March Archives

The anger and outrage of the Republican congressmen was palpable when they took to the podium last Sunday. They spoke of the how their constituency in the red states wouldn't stand by and watch the liberal elites and the activist judges kill... no, murder Terri Schiavo, by starving and dehydrating her! Funny because yesterday I saw Pulitzer Prize winning legal historian David Garrow on CNN state that at least three national polls showed a whopping 82% of the country thought that congress should have stayed out of the Terri Schiavo tragedy completely. Hmmm, I wonder if the Republicans had the information that the polls were trending this way last week if they would have ever held that emergency session on Sunday? Not a chance. And is it just me or have you noticed that since these poll results have been leaking out how George Bush has conspicuously tucked himself away in a undisclosed spider hole and left his little brother Jeb to twist in the wind. What a coward.

By the way here is an interesting side-note. Since Dubya signed the bill congress passed last Sunday poll numbers show his approval rating has slipped to an abysmal 45% . That is, by the way, the lowest it has been since he took office. Take your pick as to why his approval ratings have suffered such a precipitous drop... Iraq, Social Security, the economy or meddling in Terri Schiavo's family's tragedy. Either way it looks like people are getting fed up with his bullshit preemptive policies of mass destruction/distraction.

Another hypocritical note the Republican administration has rung loud and clear is their stance on so called activist judges. It seems that if the out of control judge happens to be a right to life, social terrorists, gay marriage advocate he or she should be strung up on the steps of the nearest courthouse. On the other hand these horrid "activist judges" would have been accepted as Angels of mercy if only they had come down on the side of the culture of life i.e. re-tubing Terri Schiavo. Republican politicians just don't seem to be able to wrap their brains around this one. Don't they understand you have to go to court with the judges you have and not the judges you wish you had!

On December 26 , 2004 an earthquake under the Indian Ocean generated a 9.0 tsunami that was among the deadliest disasters in modern history killing over 275,000 people and caused damage worth $123 billion dollars. Do you happen to remember how George Bush was on Vacation at his ranch and didn't make a move, say a thing or even bother to cut his vacation short when it happened? Remember how the death toll kept rising and yet there was still no word from George. You must understand, George Bush told us, that he didn't want it to look like he was jumping on "the tragedy bandwagon" to gain political points. How sensitive of him.

Well in light of recent events that transpired over the last few days I must take issue with Bush's self-avowed sensitivity. You see over the weekend history was made not once, but twice. First when congressional leaders invoked emergency powers to pass a bill they hoped would result in Terri Schiavo's resumed feeding, and next when George Bush for the first time in his presidential career cut his vacation on his Crawford ranch short! No really! I guess jumping on this tragedy bandwagon to gain political points was ok. Anyway, Bush flew back from Texas early so the bill congress drew up could be brought to his bedroom where he was to be woken up so he, whilst still clad in footy pajamas I imagine, could sign it.

I guess in the end our president placed more value on the life of one brain dead, white, Catholic woman over that of 275,000 Muslim men, women, and children. Remember the people of Sri Lanka, South India and Thailand aren't Republican, they don't give monetary contributions to political parties and they don't vote... especially the dead ones. I guess Bush thinks he still has a chance to squeeze just a little more political capital out of Terri Schiavo though.

Forgive me if this piece rambles a little more than usual. The reason being is that today I am repulsed more than I usually am by what our government perpetrated last night in their "dramatic emergency session" of congress and I just wanted to let my feelings on the proceedings be known (I wrote this in 15 minutes and will check for errors later). I do want to make on thing clear before I continue and that is I pass no judgment on Terri Schiavo's mother, father, husband, brother, sister, or any member of her immediate family and furthermore my condolences go out to all of them. One for the agonizing predicament they are in and two for the fact that they are being used like pawns in a repulsive political chess game. That being said I will begin my rant...

Last nights passion play on the floor of the congress was nothing short of repulsive. I haven't seen such Necrophilistic zeal since Jeffrey Dahmer ran wild in Michigan. Every legitimate legal argument aimed at the Republicans last night was answered with cries and wails of "Do you want Terri to die, do you want her to starve to death, do you want her parched-lipped cries to go unanswered"... What reactionary garbage.

