Sunday, December 31, 2006

Last Year in Review

Courtesy of Dave Barry.

J. Miller's 2007 Predictions!!!

--The Chicago Bears are going nowhere. They will not be in the Superbowl. I kind of think they won't even get to the NFC championship game. Sigh.

--Television will continue to be increasingly obnoxious, flooded with advertising and product placement, and less and less seen by yours truly. I hope.

--El Presidente Idiota Grande will continue to find new ways to screw up the nation and the world, some of them astonishing in their creativity.

--Junk food will continue to be bad for you.

--I will finally graduate from high school.

Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me...

when I'm 64?

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Good Riddance to Saddam

I'm glad the son of a bitch is dead. I can't think of anyone who deserved it more (although there are several other equally worthy candidates, in my view). But I find it interesting that Saddam was not executed for an atrocity such as gassing the Kurds in 1988. As Robert Scheer points out,
The irony here is that the crimes for which Saddam Hussein was convicted occurred before the United States, in the form of Donald Rumsfeld, embraced him. Those crimes were well known to have occurred 15 months before Rumsfeld visited Iraq to usher in an alliance between the United States and Saddam to defeat Iran.

The fact is that Saddam Hussein knew a great deal about the United States' role in Iraq, including deals made with Bush's father. This rush to execute him had the feel of a gangster silencing the key witness to a crime. [Emphasis added]
Indeed it did. There is so much that Saddam knew about the conservative Republicans who ran this country between 1981 and 1993 that you wonder what he took to the grave with him. The execution, while richly deserved, will forever prevent him from publicly testifying to these matters. Too bad.
I would have been really interested to hear a lot of his stories.

Friday, December 29, 2006

What Would the World Be Like...

if only...

The Worst People of 2006 Contest!

Here are some suggestions:

From biblioklept.

From AlterNet.

This previously noted list from Parade.

Last year's nominees from The Beast. (However, I'm willing to give God a break here.)

Let's hear it, people! Nominate your own personal choices. I'll publish all of 'em!

Top Science News of 2006

Courtesy of Discover Magazine, Scientific American, and Science News. (Who else?)

Sheer Pinheadism

Failure is just a success that hasn't happened yet!

OK, I gotta fresh batch of Kool-Aid. Line up on the right.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Some Enlightening Statistics

From the Drum Major Institute on the true nature of economic power and influence in America:

Wages that an average CEO earns before lunchtime: more than a full-time minimum wage worker makes in a year

Ratio of the average U.S. CEO’s annual pay to a minimum wage worker’s: 821:1

Percentage of Americans who feel chronically overworked: 30

Years of unused vacation time that American workers collectively give back to their employers each year: 1.6 million

Percentage of women earning less than $40,000 per year who receive no paid vacation time at all: 37

Fee Paris Hilton is seeking to host a New Year’s Eve party in NYC, Miami, or L.A.: $100,000 plus a private jet

Amount that Ms. Hilton is set to inherit from the Hilton Hotel fortune: $350 million

Number of times that Congress has reduced the estate tax since it last raised the federal minimum wage: 9

Longest period in which the federal minimum wage has not been increased: 1997–2006

Number of workers who would directly benefit from an increase in the minimum wage: 5.6 million

Number of very large estates that would directly benefit from a reduction in the estate tax: 8,200

Number of households using credit to cover basic living expenses: 7 in 10

Amount in tax breaks and subsidies that last year’s energy bill paid out to the gas and oil industry during a period of record profits and higher prices at the pump: $6 billion

Percent of African-American and Latino families that have zero or negative net worth, respectively: 31 and 38

Total Wal-Mart received in government subsidies, sometimes called “corporate welfare” by activists, in 2005: $3.75 billion

Percent of the decline in welfare caseloads that is due to TANF programs failing to serve families that are poor enough to qualify, rather than due to a reduction in the number of families poor enough to qualify for aid, in the ten years since “welfare reform”: 57

Percentage of the GDP that went to wages and salaries in the first half of 2006: 51.8

Projected total in Christmas bonuses that the five largest investment banks in New York City will pay out in 2006: $36 billion

Estimated additional amount U.S. workers would receive annually if all employers obeyed workplace laws: $19 billion

Ratio of compensation of CEOs of publicly traded defense companies to privates before September 11th, 2001: 190 to 1

Ratio in 2006: 308 to 1

Percentage increase in out-of-pocket medical expenses for the average American in the past 5 years: 93

According to exit polls in the midterm elections, percentage of Americans who think life for the next generation will be about the same or worse respectively: 28, 40


