Saddam Pleads For Peace, and an interview With Gerald Ford From beyond the grave

Yesterday on the Baath Party website, a letter was posted, written by Saddam Hussein on the day he was sentenced to death. The letter, while still quite arrogant in nature, pleads with the Iraqi people not to hate, but to peacefully coexist, adding a plea not to hate the invading coalition forces. While this seems strange coming from a man who has just been sentenced to death for his genocide of Kurdish Iraqi citizens, I still sincerely hope that his former people still listen and bring an end to the sectarian violence that is taking more lives each day in the war torn country.

Hussein goes on to say goodbye to the Iraqi people, praises God, and says, "Long live Iraq, long live Iraq ... Long live Palestine ... Long live jihad and the mujahideen". He concludes with the reason for the letter – the court refused to let Hussein give a final statement, and Saddam wanted to be heard.

I don't quite know how to react to this, to be perfectly honest. In the early 90s, during Operation Desert Storm, I was in grade school and it was pretty cut and dried – Saddam was the enemy. Three years ago when he was dragged out of a shoebox sized foxhole in his hometown, I have to admit, as much as I was glad he had been caught, I felt a little sorry for him. He looked all unkempt and disheveled such a far cry from the powerful despot in military regalia. Now his execution is less than 30 days away, and I have to hope that his plea for peace among the different factions of Iraq is genuine. Now all we need to do is make sure that every Iraqi sees it. We all know how well leaflets work, so let's shoot rockets into the leaflet factory…that might work.

As a side note, I find it really interesting that an interview with former president Gerald Ford is just coming to light in the days following his death. In the interview, from 2004, Ford is candid about his disdain for the methods and motivations behind the invasion of Iraq. He posited that diplomacy and sanctions were still viable options, and that the whole platform of WMDs was as much bullshit as we all knew at the time. Ford, even in death, and even though never duly elected president, shows more grace in one moment than Bush will ever be able to accomplish. Though he gets a bad rap for the pardoning of Nixon, I believe he will still be remembered more fondly than George W. Bush. RIP Jerry.

Currently listening: Final Straw By Snow Patrol Release date: 30 March, 2004

If I could prove with very shoddy evidence that Ann Coulter has the plague...

Could we execute her for treason? 

No...just kidding...but if she has any unpaid parking tickets, let's execute the bitch, just so she'll shut the hell up.  I'm currently reading the book I've listed below, Brainless, and I have to say...as much as I hated her before, now, I just think she needs to be locked in a rubber room. 

The book is an examination of Coulter and her many many contradictions.  A rabid anti-feminist, Coulter says she believes that women should be stripped of the right to vote...unless of course you would try to take away Ann's own right, which she has schemed and falsified records in order to do.  There are serious questions as to her age because there is a chance she falsified her birthdate on her first voter registration in order to vote at the age of 16, a felony, by the way.  Also, in the 2005 election, she registered her real-estate agent's address as her own and knowingly voted in the wrong precinct(another felony). 

More later on the lunatic, but I have to read more of the book first

Currently reading: Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter By Joe Maguire Release date: 10 October, 2006

Political Drivel

You know, sometimes I don't pay attention as well as I should.  Yesterday I saw a headline about Bolton submitting his resignation to president Bush, and my mind first went to Michael Bolton.  Now, as great as it would be for us never having to hear that pussy sing ever again, it's even greater that the report was referring to John Bolton, the beleaguered UN rep, who decided to resign rather than get completely spanked in confirmation hearings that would have certainly turned out with him being denied a reappointment to the post.

And then today, I saw a headline about Gates going before the Senate, and my first thought was of Bill Gates. Robert Gates makes more sense, since he's Bush's nominee to replace the outslithering Rumsfeld.  Why did my brain go to Bill Gates?  Who knows.

Well, Gates is starting off his confirmation hearings by pandering to the Democrats in what seems like a desperate attempt to get himself confirmed as defense secretary.  He started out his day as the first Republican in Bush's administration to actually admit that we're not winning the war in Iraq.  Now, although this is a step in the right direction in terms of message, if you sort through the bullshit, it can be only seen as pandering to the congressional majority for approval.

So, Iowa governor Tom Vilsack has thrown his hat in the ring for the 2008 Democratic nomination, and is coming on strong, attacking McCain, and saying a bunch of stuff that's obvious to a kid in freshman Poli-Sci class.  His latest is that he wants to shrink the number of troops stationed in Iraq to a tiny little security detail.  Wow...a democrat opposing the staunch authority of the evil republicans by cutting and running just like they said the democrats would.  Now, I don't oppose scaling back troops, as you all well know, but if we pull out all at once, Iraq will collapse even more completely into the civil war the republicans are denying the very existence of.  We need to do this in stages, so the Iraqis can be positioned to keep the infrastructure of the government intact.

Currently listening: Destination: Beautiful By Mae Release date: 25 February, 2003

A return from the point of no return...weird

I'm sorry. I've been absent for way too long, but that whole life and work thing obstructed my path back to the blogging kingdom. I have been noticing that people stop by to check out and see if there is anything new, and that has both heartened and shamed me at the same time.