Despite the fact that the Republicans want you to believe that this woman is alert and begging for sustenance it just isn't so. Despite the fact that the Republicans want you to believe that this woman is being murdered not only by her husband as well as every democrat on the planet it just isn't so. Despite the fact the Republicans want you to believe this woman hasn't had her day in court it just isn't so. This poor brain-dead woman has been kept alive artificially for 15 years and has had her case litigated for over a decade all the way to the Supreme Court. Her husband tried to rehabilitate her for over half a decade to no avail because the part of her cerebrum that controls emotion, thought, and reasoning has been liquefied and shows no electrical impulses... Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state and it is undeniably irreversible.

The Republicans don't care what condition this nice Catholic white lady is in, they don't care if she wants to live or die and it is obvious now that they don't care what the laws of our country are. They see only one thing and that is the chance to energize their "base" and appease the radical right wing, evangelical, anti-choice constituency. They are parasites of the lowest order. Tom Delay sees this as an added bonus because it gets the focus of his three impending indictments that are hanging over his head... How convenient for him. How sickening of him.

Something else I have noticed is that when the question is posed to anyone who opposes Terri' Schiavo's rights whether they will write new laws for every case like hers that comes down the road the Republican right are curiously silent. Then if they are pushed further on the subject or asked if they are leaching on to this for political gain I there has been one constant response from them and it is this, "You want to kill Terri, do you want her to die, do you want her to suffer the agony of starving to death? How could you? Have you no decency?" Republican rule number one; when confronted with a perfectly reasonable question to which you have no answer, ATTACK! Hit back with emotionally charged and inane questions that have nothing to do with the case and that can't possibly be answered.

Just because someone, whether they are private citizens or are in government, doesn't like your legal personal choice they don't and should never have the choice to overrule your right to choose what is right for you. What has happened to the right to keep the federal government out of our personal family business? What has happened to the right to live free or die? It is painfully apparent that the Government doesn't think you are moral, wise or smart enough to decide for yourself.

On a closing note we should all realize one thing. This vote on the floor of the congress meant nothing literally and figuratively. I believe that all the politicians, Republican and Democrat alike knew that the courts wouldn't overturn the previous decision therefore handing them a win-win situation. If the courts decide to reinsert Terri's feeding tube the congressmen look like champions and lifesavers. If the courts decide to uphold the previous ruling to let Terri die they look like heroes who tried in vain to save a helpless woman's life. They know whatever decision is delivered they will come out smelling like a wreath of flowers laid at the gravesite of Terri Schiavo. Hopefully they don't have a flower arrangement picked out for the graves site of the personal rights afforded us under the constitution!

I am torn about the case of Terri Schiavo. Constitutionally it is very clear to me what the right thing to do is and yet emotionally the case is not very clear at all. On the one hand I empathize with the parents in light of their predicament in wanting to keep their daughter alive. As for Terri 's wish to die if incapacitated and her quality of life diminished I must respect that as well. I make no judgments on either party for the given beliefs or actions they have undertaken in this case. What I do take issue with is the Republican congress using the unfolding events to further their political agenda and the cowardice of the majority of the Democrats to stand up for our rights as private citizens. Terri Schiavo's life and death has been hijacked by the religious right, the anti choice movement and the Republicans that pander to them. Equally appalling are the Democrats who have been conspicuously silent throughout the entire proceeding.

The only way I can personalize this situation is if I imagined myself being in a vegetative or coma like state. What if I had asked my wife not to remove my feeding tube? What if I wanted to be kept alive artificially? What if I wanted to have The Jerry Springer Show on a continuous loop for my enjoyment while I lay in my condition? Now just imagine if the House Republican Whip Tom DeLay and his congressional cronies tell my wife that she must remove my feeding tube against my wishes and in doing so sentence me to death... Imagine the Outrage. Now I ask you is it any less outrageous to tell me that I must be kept alive against my will?

Another repulsive aspect of these dramatic events is the fact that the president of the United States, Mr. Culture of life, was in fact in Florida today pushing his Social Security scam whereupon hearing of this life and death predicament promptly hopped on air force one and beat a hasty retreat to ride out the storm sequestered on his Crawford Texas Ranch. Don't forget this is ironically the state where George W. Bush put to death hundreds of Texas death row inmates without even the blink of an eye. Culture of life my ass. As of 8:00 o'clock there is still no word from this self-avowed compassionate conservative. Tick, tick, tick.

