Friday, July 29, 2005

 

Flip Flop Frist

Well apparently the Lacrosse team isn't the only one to visit the White House who's known for their flip flops.

My initial reaction to this was WTF? Then after regaining conciousness I began wondering why the evil Dr. Frist would change his position so drastically and so quickly. I've managed to come up with three possibilities for the turn-around.
  1. Bill Frist has finally wised up. - In my opinion, this is the least likely of the options. Frist is a physician, so surely he knows the possible benefits of embryonic stem cell research. The fact that he has denied for so long is only proof of his allegiance to the Dobson wing of the conservative party.
  2. Bill Frist or a member of his family could personally benefit from embryonic stem cell research. - This is a definite possibility. Maybe this is why he was trying to delay the vote a few days ago. He was waiting for a diagnosis for himself or a family member and now that it has come through,he feels compelled to support a potential cure. (This was Mrs. kissfan's take on the situation.)
  3. Bill Frist is running a scam. - In my opinion, this is the most likely possibility. As I said before, surely Frist knows the potential of embryonic stem cell research. So his sudden change of heart makes me suspicious. Could it be that he's been taking a lot of heat lately for his actions? Maybe putting the NRA ahead of our troops was a bad move on his part. (Yeah, yeah, I heard his explanation and I thinks it's bullshit.) So in an effort to appease the majority and possibly ensnare some naive Democrats, Frist has thrown his support behind this bill knowing full well that Bush will veto it. Furthermore, Frist must know that the Senate would be unable to override Bush's promised veto thereby rendering the bill dead. This way he looks like a centrist to the average person all the while knowing that the bill has no chance of becoming law.

Who knows? Maybe Frist just finally pulled his head out of his ass. Either way, I have to say, "Good for you, Senator Frist. If you're sincere, I welcome your candor and bravery. However, if you're running the scheme I think you are, you can go fuck yourself with the rest of your dipshit cronies."


Sidenote: - As the summer nears its end, Truespeak is going to take a short hiatus. My obligation to the summer theater schedule will be fulfilled after tomorrow and the whole kissfan family will be embarking upon a vacation that will take us into oldwhitelady's neck of the woods on Wednesday as we will be attending a St. Louis Cardinals game. So for the next week, there will be no posting here, although I will most likely still be visiting my favorite bloggers on a regular basis. So until August 8, be safe, be smart, and don't let the fuckers up for air. Take care and I'll see you in a little over a week.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

 

Well Said

Sometimes a blogger just has to step aside and admit that he/she couldn't have said it any better. This is one of those cases. Senator Russ Feingold has begun a series of speeches on Iraq and last night was the first installment. I would really like to comment on what he said, but I know that nothing I say could enhance the points he makes. This is a brilliant disection of the Bush administration's policy. Now normally I wouldn't do this, but quoting snippets seems unfair. So I'm going to reprint the speech in its entirety. My apologies to Sen. Feingold and to those at Common Dreams for the liberties I am about to take.


All I want to know is where was he in 2004? Sen. Feingold, my hat's off to you. Well said.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

 

WooHooo!

Believe it or not, this is post # 300 here at Truespeak. You would think I'd get a new toaster or something from Blogger, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Despite the festivities, wouldn't you know it? I'm feeling ill. (Word of advice: If you ever find yourself dining in a restaurant known as Diamond Dave's, avoid the Fajita Wrap at all costs. Bad news, people. Bad news.) So no insight tonight, but I will leave you with a few tidbits to peruse on your own.

Walter Pincus gives us the latest on Rovegate.

USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.

Quinnipiac University National Poll; Bush Approval Drops To New Low

So read up! I'm going to get in bed and try to forget I ever met old Diamond Dave.

BTW - Normally Mrs. kissfan would fill in for me in this kind of a situation but the Mrs. bit the dust on her roller blades today and she's moving pretty slow. I don't think she'll be making it to the computer this evening.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

 

The Ugly Face of Frist

Well, I considered writing about a number of things tonight. At first I thought about discussing the recruiting issues our military is facing in Iraq. Then I considered writing about what looks like a failed propaganda campaign by the military itself. But then the evil Dr. Frist reared his ugly head.

