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Tuesday, October 28, 2008 McCain's Conundrum, Distancing Himself From a GOP That Defines Him
By Gary Kimaya in Slate
Here is the link: http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/10/28/gop_shipwreck/index.html Some conservatives have tried to argue that Bush betrayed true conservatism by running up a ruinous deficit and expanding entitlement programs like Medicare. They compare him unfavorably to Ronald Reagan, modern conservatism's patron saint. But this revisionism gets the historical record wrong. The truth is that Saint Reagan expanded entitlements, grew the federal government -- including a $165 million bailout of Social Security -- and raised taxes. The right-wing myth of Reagan as an anti-government, anti-tax purist is just that: a myth. The same is true for his anti-Communism. Reagan talked a tough game, calling the USSR an "evil empire" and rattling his saber, but usually behaved pragmatically. When his ill-considered intervention in Lebanon failed, he wisely pulled U.S. troops out. In short, Reagan's ideology and his practice were often at odds. The dirty little secret of modern conservativism is that Bush is more like "Reagan" -- the mythical Reagan, that is -- than Reagan himself ever was. Bush actually did what Reagan just said he was going to: He cut taxes for the wealthy, handed over the keys to the economy to corporate interests and deregulated everything in sight. His most glaring and destructive imitation of the mythical Reagan was his catastrophic decision to invade Iraq. Fatally, Bush really believed his own Churchillian rhetoric. He decided the fight against Islamist terrorism was an epochal showdown of good vs. evil -- and unlike Reagan, he proceeded to act militarily on this grandiose belief. (Yes, Reagan illegally tried to overthrow the Nicaraguan regime, but the Iran/Contra scandal that tainted his legacy wouldn't even make the Top Ten list of Bush's misdeeds.) This is why, to this day, the Republican Party and the mainstream right wing has never repudiated Bush. (To their credit, "Paleoconservatives" like Pat Buchanan and right-libertarians like Ron Paul and Antiwar's Justin Raimondo broke with Bush on Iraq, but they are marginal figures on the right.) How can conservatives repudiate someone who put into practice all of their most cherished ideas? To criticize Bush on substantive grounds, they'd have to explain not only why his policies violated conservative orthodoxy, but why they never once made that argument for the last eight years. They can't do either, which is why they are forced to take the evasive, intellectually dishonest line of blaming Bush's failures on his arrogance and incompetence. Of course Bush was arrogant and incompetent, but those shortcomings don't explain his failed presidency. He failed because he acted on the extreme right-wing ideas that Reagan only paid lip service to. The right wing is running as far away as it can get from Bush, but it still shares his beliefs. That's why it [and John McCain] cannot and will not muster any real arguments against his policies. Monday, October 20, 2008 Another Reason I Despise George Will
George Will: Colin Powell Endorsed Obama Because He’s Black
By: Blue Texan Sunday October 19, 2008 This morning on "This Week" George Will was asked what he thought about Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. His response? Black, black, blackety-black black black blackety-black. SNUFFLEUPAGUS: We just found out that former Sec. of State General Colin Powell has said he's going to vote for Barack Obama. Big impact? WILL: Some impact. And I think this adds to my calculation -- this is very hard to measure -- but it seems to me if we had the tools to measure we'd find that Barack Obama gets two votes because he's black for every one he loses because he's black because so much of this country is so eager, a, to feel good about itself by doing this, but more than that to put paid to the whole Al Sharpton/Jessee Jackson game of political rhetoric. Huh? Excuse me, but what the fuck do Al Sharpton and Jessee Jackson have to do with George W. Bush's Secretary of State, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a lifelong Republican endorsing Obama? Oh, right -- they're all black. Pretty incredible that no one on the panel challenged Will's blatant racism (America's voting for the black guy out of white guilt) but based on the batshit crazy wingnut comments on Faux News' website. Will is just articulating what the GOP base is telling itself: Powell's just going with the brother because he's a brother. Here's a great response to “George Will, and there were hundreds -- in TEXAS, no less!: "George Will and the rest of the GOP Klan can bite my large white butt, Remember, the ‘R’ in Republican stands for racist. It’s part and parcel to their philosophy and platform. They live it, breathe it, feed it to their kids every morning with corn flakes and toast. They try to dress it up, to make it more palatable to the rest of us but as the saying goes: No matter how much frosting you put on a cowpie, it’s not a birthday cake." I concur. Hell, I don't think anyone's stated the obvious. The GOP has had every opportunity to consider an African American candidate. And, contrary to the reports I originally read, Colin Powell was not actively pursued by the GOP higher ups. He was considering it himself, but demurred because he didn't feel he could be protected. The chants of 'Run, Colin, Run' only came from the GOP after he had decided not to run. Tuesday, October 14, 2008 America's Relationship to the GOP
Milhouse to Bart Simpson: Remember the time your cat ate my goldfish? And you lied and said I never had goldfish. Then why did I have the bowl Bart? Why did I have the bowl?