I have to reiterate two things so that they don't get lost in the truly titanic emotionality of the situation. We must understand that for the family of this woman this is the single most torturous occasion in their lives. In contrast the vultures in the Republican Party view this as nothing more than a chance for photo op's and political grandstanding. A pro-life activist even offered Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, ten million dollars to rescind his power of attorney in the case of his wife. How pathetic. He of course refused. The other thing that shouldn't be glossed over is the non-action of Democrats... They have conducted themselves in the manner of frightened children too terrified to come out against the agenda of the religious right lest they further anger and alienate them. No doubt they are taking this non-stance to avoid, in their minds, costing themselves more seats in the '06 and '08 elections. To further illustrate this point take for instance the fact that twice in the last three years the courts had handed down rulings to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube removed. Republicans upon hearing of this ruling bullied and abused their power over the court system and eventually had the poor woman's feeding tube re-inserted. Democrats upon hearing of this further ruling proceeded to sit deaf, dumb and blind taking absolutely no position on the subject at all. That is unacceptable and unconscionable.

The government has no say in my or your right to live or die if we were in this same situation as this unfortunate woman.
Write your congressmen and let them know how you feel if this is a subject you feel strongly about!

      I love baseball... I love its serene dreamlike pace punctuated by violent hacks at the ball, bang-bang plays at the plate and lofty majestic home runs. I love gleaning over the endless reams of meaningful and meaningless stats. And of course there is the poignant personal stories of the kid who was always picked last but persevered and grew into an all-star MVP. This is why I view today's congressional hearings, which bordered on the theater of the absurd, as nothing more than a long. loud. useless foul ball. What it amounted to was a vehicle for these nebbishy milquetoast congressmen who had gone into politics, to play out their version of the revenge of the nerds by making these hulking juiced up jocks lay prostrate at their feet while they whipped them with loaded questions, the answers of which were all too painfully clear (i.e. have you ever used steroids... DUH)! It was also a chance for the players to act the multi-million dollar victim and claim that "we're here for the kids". All in all it was a giant circle jerk.

      I would like to point out that there was one man who stood out as a bastion of truth sparkling like a diamond in a sea of shit... That man is the oft maligned Jose' Canseco. Yes that Jose' Canseco. He was the only player on the dais who appeared to be telling the unadulterated truth. Canseco is a man with a score to settle and nothing to lose since news of this book got him black-balled from the sport he loved over two years ago. Ostracized by both the teammates he played with and the owners he played for, Canseco tore into them unfettered by the looming threat of retribution from those same players and owners whom had long ago sent him up the river. It was wonderful to listen to as Canseco stated that the players association and the owners could and would never police themselves with the absurd amount of money being made by the two bodies, and it would be foolish to think that they would.... Ahhh truth. So refreshing!

        On the flip side we have the aptly named Curt "SHILL"ing. Last year Curt, who readily used his standing on a World Series winning team, The Boston Red Sox's, to pimp for George Bush's re-election bid, acted like a magnanimous asshole throughout the hearings. His constant eye rolling and flippant evasive answers proved that he is clearly setting himself up for a career in politics after his baseball career has dried up. I have no doubt that he called in a favor in return for his pathetic stumping for the president, asking to be put on the panel to further his political career. At one point upon being asked whether he thinks it was the governments place to impose their own testing regimen upon baseball to regulate steroid abuse and whether the hearings were necessary "Shill"ing replied that he didn't believe the government should interfere but as far as the congressional hearings went he was all for them then as god is my witness he said, the only people who don't want these hearings to take place are "the Democrats and the media". Following this statement "Schill"ing was immediately named to an advisory panel, along with committee leaders... I'm not kidding... Again his name is "Shill"ing in case you forgot.

Now the most important aspect of these events, and one that I think is being glossed over, is a very telling passage from the state of the union speech given by George W. Bush made over a year ago. In this speech Dubya was at the time mocked bi-partisan for bringing up the supposed steroid abuse in major league sports while the specter of terrorist attacks, the Iraqi war, and Osama Bin Laden hanging over the collective heads of all of America. Bush's exact quotes from the 2004 State of the Union address to joint session of Congress were:

"The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous and it sends the wrong message: that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough and to get rid of steroids now."