Talk about pandering to the special interests. I'm sure our troops appreciate being put on hold so Sen. Frist can make his gun-lovin' NRA buddies happy. Screw that pay and benefits shit, man. Gun makers need some protection!

You see, this type of behavior looks to be Sen. Frist's new approach to politics. If there's something about the bill you don't like, put it off until later. I think that's what we would technically call a "stall." You know, stalling. It's what Bush and his cronies were accusing Democrats of doing recently.

As I said, this looks to be Frist's new political strategy. Yesterday, we learned of another of his stall moves.
.
Now we see what kind of a man Bill Frist is. When things aren't going to go his way, he holds his breath and stomps his feet. Despite the fact that he is a part of the majority, he has decided that it's his way or the highway, fellow Republicans be damned.

You know, if Frist had any aspirations for the presidency, his chances are quickly dissipating. The campaign fodder he's supplying to any prospective opponent is incredible. He's siding with the NRA over the support of our troops. He's putting off debate on a bill supported by members of his own party and a majority of Americans. His behavior on the Schiavo issue was shameful. And his leadership of the Senate has been pathetic, at best. I don't think we'll ever have to worry about getting used to saying "President Frist."

Monday, July 25, 2005

 

Wrong Answer!

(Note - If you're jonesing for your daily Rove-gate fix, be sure to read this from the Washington Post and this from the New York Times.)

Whoops! John Roberts, Bush's poster boy for virtue, may have screwed up.

Recuse himself? Are you serious? This man has been a lawyer and a judge and he claims that he is unable to separate his rulings from his religious beliefs. That kind of an attitude would get him dismissed from jury duty and we're supposed to believe that he could be a fair Supreme Court Justice. As pointed out over at TAPPED:

To think that Roberts could be a fair and balanced justice yet not be able to rule on cases that conflicted with his religious beliefs is a joke. If he's unable to look beyond his faith, he's unable to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. It's as simple as that.

For years the debate over religion in politics has raged on. As early as 1778, the Continental Congress proposed banning clergymen from roles in government. While the congress failed to even vote on the proposal, many states did adopt it over the years. In fact Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas may have said it best when in 1954 he wrote:

I would hope that we as a nation would not be so careless as to forget one of the driving forces behind the founding of the United States of America. Many came here in an attempt to escape religious persecution from their government.

We need a Supreme Court that can separate itself from religion. We need a Supreme Court that will not allow their religious beliefs to influence their decisions. We need a Supreme Court that does not include someone that is unable to look beyond his ideologies and rule in a way that is fair to all. We need a Supreme Court without John Roberts.

Friday, July 22, 2005

 

Do You Think?

Well, it's Friday and the Rove scandal keeps on going. Hunter over at dailyKos has a great roundup of what's happening thus far. And it's not looking good for the White House.

But with everything that's happened, it's started me thinking. As the investigation moves on, it looks to be reaching further and further into the White House with everyone from Rove to Libby to Fleischer to even John Bolton possibly being involved. So naturally I've been wondering, just how far this will go. With Libby being Cheney's Chief of Staff, could it go as far as the VP's office? And if it makes it to Cheney, is it that much of a stretch to think that it could reach Bush himself? I'm not saying that Bush was the leaker or even authorized the leak, but the other day I asked the question, "What did Bush know and when did he know it?" This could prove to be a very important question. As I said the other day there are really three possible answers to the question:
  1. Rove lied to Bush - This would be the best possible outcome for Bush. He could fire Rove and anyone else involved and make it look like he was cleaning house.
  2. Bush knew about Rove's involvement and helped to cover it up - This would be the worst possible outcome for Bush. He would then be complicit in covering up a crime.
  3. Bush didn't care enough to find out the truth - Probably the most likely outcome, but it makes him look bad.

Let's say for the sake of argument that it does reach as far as Bush and the answer to the question is number 2. This would mean that Bush was complicit in covering up a crime. Hmmmm... where have I heard this before? When has a President been guilty of covering up a crime? That's right: Watergate.