OK, I'm not some kind of firebrand leftwinger. I'm pro-capitalism, pro private enterprise, pro economic freedom. But it angers me when the political right in this country shouts about economic freedom and then RIGS THE SYSTEM IN FAVOR OF PEOPLE LIKE THEMSELVES. Yes, I said "rigs". This isn't free enterprise. This is right wing con artists playing everybody else for suckers. I'm particularly sick and tired of corporate welfare. Six billion freaking dollars in subsidies to oil and gas?? Let the oil and gas companies pay for their business expenses themselves, just as any business should. The entire list is interesting. As they say in the Blog Biz, read the whole thing. And then be reminded of what still needs to be done.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Goodbye to Gerald Ford

Former President Gerald R. Ford has died. Jerry Ford was a good, decent, upright man whom I both liked and voted for in 1976. If all the Republicans were like he was, I might not have had to leave. He was put in an extremely tough position in 1974 and he handled it with grace and dignity. He restored respect to the Presidency and he represented all that was best in our country.
God bless you, Jerry. America will miss you.

Again, Look at What We're Up Against

Media Matters, one of the most valuable sites on the internet, has amassed a priceless collection of quotes from the right wing lunatics who are otherwise known as America's conservative political commentators. If you read them with the same kind of grim fascination I do, you'll note the following:
--The number of comments advocating murder or even genocide.
--The amount of vicious racism and sheer hatred in many of them.
--The mindless advocacy of violence as a cure-all in every situation.
--The vile, disgusting personal attacks on anyone who disagrees with them, often couched in terms of insulting the person's physical features.
--The repeated accusations of treason hurled at anyone who criticizes the Right or George Bush's insane policies.
--And of course, the rampant homophobia. Always.
Pathetic. Appalling. And utterly typical of the "quality" of right wing commentary in America.
Makes you wonder who America's enemies really are.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Looking for That Last Minute Gift?

Here you go.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

The Meme We Need to Spread: It's the Bush-McCain Iraq War

I used to respect John McCain deeply. He survived the most harrowing ordeals a human can go through with strength, courage, dignity, and honor. He usually spoke his mind forcefully and directly in the Senate. He was brutally and viciously smeared by George W. Bush's criminal campaign machine in 2000. And then, some strange things began to happen.
He refused to fight back against the lies about his own family.
He endorsed Bush in 2004, even as Bush's campaign was attacking a decorated Vietnam veteran in the campaign. He even physically embraced the Draft Dodger in Chief for emphasis.
He spoke out nobly against the use of torture by Bush--and then cravenly backed down.
He continued to present himself as a moderate, while compiling a hard right wing voting record in Congress, a man on whom Bush and Cheney could count every single time.
He has been the Iraq War's most consistent cheerleader in Congress.
And now he wants to increase the number of troops in Iraq. He doesn't want the 250,000 to 350,000 increase that might conceivably have a chance of restoring order. He advocates the kind of "surge" that Bush is talking about, inserting just enough troops to get a lot of them killed but not enough to do anything effective. He intends to run for president in part on his war hawkishness and his unwavering support for the Iraq adventure.
I say we give him what he wants. I say it's high time to start repeating, mantra-like, the slogan that apparently McCain wants us to embrace. It's not just Bush's war in Iraq.
It's the Bush-McCain War in Iraq.
McCain and W are two peas in the same pod, inextricably tied to the war. We should do everything in our power to associate McCain with the utterly catastrophic Bush Administration and the horrible disaster of the Iraq War. We must burn into the minds of the American people the link between McCain and the worst foreign policy disaster in American history.
After all, McCain has chosen it. I say we bow to his wishes.
Tie old John to the War. Every. Single. Time. We can.

Friday, December 22, 2006

The Top 50 Stupidest Things Bush Said in His First Term!

Stolen directly from a Daily Kos commenter (who found it here), simply too priceless to not pass on.


"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here." —at the President's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002

"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." —Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.'' —Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

"We both use Colgate toothpaste." —after a reporter asked what he had in common with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Camp David, Md., Feb. 23, 2001

"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a — you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

"I'm the commander — see, I don't need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." —as quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War

"I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." —Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself." —Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003

"I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America. It's pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004

"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties." —discussing the Iraq war with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, as quoted by Robertson

"I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." —presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004

"Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?" —to economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil, Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2002

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." —Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

"After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week — we will have an all-volunteer army!" —Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004

"Do you have blacks, too?" —to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." —as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

"I got to know Ken Lay when he was head of the — what they call the Governor's Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor's Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken." —attempting to distance himself from his biggest political patron, Enron Chairman Ken Lay, whom he nicknamed "Kenny Boy," Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2002

"It is white." —after being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001

"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." —at a White House menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001