There has been a copious amount to blog about, but my job got about 10 times harder with the retirement of one of my bosses. The result has been no time for leisure activities such as this blog. I'm going to try to work the time in, though.

First of all, I spent the first few days following Election Day in a joy coma. First, the dems took over both houses, and then Rumsfeld resigned. My mother always told me it would make me go blind, so I always wore goggles, but this joy far exceeds anything that some stolen porn could ever provide.

Now, they can blame the diebold machines if they wish, but the spanking the Repugs received was simply too resounding to even think about writing it off as a fluke. America went to the polls and sent a message that the status quo was no longer acceptable. Pieces of garbage like Rick Santorum were told to get the hell out of dodge. My only upset was the reelection of Joe Lieberman in my home state of CT. Running as an independent, he still managed to defeat the democratic nominee, Ned Lamont. Oh well, as long as he doesn't spend the next two years with his head up the ass of the Republican caucus, I'll be able to deal.

Defying any explanation, Iraq has slipped further down the slope of violence, with this month yielding the most civilian casualties since we invaded in 2002, and the month isn't even over yet.

The tasering of the UCLA student who peaceably refused to leave the library is another current thorn in my side. First of all, since everyone now has a video camera of some kind, the altercation ended up on the internet on Youtube in a matter of hours. The officer responsible for the flagrant misuse of authority is no stranger to excessive force. He is also responsible for the shooting of a student on campus a year or two ago. If you haven't heard about this story, please check out an in-depth analysis of the situation at http://www.rudepundit.blogspot.com . Just page down to his entries from last week

Michael Richards used the N-bomb in a comedy club filled with black people. I saw the video and was shocked. Now, he has apologized almost immediately and sought the council of Jesse Jackson. This move shows me that he really wants to make it right. The few statements he's made have sounded sincere, but then again, I'm not an African American, so I don't think it's for me to judge whether he should be forgiven.

Tom and Katie got married, no one but Mary Hart and Billy Bush actually give a damn. Seriously, should we really care about this? That's rhetorical…if you answer, I'll bludgeon you with Suri Cruise!

Currently listening: Shine On By Jet Release date: 03 October, 2006

The Monkeyhouse Editorial Minute

I read this and it pretty much expressed exactly what I wanted to say, so I'm just reposting it.  If you like it, check RudePundit out daily here.  I'll be back later(hopefully) to add some of my own thoughts to this.

Why Vote Against Republicans? Because Fuck Them:
America, the good ol' USA, is a country that was brought into existence by groups of terrorists and insurgents aided by foreign powers. Its first rallying document was the Declaration of Independence, a list of reasons why King George III and the British sucked balls. However, no matter what that hand-scrawled Declaration told the colonists, a good many people living in Massachusetts or Maryland could've bottom-lined it for you: "Why revolt against the British? Because fuck them, that's why."

The history of great movements in this nation, of any nation, is a tale of people who are finally, at the end of the day, so fed up with the status quo that all of the rational reasoning mounts and piles up until it all, in essence, comes down to "Fuck them." ("Them" being, of course, whoever the powerful are in a historical moment.) The French Revolution, the American civil rights movement, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, all uprisings of the average person, through the ballot box, the legislative process, or the gun, against those who are dicking them over. Sure, sometimes it doesn't turn out for the best and sometimes things get even worse (see the media-manipulated Republican "revolution" of 1994 with its dunderheaded motto of "Throw the bums out"), but such is the end result of constant, endless disempowerment of the masses, the unending thrum of voices calling wrong what the people know in their guts is right.

Now, even through the deadening fog of Fox "News" rhetoric, multiple jobs, dying pensions, depleting health care, the waterboard effect of credit card debt, force-feedings of fatty foods, soul-killing reality TV, the entire cultural apparatus telling us we must want more and more stuff and shit, the dead-ends of public debate, government-instilled paranoia, dementia masking itself as religious faith, the unsubtle shove towards xenophobic isolation, an antagonistic corporate media, the vicious street-beating death of American intellectual thought, and Bush-worship masked as patriotism, through it all, man, all of it, we have come to this magnificent moment, frightening and exhilarating in its implications, where we, as a majority, are looking at the ruin and waste that surrounds us, piles of shit that we are told are mountains of gold, and we can finally, in this savage season of 2006, at long last come to say, "You know what? Fuck them."

Fuck them for trying to make us believe that America's acts of mass destruction, its bumblings into conflagration and apocalypse, in Iraq are actually just speed bumps, commas, if you will, on the road to a peaceful world of democratic nations bowing down to blow the cock of American hegemony.

Fuck them for holding themselves up as arbiters of morality and when they were confronted with a simple moral equation, they cast their lot with savages and genocidal maniacs. No, not the embryonic stem cell research vote, you backwards ass anti-science fundamentalist fucks. On torture and judicial rights, where even those who proclaimed themselves defenders of the detained and imprisoned ended up dancing like slut marionettes on a puppet pole in the Oval Office when it came down to actually, say, defending the detained and imprisoned.

Fuck them for making Americans fucking hated around the world, as if we're all ex-Nazis or, maybe more accurately, members of Pinochet's Chilean army back in the day, squandering the real triumph of America as a beacon of rights and fairness. However unreal that image was, it's better than being "that big ass country that tortures innocent people."