A few years back, John W. Dean wrote a book called Worse Than Watergate. One of the things I remember from the book was Dean's comparison of the secrecy of the Nixon and Bush White Houses. He claimed that there were scandals simmering just below the surface that could eventually bring down Bush and his entire administration. It's beginning to look as though John Dean's book could prove to be quite prophetic. The parallels are really unnerving. Even some of the players are the same. It's quite striking.

So I've been wondering, could this be Bush's Watergate? Could this be the thing that brings him down? It all hinges on which one of those answers turns out to be true. If it's number two, we could be looking at a major blow to not just the Bush White House but the entire Republican party.

So now I have a question for you, dear reader: Do you think? Could it be? Ponder that this weekend. I'll see you all back here Monday night.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

 

He's Back!

Try as they might, the Republicans just can't get away from Rove-gate. Sure, they got a little reprieve with the nomination of Roberts but then today, there it was again: Washington Post, page A01, above the fold.

Ahhhh! The media does its job. There will be plenty of time to discuss Roberts in the upcoming months. Right now, Rove's the word.

But while the WaPo story is nice, it looks as if there's more to come. According to Think Progress, the shit's going to be hitting the fan soon and it's not just splattering on Rove but Libby as well.

For almost five years now we've been watching the Bush administration deflect scandal after scandal. Fixing intelligence? Who cares? Not the media. Avoiding responsibility? So what? We've got Terri Schiavo to worry about. Lying about military service? Big deal! Homosexual fake reporters lobbing softball questions in the press room? Get out of town! Well, no more. They can deflect all they want, but there's simply too much shit flying around. The media smells blood and they're on the attack.

So what will Georgieboy do? Will he cut his losses or will he go down with the ship? Considering his debt to good ol' Karl, I'm guessing he'll ride this one all the way to the bottom. I can only imagine the dirt Rove's got on W. If Georgieboy kicks Karl to the curb, Karl could sing like a soprano in a Wagner opera. And don't think he wouldn't. Rove is a nasty mother-fucker. He'd cut his own mother if he thought there was some political capital to be earned. If Bush screws him, the knives will come out.

This could be good.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

 

Is It Election Time, Again?

I know it's only July, 2005, but Bush is in full bullshit mode. He's spreading the shit like he's running for something. Today he spoke in Baltimore and the first 1,000 people to arrive received a free pair of Halliburton hipwaders. Good thing too, cause it was getting deep. Let's take a look, shall we?

Of course he started with the thank yous and the glad to be heres and the my good friends and all that other shit. But eventually he got to the bullshit.

Try telling that to the Londoners. Going on the offense sure protected them, didn't it George?

Wait a minute! Who's he talking about? I didn't realize he was going to be discussing the Republican party today. Hmmm. Imagine that.

Democracies are peaceful countries? Democracy converts allies to enemies? If that's the case, what the hell are we doing attacking other countries unprovoked. Why are we currently creating more terrorists than we're killing? I think George better have his fact checker fired. He's apparently not reading his memos.

Wait a minute! That's not necessarily true. Yes, we give more money than any other nation, but as a percent of our wealth we give the least of all other industrialized nations. When we could afford to give so much more, why do we give so little? It's just like in George's favorite book, the Bible.

But I digress. Back to the bullshit, er, I mean speech.

Really? Do you suppose this means that they're actually going to guard our nuclear facilities? Does this mean that they're going to secure our water facilities? Oh, wait, he's talking about something else. Never mind. We're just going to leave those things unguarded because they would never think of using anything of ours against us, right? Right?

Hey! That was one of John Kerry's ideas. Georgeieboy stole that. Too bad they're not actually providing enough money to do the job.

Oh, you know how the rest of this goes. A lot of what I'm sayings and what I means and thank yous and all that. He put in the good word for his SCOTUS nominee but forgot to mention that he's really unexperienced. And ironically, he didn't even mention Karl Rove. Which I guess isn't that surprising because neither did NBC Nightly News.