"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." —Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001

"I don't know why you're talking about Sweden. They're the neutral one. They don't have an army." —during a Dec. 2002 Oval Office meeting with Rep. Tom Lantos, as reported by the New York Times

"You forgot Poland." —to Sen. John Kerry during the first presidential debate, after Kerry failed to mention Poland's contributions to the Iraq war coalition, Miami, Fla., Sept. 30, 2004

"I'm the master of low expectations." —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things." —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right." —Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001

"We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." —Washington, D.C. Oct. 4, 2001

"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

"I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it...I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet....I don't want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't — you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one." —President George W. Bush, after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004

"The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway." —explaining why high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy, Annandale, Va., Aug. 9, 2004

"My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." —radio address, Feb. 24, 2001

"You know, when I was one time campaigning in Chicago, a reporter said, 'Would you ever have a deficit?' I said, 'I can't imagine it, but there would be one if we had a war, or a national emergency, or a recession.' Never did I dream we'd get the trifecta." —Houston, Texas, June 14, 2002 (There is no evidence Bush ever made any such statement, despite recounting the trifecta line repeatedly in 2002. A search by the Washington Post revealed that the three caveats were brought up before the 2000 campaign — by Al Gore.)

"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction." —Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." —State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false

"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard." —repeating the phrases "hard work," "working hard," "hard choices," and other "hard"-based verbiage 22 times in his first debate with Sen. John Kerry

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

"But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." —summing up his first year in office, three months after the 9/11 attacks, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001

"I try to go for longer runs, but it's tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It's sad that I can't run longer. It's one of the saddest things about the presidency." —interview with "Runners World," Aug. 2002

"Can we win? I don't think you can win it." —after being asked whether the war on terror was winnable, "Today" show interview, Aug. 30, 2004

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." —Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002

"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job." —to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." —speaking underneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003

"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories ... And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." —Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!" —President George W. Bush, joking about his administration's failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents' Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

"My answer is bring them on." —on Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003

Monday, December 18, 2006

Bush Should Resign Now. For the Good of America

They've got to go, both of them. Both the pathetic George W. Bush and the vile, misanthropic troll known as Dick Cheney.
They have utterly lost the confidence of the people.
Their Iraq adventure has turned into a catastrophe.
Their economic and fiscal policies have mortgaged our nation's future and made us beholden to lenders such as the Chinese.
They have brought our nation's reputation in the world down to new depths.
They have sanctioned torture, disgracing our nation's traditions.
They have failed in every single sense of the word.
There is only one option left. Cheney should resign and allow Bush to appoint a moderate Republican as vice president. Then Bush should resign, elevating the moderate to the Presidency.
Yes, I know it would give the Republicans a shot at winning in 2008. I realize that. But it's for the good of America.
Which is exactly why I know Bush won't do it.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Friday, December 15, 2006

Democrats, the People Want Us to Govern!



As Kevin Drum says, they're practically begging us to.

Goodbye and Good Riddance to Rumsfeld

R. J. Eskow at HuffPo explains why he won't be missed.

His most famous quote was not only flippant but dishonest, since it was used to conceal his own managerial incompetence, lack of proper planning, and indifference to the human cost of his actions. Let's not forget the question that prompted it, either, from a soldier serving in Iraq:

Army Spc. Thomas Wilson: Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles? And why don't we have those resources readily available to us?

Rumsfeld: It isn't a matter of money. It isn't a matter on the part of the army of desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it. As you know, ah, you go to war with the army you have--not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.--You can have all the armor in the world on a tank and it can (still) be blown up...
Rumsfeld's press conferences were widely noted for his bullying, confusing, and often incoherent comments. What was less obvious to most press observers was that his elliptically-phrased aggression was an intentional strategy. He kept reporters confused, intidimated, and off-balance while showering the public with his muddled thinking, cynical manipulations, and flat-out lies.

Cheney called Rumsfeld the best defense secretary in history. Bush said pretty much the same thing. The rampant J. Miller, on the other hand, thinks Rumsfeld is the greatest disaster since Robert McNamara and perhaps the worst Defense/War Secretary our Republic has seen. A lying, arrogant con man and a bully who thought he knew better than those who had served a lifetime in the military, he did incalculable harm to our country and the world. He approved of and ordered the use of torture as well, dishonoring his office in the process.
Good Riddance, Donny, you thug, you incompetent clown, you fuckup. To hell with you.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Darn Tootin'!

Human Excreta Gather in Tehran

Yes, they've been excreted from every corner of the world to denounce the "myth" of the Holocaust. And among this proud assembly will be the lovely former Klan chief David Duke.