Fuck them for leaving New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to die, as if somehow those parts of the country were gangrenous toes that could just be cut off.

Fuck them for telling us we're too stupid or traitorous to understand what it is they're doing in trying to re-make the earth in their image, for keeping secrets in the name of their own security while literally and figuratively selling out ours.

Fuck them for lying to us about so goddamn much, about science, about their own policies, about what they actually, really were recorded saying, about what's genuinely important, like the out of control debt and the melting planet, instead trying to get us to think that, if a couple of guys wanna get married or if some pop singer's tit jumps out of her blouse, Godjeebus will smash the earth with his mighty Bible-club of divine justice.

Fuck them for...well, you know what? Just fuck them.

Fuck them all, all the Republicans in Congress, all members the conservative spooge-bucket brigade, all their corporate masters yanking on their nipple clips and shoving cold cash up their asses for their obeisance, all the liars and sinners and avaricious rats of the evangelical right, and especially all the wads of fuck in the White House. They all had their chance and they fucked it up. So fuck them.

When you walk into the voting booth on Tuesday, no matter where, with that rage burning in you, stab that motherfuckin' punch card, beat the shit out of that Diebold touch screen, and yell, "Fuck them" as you vote them into oblivion.

And if on Wednesday morning it turns out they've dicked us over one more time by hacking the vote, by screwing with the polls, then maybe we've reached a point in this America where it's time to fight or flee.

Currently listening: Pearl Jam By Pearl Jam Release date: 02 May, 2006

Rush Limbaugh looks like the dead bloated hooker floating face-down in my pool

Let's start with the hooker...the bitch was gonna open her mouth and she got what was coming to her. Plus, hookers aren't really people unless they get romanced by Richard Gere. Wait...does that make the gerbil a person...?

Anyway...

The 5 of you who actually read my claptrap may have been noticed that I've been a tad lax in my blogging duties as of late, but I have an excuse…two of them really. First, my only colleague in my office that wasn't my boss retired at the end of September. Of course, my company, just fresh out of chapter 11, decided it would be best not to try and replace her, and rather added to my daily requirements an additional 40% of work. Can I handle it? Probably, but I have lost any breathing room and free time that I used to have. In addition, I've started taking Networking and computer classes every evening, so the last 3 days, I've left home at 7:30am and not gotten home until after 10pm. I'm pretty tired.

Now onto the meat of the blog…heh heh…meat. Rush Limbaugh isn't one of my heroes. Quite the opposite, really. I grew up listening to the so-called EIB(Excellence In Broadcasting) network, and thought the guy was a huge windbag with the most distorted opinions I'd ever heard. He's had his moments of glory smearing the liberal/democrat faction, and sometimes, as much as loathe as I am to admit it, he made some valid points.

Now he's officially gone too far. He messed with Alex P Keaton, Marty McFly, and Mike Flannery. For those of you who live in a pop culture-impervious bubble, these are all characters by Michael J Fox. Fox, as you may know retired from acting a couple years ago after almost a decade of trying to hide his fight with Parkinson's disease. He now spends all his time trying to find a cure for his debilitating disease. Whether raising money for his foundation, or lobbying congress to increase the scope of stem cell research, he works tirelessly to forward the cause of Parkinson's research.

Recently, Fox has been campaigning for Democratic candidates who support the stem cell amendments that Fox and Parkinson's sufferers all over have wished for. Limbaugh used this news as an opportunity to pretty much call Fox a faker. He cited Fox's acting ability and claimed in no uncertain terms that Fox was playing up the disease and purposely not taking his medication to get more sympathy. Now, this is infuriating on a couple levels. First, Fox has said on a number of occasions that he needs to regulate his medication differently if he is going to be speaking in public because, on the medication, he is completely unable to communicate properly. Now, while it is true that being off the medications brings the symptoms to more prominent light, there is the trade off that he is able to SPEAK coherently.

Also, so what if it does elicit some sympathy and compassion? Fox is using his celebrity to change minds and make people think about who they want to put in the positions that make decisions for all of us. Limbaugh thinks this is a ploy to curry favor with the democrats and undecided voters. Again, I say so what? Conservatives like Limbaugh are the same people that propped up Terri Schiavo and tried to use her for political gain. Don't get me wrong…I don't like the idea of comparing Schiavo and Fox, because I'm optimistic about Parkinson's being cured before it's too late. Compassion is, I believe, one of the main things missing from the Conservative platform.

Note: There were reports on Fox News that Limbaugh had issued an apology to Michael J. Fox, and as of right now, that is just not true. Limbaugh, as usual, is pretending that he is above following the same rules as everyone else in the civilized world.

Also, this is going to start my series of getting everyone I know to vote, preferably Democratic, but as long as you vote, you're taking part in this very important process!!!  If this country is going to survive and thrive as the wonderful place it is, you have to make your voice heard.  If you think that it doesn't matter, you couldn't be more wrong!  Please get out and vote and maybe these asshats will get replaced with people who will make sure this administration gets held accountable for their actions.