So it was kind of like a time warp today. Georgie was in full campaign mode. The bullshit was deep, the lies were flying, and the rhetoric was as empty as ever. Oh, the good old days of 2004. Back when there was a hope that this douchebag would get kicked to the curb. Sigh. I sure miss optimism and hope.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

 

Don't Lose Sight

Holy smokes! Bush nominated someone for the SCOTUS! Whoopee. The Republicans are thrilled because they're hoping that this will take the attention away from "Rovegate." We can't let that happen!

For those of us that can still remember the late nineties (Republicans have conveniently forgotten), it's hard to forget the persistence of the Republican noise machine as they fought tooth and nail to keep the Lewinsky affair in the public's eye. Every single day there was a new Republican suit on television reminding the public that the President had lied about a blowjob. Well, as I've indicated before, it's time to rev up the Democratic noise machine. Every day there needs to be a Democrat on the television reminding us that Karl Rove and possibly "Scooter" Libby, outed a CIA operative and put lives in danger just to try and discredit a critic. Every day there needs to be a letter in the newspapers around America reminding the public that a trusted member of the White House staff broke the law. Every day there needs to be a phone call to the talk radio hosts reminding them that George Bush had the opportunity to do the right thing and stick by his word to fire anyone involved and he has so far chosen not to.

Just today, the Wall Street Journal provided more proof that a crime did indeed take place.

The question still remains though: What did George W. Bush know and when did he know it. The way I see it, there are three possible answers to this question. They are as follows:
  1. Bush (or one of his aides) asked Rove about his involvement and Rove lied. - In my mind, this is grounds for dismissal. Anytime you lie to your boss about your involvement in a crime, you should be fired.
  2. Bush (or one of his aides) asked Rove about his involvement, he admitted to being involved, and the administration covered it up - In my mind, this is grounds for impeachment. If the President of the United States is complicit in covering up a crime that risked the security of the nation and the lives of Americans, he should be impeached immediately.
  3. Nobody in the administration even bothered to ask Rove about his involvement. - This would mean that McClellan lied and Bush doesn't give a shit if someone in his administration breaks the law. While this may not be grounds for impeachment, it shows the arrogance of an administration that believes itself to be above the law.

So basically, Bush either knew, was lied to, or didn't care. Don't let anyone forget. In the upcoming days and weeks it is likely that the media focus will shift to the battle over Bush's SCOTUS nominee. It is up to us to keep the pressure on the administration and keep this crime in the public's eye. As Republicans attempt to paint any Democrat opposing Judge Roberts as an obstructionist, it is important that this not get lost in the shuffle. This is Bush's blue dress.

Monday, July 18, 2005

 

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations Conservatives

I don't know how everybody else does it, but as a blogger who posts only once a day, I spend a good portion of my free time planning each day's post. I begin by finding a topic that interests me and then I try to organize my thoughts into a coherent polemic. Needless to say, some are more coherent than others. As I began this day, I was planning to write about the Sunday smackdown endured by RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman as he was thrown to the dogs in Karl Rove's defense. But then my daily paper arrived.

As I've said before, my hometown is extremely conservative. The county I live in is dominated by Republicans and has been for many many years. So it's no wonder that my local paper often publishes editorials from the nuttiest of the wingnut-o-sphere of journalism. One of these crazies is Diana West. According to the byline printed in my paper, she writes for the Washington Moonie Times, which should explain a lot. However, I read her every week because I'm always amazed by her disconnect from reality. Tonight's vomitous screed was a real gem.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, here, but the way I understand this is that Ms. West is claiming that the problems we are facing are a direct result of our country not discriminating enough against Muslims. Correct? Now maybe it's just me, but I would think that one could easily argue that the problems we are facing today have been fueled by the words and actions of intolerant crazies like Ms. West, herself.

Ms. West attempts to justify her bigotry by making the claim that terror has it's roots in Islam. While those that attacked us on 9/11 do indeed claim the Islamic ground, we have to remember that the vast majority of that religion does not support or condone the actions of al Qaeda. Just as the KKK and the Nazi regime claimed to be grounded in Christianity, they did not speak for everyone who shared their creed. I wonder how Ms. West would like to be judged based upon the actions of the KKK? I would hope that she would be repulsed by the notion. I stress HOPE, because after reading this article, I'm left to wonder.