Monday, October 13, 2008 I'm No Michael Richards Fan, But This Was Some Sublime Writing
Helene:Hello Kramer.
Kramer: Oh Helene how are you?. Helene: I Haven't worked since 1934 how do you think I am?. Kramer: Well that's only 58 years. Helene: It was a Three Stooges short, "Sappy Pappies." I played Mr. Sugerman's secretary remember?. Kramer: Right,right, that was Shemp right?. Helene: No, no Curly. The boys play three siblings, who find a baby, the baby's been kidnapped, and the police think they did it. Kramer: Uh right. Helene: But, but of course they didn't do it, the police have made an awful mistake. Kramer: Right. Helene: Moe hits Curly with an axe; the Stooges catch the kidnappers. Kramer: Right. Helene: But it's too late. Kramer: Really? Helene: The baby's dead. Kramer: Really? Helene: The boys are sent to Death Row and are executed. Kramer: Well I don't remember that part. Helene: I played Mr. Sugerman's secretary. Kramer: Oh yeah you were very good!. Helene: It was so sad, for the Three Stooges, what with the dead baby, and the stooges being executed and all. Kramer: Yeah well that was an unusual choice for The Stooges. Friday, October 10, 2008 Bank Robber Hires Decoys on Craigslist, Fools Cops
By Caroline McCarthy, CNET News
In an elaborate robbery scheme that's one part The Thomas Crowne Affair and one part Pineapple Express, a crook robbed an armored truck outside a Bank of America branch in Monroe, Wash., by hiring decoys through Craigslist to deter authorities. It gets better: He then escaped in a creek headed for the Skykomish River in an inner tube, and the cops are still looking for him. "A great amount of money" was taken, Monroe police said, but did not provide a dollar value. It appears to have unfolded this way, according to a Seattle-based NBC affiliate: Around 11:00 a.m. PDT Sept. 30, the robber, wearing a yellow vest, safety goggles, a blue shirt, and a respirator mask went over to a guard who was overseeing the unloading of cash to the bank from the truck. He sprayed the guard with pepper spray, grabbed his bag of money, and fled the scene. But here's the hilarious twist. The robber had previously put out a Craigslist ad for road maintenance workers, promising wages of $28.50 per hour. Recruits were asked to wait near the Bank of America right around the time of the robbery--wearing yellow vests, safety goggles, a respirator mask, and preferably a blue shirt. At least a dozen of them showed up after responding to the Craigslist ad. "I came across the ad that was for a prevailing wage job for $28.50 an hour," one of the unwitting decoys, named Mike, said to the NBC station. As it turns out, they were simply placed there to confuse cops who were looking for a guy wearing a virtually identical outfit. Authorities eventually found the getaway inner tube (a getaway inner tube!) and suspect that accomplices may have picked up the robber in a boat. According to the NBC affiliate, police hope to track him down by figuring out who posted the Craigslist ad in the first place. Craigslist founder Craig Newmark was not immediately available for comment. Thursday, October 02, 2008 Honest to God - Someone Wrote This  Newsweek Blogger MrZoid: No sir, it is as far fetched as it gets. All politics aside, Dinosaurs and Human beings never roamed the earth at the same time; I reference you to the procedure of carbon dating. No more conversation on this topic please, for the sake of all on this board, no more dinosaur talk. Preparing for jaw to drop. Wait for it. Wait for it.... Newsweek Blogger Guesswhat_imaconservative: mrzoid...i'm a chick...and no it's not far-fetched. guess you never been to glen rose, tx. carbon dating is bs by the way. they've dated fish as being extinct for millions of years, then found live ones. oopsy. dino discussion dropped. And, there it is. The failure of our educational system. The Cubs' reason for losing. Santa's mistress. It's all here. I have peered into the face of abject stupidity and it has no self-esteem issues. OK. I have to repeat this with amazement in my voice: "They've dated fish as being extinct for millions of years, then found live ones." My God.
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