Currently listening: Start Static By Sugarcult Release date: 06 December, 2005

A blog two weeks in the making

Not that I've been working on this blog for that long, but it seems that everytime I sit down to blog, I get distracted by something that is deemed more important at the time...stuff like work, and sleep.  In retrospect, they seem trivial.

Dennis "Large Mouth Bass" Hastert is still a congressman.  When it came out that he was made aware of Foley's indiscretions more than a year ago, I thought he would fold like a card table and resign.  The fact that he hasn't shows just how drunk with power the republicans are.  They have not been held accountable for their failures in such a long time that they have a sense of entitlement. 

Another example

 Recently indicted Rep. Bob Ney waited until after he had entered a guilty plea to corruption charges to resign his seat in congress.  Ney had been indicted for participating in Jack Abramoff's dirty deeds. 
Among all the horrible things going on in Iraq and our own Congress, the Karl Rove Propaganda Machine kicked into high production mode, sending UN ambassador and hothead John Bolton and Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice out to the Sunday morning shows to gloss over those topics and highlight the necessity for China to join the world in its sanctions on North Korea.  Now, this is an important news story, and is important on the world stage, but in less than a month, this country will hold elections which could swing congress back toward the democrats, and stories dealing with the travesties in Iraq and the whole Mark Foley debacle, could further destabilize the thin ice on which the Republicans are currently teetering.

Currently listening: Dream to Make Believe By Armor for Sleep Release date: 10 February, 2005

The Mark Foley Debacle...and ensuing fallout

It's safe to say that speaking inappropriately online with minors is an actionable offense.  I mean, by now, we've all seen at least one episode of perverted justice in 48 hours, with Chris Hanson.  If not, check it out..it will blow your mind.
What Foley did was unconscionable and I'm glad to see that he resigned.  What is more disturbing at this point, other than the fact that ABC news actually read some of these IM exchanges on the air, is that there are reports that the Republican leadership knew about these lascivious exchanges were going on, but did nothing about it.  In particular, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is coming under fire, as he was supposedly made aware of these cyberspace liaisons almost a year ago.  Some are even going so far as to ask for his resignation for the coverup.
Over the weekend, Newt "Where have you been hiding that pasty white ass" Gingrich was interviewed and he said that Republican leadership probably kept it quiet so they wouldn't be accused of Gay bashing.  Um...hold on a sec....I have to go...WHAT!!!??
Gay bashing?  and Pedophilia....?  I don't know guys.  As Jon Stewart said last night on the Daily show...(paraphrased)  Comparing homosexuals with pedophiles...that wouldn't be gay bashing right there, would it? 
Of course, those on the right who have the GOP's back on any and everything, are blaming the Democrats...I've yet to see how it can possibly be the fault of the Democrats that a Republican Congressman flirted with underaged boys, and it as covered up by HIS OWN PARTY!!!

Oh, and I'm not going to even do more than mention that Foley was the chair of the committee on exploited children
Can someone just give me the dimensions of that handbasket we're in, and whether it's insulated...I need to know what I need to pack for our trip down into the pit of hell

...he said, throwing his arms in dispair

I think that I give up...I surrender.  The repugs have beaten me.  There is  a liberal media and it's evil.  Bush is my hero, and there's nothing more I want in this world than consensual, passionless missionary sex with Ann Coulter, while Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly stand in the corner and pleasure themselves.

AAAAAHHHHH!

Sorry...I think I was possessed there for a second.  Let me just reread....HELL NO!!!

Contrary to what you've been led to believe, the media is conservative to a fault.  If you don't believe me, just go check out Mediamatters.org and see if that changes your mind.  MM has become one of my favorite places to get news, because they will even send you the daily examples of Republican shit going completely unchallenged by the conservative media.  How do I know that they know what they're talking about?  Because Bill O'reilly is threatened enough by them to mention them on his show. 

Is there outrage welling up inside me about the new terror bill that Congress rolled over and played dead on?  Abso-fucking-lutely.  This piece of shit legislation will make Bush and his entire administration completely unaccountable for anything that they might have perpetrated that might be...oh, say, A WAR CRIME.  And not just from this point on...no, he made sure that it reflects all the way back to 9/11.

Are there some democrats that I hold accountable?  Of course.  Some chickenshit morons who care more about trying to hold their seat in this cespool of corruption than about actually following the laws that their leader swore to uphold when he took office.  What message does the passing of this bill send to the entire world?  Like those poor people in Darfur, and the victims of Saddam Hussein?  It's a big fuck you to everyone who has ever had to suffer injustice.  Don't tell me I'm overreacting, either.  These people we have in custody are human beings, captured in the pursuit of a war, and therefore are also subject to the rights afforded them by the Geneva Conventions. 

If any of you morons in Congress had a single brain cell, you'd listen to what your constituents are saying.  All I can say is , according to the leaked portions of the NIE report and the one that the UN just released, we've fucked up the Middle East quite well.  Terrorists are winning, I hate to tell you...stay the course or not, we're just pissing them off, and creating more people who dream of revolution...and guess who's offering them that option...Al Qaeda!  It looks like that whole dream of bringing children into a peaceful world is a pipe dream...