If you're as offended as I am by Ms. West's intolerant rhetoric I encourage you to contact her. Be polite, but be clear that views like hers can not be tolerated. Because in the words of John Mellencamp: "Bigotry and hatred are enemies to us all".

Diana West
dianawest@verizon.net

General switchboard:
(202) 636-3000

Mailing Address:
Washington Times
3600 New York Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002-1947

Friday, July 15, 2005

 

The British Just Don't Get It

Where have they been? Weren't they paying attention last year? Didn't they get the memo? Apparently not.

You know, I may be crazy, but it looks as if the British are trying to deal with the London bombings as if it were a law enforcement situation. Whoa.... deja vu. Why do I feel like I've heard something like this before?

Oh yeah!

And what was the reaction from the Republicans? Well, here's one from the National Review (I'm not linking to this trash, you can find it on your own if you want):

I think it's safe to say that the Republicans weren't too fond of Kerry's approach. No, they didn't like it at all. They ridiculed it saying that Kerry wanted to arrest the people who killed 3,000 innocent Americans. He wanted to put them in jail. This of course implies that any real man wouldn't want to seek justice for the crimes of 9/11 but would seek retribution, instead. In other words, they'd bomb the shit out of a country, lay waste to its infrastructure and then quickly pull out most of the troops to go fight an unrelated war leaving the first country in disarray. They must be terribly disappointed with Great Britain right now. How could they?

No, I would have to say the British are going about this the wrong way. How dare they arrest people and hold them responsible for their actions. Obviously, these guys haven't learned anything.

/sarcasm (in case you couldn't tell)

 

Show Me The Money!

Hop in. The way-back machine's ready to go. Destination: March 28, 2003.

Oh, the good old days. Full of optimism and hope. Now back to the present.

Whoops!

How the fuck can we not keep track of $20 billion? Could we be more incompetent? I really don't have anything witty to say about this. I'm completely appalled by our ineptitude. This is yet another example of the Bush administration not having a fucking clue about what they're doing.

God damn! Are we doing those Iraqis a favor or what? We bombed the shit out of their country, we've allow insurgents from all over the world into the country to fight in their streets causing the deaths of over 8,000 Iraqis in the last 10 months and we don't even have the common fucking sense to keep track of $20 billion of their money. Could there be any doubt that we are dealing with the WORST ADMINISTRATION EVER?

Un-fucking-believeable.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

 

More On Rove (a.k.a. - Moron Rove)

Today, one day after his press secretary Scott McClellan declared that everyone who worked in the White House had the confidence of [George W. Bush], Georgieboy himself declined to offer the same endorsement.

Hmmmm. Maybe he's trying to distance himself so that he's not splattered when the shit hits the fan (and it's going to hit).

There's been a lot of parsing of words lately over what exactly took place. Did he out her? Was she covert? Was he the original source? Yada yada yada. But here's the way I've been rationalizing it. For an agent to be considered covert, she must have served undercover while over seas within the last five years. Well, that's easy enough to check. I'm sure the CIA has records on that, so apparently she must have been otherwise there's no reason for the investigation to continue, right? If there were any truth to the notion that Valerie Plame wasn't covert, the investigation would have been over long ago and old Judith Miller wouldn't be in the stripey hole. So clearly a crime was committed by someone somewhere at sometime, right?

All along, I've thought this was a pretty cut a dry case of someone outing a CIA agent. That is until I read this diary over at dailyKos.

Well now, that puts things in a rather different light. This is definitely an angle I hadn't seen but very clearly a possibility.

But you know what? I'm not really concerned about how or why. All I want is to see that slimy little fucker Rove kicking and screaming and pissing his pants as the police drag his handcuffed ass out of the White House. Anyone else (Ari, Scotty, Scooter, etc.) would just be icing on the cake. I can hardly sit still.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

 

Republicans Heart Criminals

Well, it's official. The Republicans love criminals.

