad) that I really should only do this when I'm in the mood and have something to say, otherwise it's just embarrassing. Ok, enough of this. 

So, over the last couple of weeks various right-wing nut jobs have been bending over backwards to defend the Torture practices of the Bush Administration. Here is Adam Brodsky with just one example. There are others, Rich Lowry weighed in about a week ago also in the Post, and continual Jack-Ass Charles Krauthammer also had something to say.

This all makes me sick. The arguments are all so infuriating and hateful that I go into a blind rage every time I read one of these fucking idiots and their bullshit. 

First, and this was the thrust of Rick Lowry article, is that our torture just isn't that bad. You know, Compared to Iran, compared to Terrorists (whichever country they may be stationed). So... let me understand. We aren't as bad as psychopaths? THAT'S your fucking argument? I listen to these idiots talk about American Exceptionalism all the time and Most would rather swallow a Hemlock and Tonic before deigning to compare themselves to ANYONE let alone these Fucking Psychos. But Since some people out there cut off Heads, well, I guess we can do whatever we want as long as nobody ends up headless. Dead, well, shit happens, but at least you're buried with your head attached. 

Another popular theme is the Ticking Time Bomb. This is a very popular theme. It seems largely to be inspired by shows like '24' and all the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon movies. Obviously this scenario is ubiquitous in Action movies, but many experts (i.e. people who do NOT base decisions on Television shows) say it never occurs in real life. 

But if we want to apply Fictional Solutions to Real Life problems, let me take a crack.  Conservatives love to point to the "Dark Knight" movie, where Bush is the Batman character. Brooding (in Rightwing World Bush broods), misunderstood, making the tough choices to Save Us All. However, if you've Seen the movie the Torture Doesn't Work. He drops that Gangster off the building and the gangster won't roll on the Joker because he's more scared of the Joker than Batman. Then in another scene Batman beats the Shit out of the Joker and the Joker laughs in his face and doesn't give up Anything until it's too late. So, in two scenes, Batman totally loses it and gives into his worst and most base instincts and it gives him Nothing of value. (I will admit this movie is often also used to justify Warrantless Wiretapping and that bit does actually work out ok for The Batman.)

However, I suspect that Torture in the real world works more like the scene from "Bolt." The movie is pretty hilarious, so I don't want to ruin, but this is a serious topic. So, in the scene, Bolt (a dog) is convinced that Cats, All Cats, are involved in a Vast Conspiracy against Dogs led by the nefarious Green Eyed Man. So, Bolt grabs this stray cat and dangles her over a bridge. Now, Bolt is clearly not looking at the world quite right and the cat is quite innocent and she loudly proclaims her innocence while dangling over oncoming traffic.  The cat quickly figures out that Bolt is Never going to believe that she doesn't know anything, after all she's a lying cat, so the cat changes her story and tells Bolt that she'll take him to the Green Eyed Man if he just doesn't drop her. Hilarity ensues.

So, to understand the current torture debate, reread the previous paragraph, but where it says Bolt/Dog read "Right-wing Pundit"; Cat read "Muslims"; and where it says Hilarity read "fucking psychotic and degrading party-wide pants-shitting festival" and you pretty much get the idea.

Anyway...