Currently listening: Go By Vertical Horizon Release date: 23 September, 2003

A Ship We All Thought Had Sailed

I thought we'd already passed the point of no return on the whole Jerry Falwell is batshit insane thing.  As is custom, I was wrong yet again.  Over the weekend, Falwell set about comparing Hillary Clinton to Lucifer himself.  At an event, he was asked for his reaction about Clintons intentions to run in 2008 and he said, in a paraphrased way, that he'd rather vote for the devil. 

Do we find it a little ironic that a Christian fundamentalist whack job would rather vote for the prince of darkness than a harmless liberal democrat.  I'm pretty sure Hillary doesn't commune with demons, and it's safe to say that that's right up the Devil's alley. 

Grow up Falwell, and talk about something worth talking about.  And look on the bright side, you already voted for the devil in the last 2 elections...maybe Hillary will be a refreshing change.

I'm telling you right now...I'm NOT going to fight for my religion.

Click here to see how the Crusades for the 21st Century will begin.  Oh Pope...you made a boo boo. 

In a speech in Germany yesterday Pope Benedict pretty much screwed us all by making what have been perceived as derogatory remarks about Islam.  Here is an excerpt from the Yahoo News report:

The pope quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th-century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," Benedict said. "He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'"

The pope did not explicitly agree with nor repudiate the comment. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it the Muslims that got all mad when a Danish artist simply rendered Muhammad as a cartoon in the newspaper?  Didn't they riot and blow shit up just because someone drew a picture of their beloved prophet? 

Benedict has drawn so much fire over his remarks that the Vatican has put out a release stating that they are sure that his words were misunderstood. The German Chancellor also came to the aid of her countryman.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the German-born pope, saying his message had been misunderstood.

"It is an invitation to dialogue between religions and the pope has explicitly urged this dialogue, which I also endorse and see as urgently necessary," she said Friday. "What Benedict XVI makes clear is a decisive and uncompromising rejection of any use of violence in the name of religion."

 See...my issue is that there are a TON of Muslims in the world, and a great lot of them are REALLY seething now.  They are mad at the leader of one of the sects of my religion.  Do I feel personally threatened by this new development?  Not terribly.  I do, however, feel that it was an insanely foolish time for Benedict to levy even a mild attack against Islam, since we seem to be teetering on the brink of god-only-knows what kind of holy war.

My main worry is the government of Pakistan, whose parliament put forth a resolution condemning Benedict for his speech.  That's good, Popey, just piss off the nuclear nations of the world.

I'm gonna just sit here and hope that no one approaches me to fight for the survival of Christianity.  I love my religion, but I think we can survive just as well in peace.

I read this and my head just about exploded

Let me start with a link for you to read.  Click here! Please read this before reading my entry below.....



Now that you've read it, I have to go ahead and scream, WHAT THE FUCK!!??  I don't want to crusade against organized religion here but this article literally scares the hell out of me.  In my honest opinion, religious conservativism has this country by the balls.  With a downhome religious zealot in the Oval Office, they have the world at their fingertips.  The puppet they've always dreamed about is displaying their agenda to the world, much to the chagrin of those who remember the US as a melting pot, a refuge for those who were persecuted for religious means.  Last I checked, this country has no state religion.  Why is it then that our federal government is being brought to a halt by all the issues that Religion wants us to focus on.  I'm not going to just pick on Christianity, so I'm going to just refer to it as Religion with a capital "r."

See this all goes back to gay marriage.  It's all about what kind of sex you have, and who you do it with.  As a proponent of marriage for all, I honestly don't see what the issue is.  I understand that the Bible mentions it briefly in the Old Testament.  It also mentions that women should not venture out in public without a covering on their head.  Check out Miami Beach and then let me know the percentage of women who are covered up there...That, and there's slavery in the Bible...is that correct, and something we should still observe just because the Bible mentions it?

From the article: Perkins and others are building a case file of anecdotes where they say religious people have spoken out against gay marriage only to be punished. Perkins specifically cited the decision by Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich in June to fire his appointee to the Washington area transit board after the board member referred to homosexuals as "persons of sexual deviancy."

Ok, so religion is under attack because there is a large contingent of people who disagree with them?  That just means that there is a debate.  I'm sorry that you feel repressed, but how are all those people you executed in the name of religion just because they disagreed with you.  Was religion under attack or just YOUR comfort level.  Homosexuals, much like African Americans in the last century, are people of just as much worth, intelligence, and morals as any other living person. 

While it's never been proven conclusively, I tend to believe that homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice, but rather a genetic marker, much like hair and eye color.  Is there something wrong with the parent?  No!  Would you blame a parent because a child was born with green eyes?


I find it hard to believe that Religion, supposedly the moral and ethical guidelines we are supposed to follow, would choose to say that one whole subsect of the population is less of a person, and therefore not subject to the same rights, and I REFUSE to believe that the loving God I've been told about since childhood would do so.  This god I've been told loves all his children...the one who sent his son to earth to die for our sins.  I've also been taught that there is no sin that is greater than another, none lesser.  That also means that the sin of homosexuality, if it is indeed something worthy of sin, has been forgiven in those who believe.  I fail to see how loving another person and commiting yourself to them is different just because your sexual apparatus isn't.  Love is love in my book.