So they are now endorsing someone who is known to have lied about his involvement in a criminal act. That's something to be proud of. Not only are they endorsing him, they're trying to spin what he did as a good thing. According to RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman:

So to make sure everyone understands this, Mehlman is saying that only the far-left would ever consider holding a criminal responsible for his actions. This naturally begs the question, "How fucking far to the right do you have to be to think that holding criminals responsible is "far-left?" But hey, who am I to judge? After all, I'm obviously from the far-left. So let's look at their defense of old Karl, shall we?

For starters, they claim:

While this sounds like it would be to their advantage, they're misrepresenting what Cooper actually wrote in his e-mail. Yes, Rove warned Cooper to not get "too far out there," but according to Cooper "it was, KR [Karl Rove] said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip." That's where the crime occured. Look, if Rove wanted to warn Cooper he could have done so without mentioning Wilson's wife or her association with the CIA. But he did. And I believe did with the intent that Cooper would run with the information. Look, Cooper is a reporter. You don't say something to a reporter and expect them to not publish it. It's not like confessional where you can expect your priest to keep quiet. Cooper's a reporter and he's going to run with any information he's presented with.

Second in their line of defense is this little gem:

Hmmmm. I'm getting this sense of deja vu. Where have I heard this line of defense before? Let's see... never met him......Oh yeah!

Well, we all know how truthful that was. I'm sorry, but Dick's memory is not something I'm willing to base an argument on.

What other evidence do they site to bolster their case? Well, there's this little beauty:

This one's my personal favorite. Why? Because it's a complete misrepresentation of what was said. They only include the part of the quote that helps their cause, but it misrepresents the actual statement. Here's what the Butler Report actually said:

So as it turns out, Wilson was right, but never mind that. Facts and accuracy will always get in the way of protecting a criminal.

So when it comes right down to it, what we have here is a bunch of liars using lies to protect another liar. Sure makes Al Franken's book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them seem a little more appropriate doesn't it?

Hey, here's my latest idea for a new bumper sticker. If anyone wants to produce them, you have my permission to do so.



Monday, July 11, 2005

 

"No Comment"

Poor Scotty. I'll bet those words he's been eating lately are giving him an upset stomach. And after today's press briefing, he must have been downing the TUMS like they were M&Ms.

Whew! I'm exhausted just reading this. How many times and how many ways can someone say "no comment?"

Unfortunately for Scotty, though, he's already commented. Several times. Like July 22, 2003, July 23, 2003, September 16, 2003, September 29, 2003, October 1, 2003, October 7, 2003, and October 10, 2003. (Thanks to Billmon for the research.)

What's more is that in many of these instances, Scotty-boy claimed to have spoken with Karl Rove and says that Karl assured him that he wasn't the leaker. Now I'm not the smartest person in the world, but even I can tell that this means someone was lying. The question is, was it Karl or was it Scott? Not that it matters, after all a lie is a lie. But if it was Scott who was doing the lying then how can he be taken at his word from here on out. I realize that it's his job to spin for the White House, but to out and out lie to the American people is something completely different. If he didn't talk to Karl and claimed he had, it's a lie. If he did talk to Karl and knew the truth then it's an even bigger lie and it makes him complicit in the attempt to cover up a crime. Furthermore, I think it's important that we find out who else knew the truth and when.

After the leak was first revealed in Robert Novak's column, Georgie-boy vowed to fire the person or person's responsible. (Like this White House is big on responsibility.) It will be interesting to see how far the responsibility goes. Does it only apply to the leaker himself or does it apply to those who helped him cover it up as well? If it does, this could reach deep into the administration.

As is the case with most things Bush, however, I'm not expecting much in the way of follow-through on George's promise. In fact, I believe that if push comes to shove we can expect to see a presidential pardon handed down to those responsible. In George Bush's America, anything goes if it's to his advantage.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

 

Italy Gets Smart

In response to the London bombing, Italy is saying "buon giorno."

Granted, this isn't terribly stunning news as the Italians have been hinting at this for a while now. But what is stunning to me is this quote right here.