Iran began a meeting that included Holocaust deniers, discredited scholars and white supremacists from around the world Monday under the guise of a conference to debate the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews.

Among those representing the United States was former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who in prepared remarks issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry says the gas chambers in which millions perished actually did not exist.

Robert Faurisson, an academic from France, said in his speech that the Holocaust is a myth created to justify the occupation of Palestine, meaning the creation of Israel.

This is what Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, frequently has claimed. Ahmadinejad's statements inspired the foreign ministry to hold the conference. The ministry says 67 people from 30 countries were participating in the two days of meetings.
You know, you get sick of arguing with certain people, so I'm not going to. I'll just point you to the following sites if you have any questions:

Nizkor.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The purpose of Holocaust denial is simple: to make Nazism look respectable. These bastards in Tehran are sick, evil scumwads, one step (barely) above pedophiles. I hate to admit it, but there are times when a large gas main explosion wouldn't be a bad idea. I have a certain location I'm hoping for in this regard.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Another Reason to Be Grateful Jim Webb Won

Watch this video and you'll see why.

It makes me proud to be an American.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Friday, December 08, 2006

I Didn't Know Whether to Laugh or Be Horrified

You really, really, really need to check out this site.

Just trust me on this. You won't be disappointed. Samples:

"If God ordered me to slaugter a whole nation, I would at least try to."

"Pick one Islamic "Holy City" and nuke it. This becomes an object lesson, then for the Jihadis to learn from. It would show, for once that we say what we mean, and mean what we say."

"Homosexual relationships
Homosexual marriage
Pedophilia
Zoophilia
They are all lined up. The anti-family agenda of the Left is prepared, and each item will be pushed in turn until, bit by bit, enough people say, about each of the items: "Not that there's anything wrong with it..."

A New Low--30% Approve, 68% DISAPPROVE

Heh.

Support for the President waned in key demographic groups, the Zogby poll shows. Among all Republicans, just 60% gave him a positive job rating, while 39% gave him negative marks. Just 9% of Democrats and 22% of political independents gave him good marks for his work. Among married respondents – typically a group who favors Republicans – just 35% said Bush was doing a positive job. Among men, another favorable GOP demographic, just 31% gave him positive marks, while 69% gave him a negative rating. Even among stalwart Born Again respondents, just 43% had positive ratings for the President on his overall job performance.

Twenty-two percent approval among independents?? Sixty-nine percent disapproval among men?? We're heading to Nixon Watergate territory, folks! I believe the Republican Party will pay a terrible price for having put this ill-qualified boob in the White House. The Republicans will deserve every pounding they get. In 2000, they put someone on the ticket who was literally no more than a name, a man who shouldn't be running a K-Mart, much less the United States of America. The Republicans showed their contempt for us and their contempt for the country itself. And now they're stuck with him. Hell, I hear there's even talk that Bush won't be asked to speak at the 2008 Republican convention. No candidate for office wants to be seen with him. He's the political kiss of death.
I say he ends up with the lowest approval rating of any president since pollsters began measuring popularity. What do you think?

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

What a Surprise! Bush is a Complete Failure!

Yes, the Iraq Study Group is out with its report:

President Bush's war policies have failed in almost every regard, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded Wednesday, and it warned of dwindling chances to change course before crisis turns to chaos with dire implications for terrorism, war in the Middle East and higher oil prices around the world.

Nearly four years, $400 billion and more than 2,900 U.S. deaths into a deeply unpopular war, violence is bad and getting worse, there is no guarantee of success and the consequences of failure are great, the high-level panel of five Republicans and five Democrats said in a bleak accounting of U.S. and Iraqi shortcomings.

It said the United States should find ways to pull back most of its combat forces by early 2008 and focus U.S. troops on training and supporting Iraqi units. The U.S. should also begin a "diplomatic offensive" by the end of the month and engage adversaries Iran and Syria in an effort to quell sectarian violence and shore up the fragile Iraqi government, the report said.

It followed by a day the sobering appraisal of Robert Gates, who was confirmed Wednesday as Bush's new Pentagon chief, that the United States is not winning in Iraq.

"Despite a massive effort, stability in Iraq remains elusive and the situation is deteriorating," the independent report said. "The ability of the United States to shape outcomes is diminishing. Time is running out."
Now, raise your hands out there if you think the Emperor With No Clothes is going to make any truly substantive changes in his Iraq policy, or acknowledge in any way that the disaster in Iraq is his fault. Ha. I didn't think so. It's just not his style to admit mistakes, take responsibility, act like a grown man, or be anything but the spoiled, lazy minded, arrogant little teenage boy that he is. We have almost 3,000 dead Americans and perhaps as many as 650,000 dead Iraqis because of his judgments. What makes anyone think he'll own up to any of them?