Politicizing religion further will not lead us to the promised line.  It will only lead to more division among the people of this country.  Getting along and loving thy neighbor are parts of God's decree that I can get onboard with...why can't they?

I welcome any and all debate, comments and anger...please...this is a free country and I like to have intelligent debate about important issues. 

Currently listening: Drops of Jupiter By Train Release date: 27 March, 2001

Dubya Invokes Iraq During 9/11 Remembrance Speech

I know I shouldn't be surprised.  I know that I shouldn't be shocked that in the same breath where Bush says they're not connected, he pretty much invokes Iraq anyway.  I don't want to call people stupid if they think Iraq and 9/11 are connected, but since it's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was no al Qaeda/Iraqi connection, if you still believe otherwise, then you're an idiot.  It has even been shown that prior to our invasion of Iraq, Saddam actually refused and rebuffed Bin Laden's gestures of friendship and support, thinking the Al Qaeda leader too dangerous and volatile to ally himself to.

Irregardless, Bush had to go and ruin what was supposed to be a day of mourning and remembrance with this crap:

"I am often asked why we are in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks," Bush said. "The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat.  America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over. So do I," Bush said. "But the war is not over, and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious."

He also said the following:

"If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden," Bush said, "our enemies will be emboldened, they will gain a new safe haven, and they will use Iraq's resources to fuel their extremist movement. We will not allow this to happen.  No matter how long it takes, America will find you, and we will bring you to justice."

If you've been paying attention over the last couple years, this should anger you...A LOT.  Of course he cares about and threatens Bin Laden on the anniversary of 9/11.  He wouldn't echo his sentiments from a couple years ago when he said, "You know, I just don't spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned about him."[President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]

Thankfully, Ted Kennedy voiced his opinion as follows,

"The president should be ashamed of using a national day of mourning to commandeer the airwaves to give a speech that was designed not to unite the country and commemorate the fallen but to seek support for a war in Iraq that he has admitted had nothing to do with 9/11.  There will be time to debate this president's policies in Iraq. September 11th is not that time."

and Rep Rahm Emanuel chimed in with,

"Partisanship would have been the one casualty the American people would have accepted following 9/11, but it remains the one thing the president refuses to give up,"

It wasn't the time or place...that's what it comes down to...more a little later as my brother-in-law departs for the Middle East today on a 12 month tour.

Currently listening: Mary Star of the Sea By Zwan Release date: 28 January, 2003

As a nation remembers, politics take center stage

On Friday, just three days before the fifth anniversary of September 11, the US senate declared definitively that there was not pre-9/11 connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.  With polls showing that a significant portion of Americans still believe there is a connection, it is important that this distinction is made.  Now all the Senate needs to do is appoint someone to follow the president around and shock him with a cattleprod everytime he tries to reassert a false connection between the two.  Bush spent the last week ramping up his "be afraid, be very afraid" campaign.  Why do that when (1), he's not running, and (2), the country is already significantly afraid?  Because there are Republicans trying to keep their seats in congress...
Bush also announced last week that the secret prisons we've all suspected are there, are real.  They're real, they're run by the CIA, and they're all around the world, and if I keep blogging, I may disappear to one.

Also, ABC caused quite a stir with their miniseries about the 2001 terror attacks, as everyone and their brother in the Democratic camp came out against it, citing it as false, distorted and slanted to favor Republicans.  Shocking that a station controlled by Disney of all companies would be slanted in such a way, huh?  Supposedly, ABC edited the program before airing, but who knows.  The original supposedly blamed the entire thing on the Clinton administration despite the resounding crash that was heard when the Bush administration dropped the ball in the days leading up to 9/11.

I'm not going to say much more about 9/11 today because today shouldn't be about politics.  It should be about remembering those whose lives were senselessly taken on that day 5 years ago.  Much love and sympathy to those who lost loved ones that day, and to those who have lost more since in the war that sprung out of that tragedy.

My prayers and thoughts are with all of those who mourn today.

More tomorrow as I prepare myself for my brother in law's departure for the Middle East.

Currently listening: You Forgot It in People By Broken Social Scene Release date: 03 June, 2003

Waging a war...of fear

I hope that it's escaped no one's notice that Monday will be the five year anniversary of the worst attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor.  I hope that we're all vigilant in keeping an eye out for those who might wish to do us harm.  However, I also wish that our government wasn't so successful at cultivating a culture of fear.  The very word terrorist is a carefully planned word used to elicit hysteria and unrational panic. 

Am I saying that we should be ignoring the threats against this country?  Of course not, but we live in such a culture of fear of the unknown that we are suspicious of our very neighbors.  We peer stealthily through curtains at the Arabic people in the neighborhood, who just may  be Muslim.  We listen to our government refer to Islamic Fascists and the Network of terror, and we close the blinds just a little more.  We pull into ourselves more with each coming day, and that's what they want.  When you're scared, you don't think clearly, and they want you scared out of your mind.  The fear paralyzes rational behavior, such as wondering why the hunt for Al Qaeda's leader has all but stopped, while we sit as the occupation force in a completely different country...one that had no hand in the tragedy of 9/11.