Now if you ask me, this is just smart thinking. Almost a year ago, I applied the same rationale to this post:

That was over 800 dead soldiers and $100 billion ago and we're still no safer. I'm glad to see that someone is starting to wise up. I just wish we were following their lead. We are continuing to throw money at a problem that we created and we're doing so at the expense of our own security here at home. What could we do with a couple hundred billion dollars, you ask? Well, since you asked, here's what we could have done with just the first $144.4 billion.

Unfortunately, the current administration is hell-bent on "staying the course." Never mind that the course is actually making us less safe. I, like most people, had no problem with the military response in Afghanistan. That was a justified invasion and a necessary step to protecting ourselves. After that? Well, we know where that's gotten us.

I say, "Good for Italy." They're thinking about their own security. Something I wish we would do more often. I'm not going to hold my breath, though.

Have a good weekend! I'll see you on Monday.

Friday, July 08, 2005

 

The Flypaper's Getting Old

I was awaken by Mrs. kissfan this morning and told of the attacks in London. My first reaction was, "I guess fighting them there isn't working anymore." For years now, we've been told that it's better to fight the terrorists in Iraq than to have to fight them in our own cities. Well now we're fighting them in London. Before that we were fighting them in Madrid. And before that we were fighting them in Bali. Apparently, we really meant it when we said "our cities."

One of the favorite cries of the conservatives in defense of their dear leader is the lack of attacks since September 11. Well, we know that's not true and after today, that claim can be easily refuted by anyone. Unless, of course, our goal is only to protect ourselves and the rest of the world can go to hell. But that wouldn't fit into the whole spreading liberty/freedom is on the march bullshit, now would it?

The number of worldwide terrorist attacks is on the rise. Meanwhile, our worldwide image is on the decline. How much longer before this starts making sense to people? How much longer before people start making the connection between what we're doing and what is happening? Terrorism didn't start with 9/11 and it's not going to end with Iraq. But the results of our actions in between these two events is undeniable. We are creating more terrorism than we are alleviating. It's time to change plans. As Albert Einstein once said " No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." As much as it pains me to say it, we have caused a lot of the terrorism problem currently facing the world. We didn't create it, but we poked it with a stick and woke it up. If we want to solve this problem, we need a different mindset. No more staying the course.

Obviously the war on terror has been a failure. There are now thirty-seven more families in London that can attest to that. At some point, someone is going to have to clean up this mess. I just hope there's enough people left to do it.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

 

Patience

Rehearsal was a disaster tonight and therefore ran extremely late, so no post from me. Instead, I'm suggesting that you read this from the Rude Pundit. He cautions us all on jumping to conclusions about Karl Rove's inevitable demise as the leaker of Valerie Plame. As always, the Rude One makes some very good points, but if you're easily offended by words like fuck and shit, you probably don't want to go there. In fact, if you're offended by words like fuck and shit, what the fuck are you doing here? Holy shit! Get the hell out of here before I offend you.

I'll be back tomorrow night.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

 

SCOTUS

Just a couple of points about the looming SCOTUS nominee and the subsequent confirmation/fight/fillibuster/whatever the hell you want to call it.

First of all, this is just bullshit.

Haven't these guys ever heard of a job interview? As a teacher, I can't count the number of times I've had to answer the question, "What is your discipline policy?" Or, better yet, "A fight breaks out between two girls in your room. What do you do?" Naturally, this is a situation I may be faced with at some time in the future. It stands to reason that my employer would want to know how I'm going to react to this type of situation. Doesn't it also stand to reason that the American people should know how a potential Supreme Court Justice will react when faced with a particular situation? Makes sense to me.

Second of all, the most shocking part of this whole debate so far is this:

Apparently Alberto Gonzales is too moderate. Are you shitting me? This is the man who wrote the memos condoning torture. This is the man that called the Geneva Conventions "quaint." WTF? How in the hell is he too moderate? If there was ever an action that could define just exactly how fucking bat-shit crazy these peole are, it's this one right here. How fucking insane do you have to be to think that Al "Torture-boy" Gonzales isn't conservative enough. Maybe they're holding out for someone who doesn't just advocate torture but actually carries through with it.