Monday, December 04, 2006

Just in Time for the Holidays...The Worst of Everything!

Ten worst polluted places in the world.

Ten worst dictators in the world.

The world's worst city (surprise, surprise).

The worst regimes in the world.

Ten worst places in the world to be gay.

Ten worst album covers of all time.

The worst places in the world to visit.

The worst popular songs ever.

The worst people in history, although my list might be ordered differently.

The worst natural disasters ever, although many of them had human assistance.

The worst movies ever made.

The worst baseball teams of all time.

The worst food.

The worst toys.

Merry freaking Christmas.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Jim Webb Refuses to Kiss Bush's Ass

Senator-elect Jim Webb (D-VA) has garnered some criticism from right wingers for not being sufficiently deferential to the Boy King in a recent encounter. In this meeting, Bush tried his typical verbal bullying and Webb wasn't buying it. Eleanor Clift will fill us in:
President Bush, spying Webb across the room, walked over to him and asked, “How’s your boy?” Webb’s son is a Marine in Iraq.

A more seasoned politician might have been flattered that the president knew his son was in the line of fire and bothered to ask about him. That wouldn’t be Webb, a best-selling author who got into electoral politics for primarily one reason, his opposition to the Iraq war. “I’d like to get them out of Iraq,” he replied, according to several published accounts. “That’s not what I asked you,” Bush said, repeating his question: “How’s your boy?” Webb’s reply: “That’s between me and my boy.” Afterward, a source told The Hill newspaper that Webb was so angered by the exchange he was tempted to slug the guy. That might have prompted the Secret Service to pull their weapons, which wouldn’t have been the first time Webb, a highly decorated Vietnam combat veteran, faced the barrel of a gun.
*****
It’s justice long overdue for a president who has so abused the symbols of war to get his comeuppance from a battlefield hero who personifies real toughness as opposed to fake toughness. Bush struts around with this bullying frat-boy attitude, and he gets away with it because nobody stands up to him. Bush could have left Webb’s initial response stand, but no, he had to jab back—“That’s not what I asked you.” Webb is not one to be bullied. He knows what real toughness is, and it’s not lording it over people who are weaker than you, and if you’re president, everybody by definition is weaker.
Man, it is so refreshing to have Bush confronted by a genuine man instead of a toadying, brown nosing ass kisser--the latter being a description that fits most of the people in his administration. Bush tried his usual interpersonal thuggishness and it didn't work. It's the difference between an overgrown boy who joined the National Guard to avoid Vietnam and a genuine American hero who earned our nation's second highest military decoration (among others). Webb's official citation:
The Navy Cross is presented to James H. Webb, Jr., First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company D, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam.

On 10 July 1969, while participating in a company-sized search and destroy operation deep in hostile territory, First Lieutenant Webb's platoon discovered a well-camouflaged bunker complex which appeared to be unoccupied. Deploying his men into defensive positions, First Lieutenant Webb was advancing to the first bunker when three enemy soldiers armed with hand grenades jumped out.

Reacting instantly, he grabbed the closest man and, brandishing his .45 caliber pistol at the others, apprehended all three of the soldiers.

Accompanied by one of his men, he then approached the second bunker and called for the enemy to surrender. When the hostile soldiers failed to answer him and threw a grenade which detonated dangerously close to him, First Lieutenant Webb detonated a claymore mine in the bunker aperture, accounting for two enemy casualties and disclosing the entrance to a tunnel.
Despite the smoke and debris from the explosion and the possibility of enemy soldiers hiding in the tunnel, he then conducted a thorough search which yielded several items of equipment and numerous documents containing valuable intelligence data. Continuing the assault, he approached a third bunker and was preparing to fire into it when the enemy threw another grenade.

Observing the grenade land dangerously close to his companion, First Lieutenant Webb simultaneously fired his weapon at the enemy, pushed the Marine away from the grenade, and shielded him from the explosion with his own body.

Although sustaining painful fragmentation wounds from the explosion, he managed to throw a grenade into the aperture and completely destroy the remaining bunker.

By his courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.
Can you even conceive of Bush showing that kind of bravery? So Georgie boy, don't try to pull any bullshit with Jim Webb. He'll hand you your lying, cowardly ass if you try. I guess the Boy King gets flustered when he sees someone who represents everything that he, George II, isn't.
Damn, it's gonna be GREAT to have Jim Webb in the Senate!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Now This Just Goes Too Far

But it's still pretty funny.

BTW, this is what inspired me to post such a tasteless clip--an even more tasteless one.