We sit and patiently watch while the government takes away more and more freedoms and things that make this country great.  They get away with it because to question it would be Unamerican, and we don't want that, now, do we? 

We're capturing and killing Al Qaeda, though...in the wrong country, but we're doing it nevertheless.  We're doing what we can to break the insurgency in Iraq.  Those in charge of the military strategy should be able to tell you that the civil war that has erupted in Iraq is not something light we just have to put down...this is major civil unrest that will embroil our troops and military funding for many years. 

I'm rambling and spewing my own form of propaganda...yes...but I think it's important to know that almost 5 years ago, one of our biggest cities was brought to a stand still as two planes decimated two of its tallest structures...and another 2 planes did similar damage in our nation's capital and in a field in Penn.  I'm not saying we shouldn't be scared or even vigilant.  I'm saying that if we own that fear, instead of it owning us, we will be better equipped to make decisions and realize that our president is not working in the best interest of his millions of constituents.  A couple of years ago, after the invasion of Iraq, Bush was quoted as saying that he doesn't even think about Bin Laden anymore...doesn't care about him.  This is the same man that promised the American people that we wouldn't rest until Osama was caught and tried or killed in the days following 9/11. 

As we begin to mark the anniversary, please don't forget those that died, because our president certainly has...and he's keen to add more to that total in Iraq.

Currently listening: Spiritual Machines By Our Lady Peace Release date: 13 March, 2001

PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING FROM THE MONKEYHOUSE(BY WAY OF THE TBON SHOW)

FROM OUR FRIENDS AT THE

T-BoN Show

There is a new STD that all citizens of the US should be alerted to:

Gonorrhea Lectim - The Center for Disease Control has issued a
warning about a new virulent strain of Sexually Transmitted Disease. The disease is contracted through dangerous and high-risk behavior.

The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim...pronounced (gonna
re-elect him). Many victims contracted it in 2004 after having been
screwed for the previous four years.

Cognitive characteristics of individuals infected
include: antisocial personality disorders, delusions of grandeur with messianic overtones, extreme cognitive dissonance, inability to incorporate new information, pronounced xenophobia and paranoia,inability to accept responsibility for own actions, cowardice masked by misplaced bravado, uncontrolled facial smirking, ignorance of geography and history, tendencies towards evangelical theocracy, categorical all-or-nothing
behavior.

Naturalists and epidemiologists are amazed at how the destructive disease originated only a few years ago from a bush found in Texas.

Currently listening: Switch By INXS Release date: 29 November, 2005

Bush invokes the almighty...yes, again...

In a speech earlier today, our fearless(except for his fear of a wrathful God) leader, invoked the almighty as being on our side.  Being that I'm a Christian, you'd think that would at least be partially ok with me.  I'd love to think that God is with us in our daily struggles as a country, but I don't think that is the case.  I think that God is probably sick of us doing things in his name by this point.  Is it wrong that I don't blame him...our melting pot society has been dismantled and molten down, so we can make bullets to kill more people who don't agree with us and our God. I'm sorry, George, but (1), I didn't vote for you in the first place, and (2), I CERTAINLY didn't ask you to invoke your god on my behalf.  No wonder Muslims want to kill us.

Rude Pundit  made a good point this morning about Bush's reference to those who oppose us in the Middle East as "Islamic Fascists."  See they are trying to draw a parallel to WWII when fascism threatened to engulf Europe.  They want to gain support by reminding us of the menace of Benito Mussolini, and his ensuing attempt at converting Europe and northern Africa.  We're the ones going over there and forcing our Democratic ideals on Iraq. 

These days, I can scarcely get through a blog without at least a passing mention to Ann Coulter, the acerbic, vitriolic loon who seems to always get some host to invite her on and then proceeds to ram it up the host's ass while she's there, all the while getting lobbed softball questions that don't address any real issues or the hateful things she says.  Her latest column states that we shot the wrong Lincoln.  She's referring to Lincoln Chaffee, the RI congressman, to whom the Bush administration is throwing support, much in the same fashion as they are throwing it to Joe Lieberman, while completely ignoring a non-viable Republican candidate, who, in both cases, has no chance in hell of winning.  Great, so now she's advocating killing off Congressmen just to get the seats vacated for nutjobs who will spew her insane rhetoric.  Let me just say that Henry VIII beheaded the wrong Ann. 

And while I'm at it, Ann, stop referring to all Iraqi -- hell all middle eastern people who have died in this military disaster we call our war on terrorism - as terrorists.  That's like saying all thin blondes with huge noses are tremendous(please pardon me for this, ladies) cunty bitches who are full of shit.  You need some sensitivity and discrimination training Ann.

Currently listening: Dishwalla By Dishwalla Release date: 15 March, 2005

Lieberman trying to squeeze back into the fold.

Upon learning that most of his constituents would rather vote for the other guy, Joe Schmoe remembered that he is a registered democrat and that if he alienates them too much, they won't vote for them.  Now he has a decision to make...does he just stay the course with the methods he's been employing and try to get the votes of the moderates and republicans, or does he change tactics and go after the Lamont constituents, his "own" party?  With the support that the current administration has been lending him, Joe has been getting some bad press, and, as a result, has been trying to distance himself from Bush and his crew.  First, he called for the resignation of Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and now he's back pedaling on his previous stance on the war.  What's next, he reinforces his support for Judaism by killing the Pope?  This whole thing sucks!