If nothing else, these guys are entertaining. In a fucked up Paris Hilton sex tape sort of way, but entertaining nonetheless.

BTW - My brother-in-law just got a new shirt. What do you think?

Monday, July 04, 2005

 

Happy Fourth of July!!/Top 5 Music Meme



Last week Robert at A Little Left of Centrist tagged me with the Top 5 Music Meme. After some serious thought and deliberation, here it goes:

Anyway, that's what it looks like today. Next week, who knows, some of these things might change. I'm sure that after I post this I'll think of something I should have included.

Thanks Robert, it was fun. I'm going to tag oldwhitelady with it next. She's always talking about the CDs she takes with her, so her Top 5 should be pretty interesting. Consider yourself officialy tagged oldwhitelady. Enjoy!

Sunday, July 03, 2005

 

Special Sunday Post

Kissfan is away tonight rehearsing for a production of Mame (he had to learn how to play the banjo for this one), so I, Mrs. Kissfan decided to publish a special Sunday post. Oldwhitelady wanted to hear a Band-Aid story and Lisa brought up the toy in the box story, so here goes.

There are actually no Band-Aids involved in this story and my mother is the one who comes out looking bad in it, but it's a good one.

Several years ago we were at my mother's house for Thanksgiving; we had invited kissfans parents (grandma and grandpa kissfan) over for dinner (Kissfan and I actually grew up in the same town, but we didn't meet each other until we were out of high school for several years). Kissfan is an excellent cook, so my mother always has him make the dressing and the gravy. He actually spends a lot of time in the kitchen bossing her around every time we go there for a meal. My mother usually ends up calling kissfan an "asshole" sometime during the visit. Anyway, when grandma and grandpa kissfan arrived, they brought toy trucks for our two little kissfans. We set to work trying to free the trucks from the boxes they were strapped to - which many of you know is no easy task. We got down to the stupid plastic strips that can only be removed with something sharp. Kissfan decided to take out his pocket knife to cut them. Let me take a little break to tell you about an earlier event. About ten years ago we bought a new stove. Kissfan was cutting the box open with a knife and ended up scratching his leg with it. With this event in mind, I told the kids to watch out because daddy is dangerous with a knife. Not two seconds later, the plastic thing gave and kissfan sank the knife into his finger. From there things really got crazy. My mom grabbed a towel from the kitchen, wrapped it around kissfans finger, and then rushed him to the sink. When he ran water over it, he almost passed out (he's not real good with blood). I decided to take him to the ER because the cut looked pretty deep. We got outside, and kissfan had to sit down in the yard for a few minutes (he was so white). All I kept thinking was, "What if he passes out on the way? I'm not going to be able to pick him up." I got him to the ER, but again we had to sit in the car for a few minutes before I could walk him in. Lucky for us, the ER was empty. Did I mention that it was about 11:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day? The nurses were expecting to hear us tell them that he cut his finger while carving the turkey. When I told them what really happened, they didn't even bother to hide their laughter. They immediatly started working on him while I filled out the paperwork. All was going well. We were just waiting for the doctor to show up to put the stitches in.

Here's where the story gets good.

As we were waiting, a nurse came in and told me that I had a phone call. When I picked up the phone, I heard my mother's voice on the other end. Now what do you suppose she was calling us in the ER for? I thought that maybe she wanted to find out how kissfan was doing. Surprisingly, that's not what she was calling for. She wanted to know how much longer we were going to be because she didn't know how to make the gravy.

The rest of our stay in the ER was typical. We weren't there very long (the place was empty), so we were able to make it back in time for turkey. And yes, kissfan made the gravy when we got back.

As a side note, I just wanted to let you know that my mother and kissfan get along very well. This story makes her sound uncaring, but actually she's just a total air head.

I have some great stories about kissfan's attempts at home improvement. I'll save those for another time. These stories don't involve my mother, and kissfan is actually the one who looks stupid.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Mrs. Kissfan

P.S. Leaving comments only encourages me.

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