A year later this blurb about steroids punctuating this serious speech becomes abundantly clear. Ask yourself why Bush would make such an absurd statement and you only have to look as far back as 1984-1994. This is when our beloved ruler and chief was part owner and managing general partner of the baseball team, The Texas Rangers, which boasted a roster including, yes you guessed it, Mr. Jose' Canseco. Now understand that in Canseco's book he claims that all of the owners knew of the rampant steroid abuse going on and some even encouraged it". Remember home runs put asses in the seats and your teams ball-games on national television. Methinks Bushy was doing a little ass covering before Canseco's book release. In attacking the subject of steroids in such a public arena and in front of such a huge audience Bush effectively defected any perceived guilt on his behalf. Why, one would ask, would anyone bring up and propose an attack on a subject to which he was connected. Oh please! The preemptive strike has been the Bush administrations modus operandi since day one, so spare me the denials.

When you cut to the chase nothing was really accomplished today and nothing newsworthy was uncovered. Even the most casual baseball fan can tell the "juiced" player from the natural ones and accordingly take their accomplishments with the properly allotted grain of salt. After all was said and done there were only two things about this circus that chapped my ass. The first of these would be the actions of those involved. The posturing of the congressmen and the histrionics of the ball players was nauseating. What a bunch of drama queens. You'd think that with all the horrid events transpiring around the world that our government would have more important business to attend to than some giant ego, shrivel balled jocks. The other thing that pisses me of is, of course, the same thing that always pisses me off and that is the dishonesty of the president. His ability to shirk the truth and avoid responsibility never fails to astound me. Bush to me is and will always be... well... Pinocchio on steroids.

Now I've seen everything. Due to the untenable situation growing in Lebanon George Bush has made the choice to recognize the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah as a Legitimate political and military organization (Israel must be plenty pissed off about that). Since the demonstration Hezbollah organized where half a million largely Shiite supporters who poured into central Beirut to support the party's alliance with Syria and the presence in Lebanon of 14,000 Syrian troops Bush has joined forces with his new best buddies France, Germany and Russia to try to steer the party into the Lebanese political mainstream. In doing this Bush along with those other countries leaders are legitimizing Hezbollah who by some peoples accounts is an even worse terrorist organization than Al Qaeda. Certainly no one would argue that they had killed more Americans than Al Qaeda before the September 11th twin tower attack. So for the life of me I cannot understand why Bush is giving comfort and aid to this terrorist organization. I do know one thing... our brave and resolute president George Bush said immediately after the 9-11 attack that America will not tolerate anybody who is caught giving comfort or aid to a terrorist organization, which brings me to this conclusion... We must bomb George Bush! I'd like to think of it as a preemptive strike. I do believe that before we bomb Dubya we should send him to Guantanimo bay for a little naked pyramid fun and some water-boarding just in case he has any important information regarding any dealings he has had with Hezbollah. Time's a wastin'... Get a call into Lyndie England, she'll know what to do!

Since the massive car bombing in Beirut on February 14th that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, President Bush has repeated ad nauseam his demands that Syria remove its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon. Bush fiercely rejected the announced plans for a partial withdrawal of Syrian forces as a "half-measure" and pledged to continue working with allies for a complete pullout. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice even stated, "We will do all we can to support them in ensuring they are free and fair — and this includes our continuing to insist on the withdrawal of all foreign forces. "Welllll... Immediately following these grandstanding and grandiose statements 500,000 supporters of the militant Hezbollah party answered the group's call to protest pressure from the United States and its allies for Damascus to cede control over Lebanese affairs. Why it even turns out that following the pro Syrian demonstrations the Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud has reappointed Prime Minister Omar Karami to the post he resigned from only last week. Karami quit amid the public outcry over the assassination of Mr. Hariri. Furthermore, if Karami does accept the nomination it is likely to ensure continued Syrian control over Lebanon, acting as a setback to opposition groups and will serve as an impediment to rampant Republican gloating. I hope so because nothing makes me sicker than to watch the Bush administration, like a bum on a baloney sandwich, rush to take full credit for even the most minutely agreeable event that comes out of the middle east.

       So after all was said and done by the Bushies it turns out Lebanon wants a Syrian based government after all. Who knew? By the way Bush and his cronies have been cackling about "freedoms on the march, freedoms on the march" you'd think we are on the verge of building a Disneyland in Beirut! This is definitely not the case. Moreover, I think the most important aspect to these events is that it appears the mere endorsement of freedom by our President was enough to make the Lebanese embrace being enslaved.
       It will be interesting to watch and listen to the media today to see if the usual suspects in the right wing pundit pool are still crowing about how Lebanon is becoming hotbed of democracy all because of the glorious work our president has done in Iraq. I am predicting an uncomfortable silence.
       On a final note earlier in the week President Bush called on Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon and quit meddling in its neighbor's political affairs. Immediately upon hearing this I thought to myself isn't it amazing that Dubya could so succinctly define irony and hypocrisy in just one sentence.

Here's a little heads up on why the Bush administration won't get it's social security agenda pushed through. The reason the privatization of Social Security will fail is because... it has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Yep, that's what I said! There is no lord in it so it's a looser for the president. Unlike the ability of the NEO-CONS to interject religion into the presidential race via abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage this one is a godless disaster for them. If Bush could only find a passage in the Bible that claims the good lord wanted privatized accounts maybe he could get the ball rolling on this thing. Alas, there is nothing in the good book that address padding the wallets of our savior and chief's brokerage firms.
It's not for lack of trying. Just look at what BushCo is trying to do to one of the main obstacles to their plan, the non-partisan group, American Association of Retired Persons. The main purpose of the AARP is to look out for the best interest of the middle aged Americans, sell health, life and auto insurance to its "members" and dole out discounts on everything from hotels to Home Depot to flowers to legal services. So in an effort to discredit and destroy this evil organization the republicans, using the conservative lobbying organization "USA Next" as a front, have hired the consultants who put together the "swift boat" campaign that attacked John Kerry during his run for president. These "consultants" have once again used their expertise in lying and slander to go to the wedge issue well one more time. They are claiming that the he AARP simply loves gay marriage and downright hates the US troops!

I guarantee you nobody was more shocked than the AARP to find out that this was their real agenda. I guess the Republicans are hoping that this smear campaign will cause the evangelical right to "get a god on" for Bush's social security plan and do an about face on the issue. But it is not to be. Even an ad saying the AARP loves sodomites and hates our troops in Iraq failed to gin up the religious right and I believe I know why.
The reason for the failure of the Bushies to inject Jesus into the fray is this. There is only one thing the right wing republicans and whacked out religious wing nuts like more that their lord and savior and that is of course... the almighty dollar! You can take that to the bank... and invest it! When it came right down to it the old folks want their chunk of change at the end of the day and didn't buy into BushCo's ponzi scheme. You see, the superior morals of the good folk who helped to get George Bush elected looked deep into their enlightened souls and came to the decision that you can take away the rights of the Iraqis, you can take away the rights of the non-Christians, you can take away the right of the homosexuals, you can take away a women's right to chose, but by god you can't take away any of my god damned money! First smart thing they've done. Maybe Bush can try using the line that the AARP has weapons of mass destruction... It worked before?

It is now official. The Associated Press has reported that the 1500th US soldier has lost his life in the Iraq war/occupation.

      ...And for portraying the whiniest hypocritical weenies in a governmental party, the winners are... The Republicans! In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit I didn't watch the Academy Awards the other night (Boooooring) but in the last few days I have certainly seen Oscar winning performances by republican pundits claiming foul over their abuse during the show last night. They claim that they suffered the lashings and thorny barbs of left leaning liberal performers all night long. The Republicans cry out for justice, yet I believe they are really crying out for limitations on the 1st amendment.
       After hearing and reading reviews today that Chris Rock gave an absolutely neutered and bland performance as MC and that Robin Williams was literally censored from performing a musical piece he had planned on doing I'd say something definitely stinks here... could it be the foul stench of hypocrisy? I don't recall Democrats crying like a baby with a load in it's diapers every time a late night talk show host cracked wise about Bill Clinton catching a hummer in the oval office. On the other hand the Bushies were livid over Chris Rock's skewering of the president over his miserably executed Iraqi occupation. I have yet to hear any Dems decrying the Oscar snubs levied against Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9-11" but "The Passion of the Christ's" lack luster showing last night is a travesty of epic proportions according to the Grand Old Party poopers. Best picture winner "Billion Dollar Babies" was shredded for being pro euthanasia but didn't Jesus use Judas to ensure his death on the cross... Hmmm, sounds like a little assisted suicide to me?
       So the next time you hear the self appointed keepers of the family value flame bitch and moan that the elitist left wing democrats are foisting there vile lascivious filth laden music, film and television programs on the saintly red staters remember this... One, no one has ever forced a person to shell out their hard earned ten bucks to see a film or by a CD they didn't want to and two, the Neilson ratings bear out that week after week the shows "Will And Grace" and "Desperate Housewives" are consistently rated highest in the red states as opposed to the "Blue" ones. Sounds like a desperate cry for help along the lines of the one perpetrated by the boy who cried wolf.