Bear in mind, I hate attacking him because he is still technically a democrat, but the man is a world class flip flopper, who should listen to those who are smarter than him(not me...other democrats), who tell him to throw his support behind Lamont and give up this charade of lies.

Currently listening: The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion By The Black Crowes Release date: 05 March, 2002

Technical Difficulties

Monkeyhouse has been largely off the air this week due to a busy work schedule.  I have been buried in work, so there was little time to express my frustrations that have renewed themselves yet again this week. 
FIRST Bush says that sometimes he's happy with what happened with Iraq, and no one calls him on it.  Say what?  Oh yeah, CNN and MSNBC have reported the story that he spoke about the war, but both have edited out that he said that sometimes he's happy.  And Fox News just took a dump on the news desk and scrawled LIBERALISM SUCKS on the backdrop.

SECOND Joe Lieberman comes out swinging, calling for Rumsfeld's resignation.  He says he's a dedicated democrat.  Then stand behind your state's choice for democratic nominee, you fucking asshat!

THIRD The Yankees smashed the Red Sox in a five game series at Fenway Park, eclipsing their previous record, set in 1978, and called the Boston Massacre. 

FORTH Go forth young man and learn to spell the word that comes next after Third

FOURTH Kevin Federline closes the Teen Choice Awards by pretending to be a rapper...a rapper who's never seen or heard a real rap song.  We don't need another white rapper.  Eminem fills the quota.

FIFTH  Zayeera was kicked off Rockstar: Supernova last week.  No more camel toe for you, perverts.

tata for now from MonkeyHouse Headquarters...

Currently listening: Snakes on a Plane: The Album By Original Soundtrack Release date: 15 August, 2006

Raise Your Hand If You're Sure...

that Ann Coulter is missing the point entirely YET AGAIN!

"Terrorists Win Deodorant Banned From Airplanes"

Keeping us safe as we fly the friendly skies is a daunting task since 9/11.  We have to prepare for every eventuality, but of course, we don't know most of these eventualities.  This latest Coulter column shows just how little she understands about how this world works.  She is right that those who would seek to harm us would know better than to use the same tactics as last time, but unless we have thousands of Dead Zone Johnny Smiths working the security at our airports, there is really no way to know what the plans of future terrorists are.  Let me assure you that no one is interested in your lingerie, and let me just tell you I want to do nothing more than get that image out of my head right now...thanks for that. 

I guess what I'm saying is that they're doing the best they can with the intel that they have.  It doesn't help that CNN is doing stories about theoretical ways for bombs to be snuck on board, though

Currently listening: Every Man for Himself By Hoobastank Release date: 16 May, 2006

Is the Dubya propaganda machine unstoppable?

It became apparent to me several years ago that the days of propaganda are back in US politics, and they're back to stay. My last post regarding the Lamont/Lieberman campaign shows that.

For a couple years now, we have been hearing the same talking points from Bush and his camp: Mission accomplished(my ass!!), Marriage is between a man and a woman, and my personal favorite, STAY THE COURSE. Bush manages to throw into even the most innocuous interview or speech that in order to be victorious in Iraq and the war on terror, we have to stay the course. Personally, if I was Bush Sr., I'd be pissed that my son was stealing my sayings. C'mon, people, don't you remember the "stay the course, 1000 points of light" that Dana Carvey got so much mileage out of back when SNL was still a good show?

How is that propaganda, you may ask? Well, by itself, it's completely harmless (unless, of course, youve been deployed to Iraq). It doesnt become propaganda until you add the opposite message: that those who oppose the war and staying the course are all about CUT AND RUN. This is the solution? When you face stiff competition and rabid disapproval, you just call anyone who opposes you a coward? This is how the uneducated masses end up electing a president even they dont support.

Before I get blow back, let me assure you that I dont believe that all Republicans are uneducated. What Im saying is that if only given two choices, most people would like to believe that they are brave rather than cowards. This is how Bush got himself reelectedHe preyed on the fears of those less informed than he by telling them that Kerry would make the US look like weaklings if he were elected. Unfortunately, the election became all about the military records of the candidates, and not about the issues facing us today with the wars that are CURRENTLY being fought.

Wednesday, while speaking at a fundraiser for former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann, Bush said, "Leaving before we complete our mission would create a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, a country with huge oil reserves that the terrorist network would be willing to use to extract economic pain from those of us who believe in freedom." He continued to say, "There are some good people in our country who believe we should cut and run. They're not bad people when they say that. They're decent people. I just happen to believe they're wrong. If we leave before the mission is complete, if we withdraw, the enemy will follow us home." You can view the entire article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060817/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_37 Correct me if Im wrong, but didnt the British just foil a plot that would have brought the terrorists with more plane bombs back in our direction? The Bush administration has been able to make Iraq and terrorism inseparable in the minds of the fearful in this country. Let me separate them for you folks.

For the last time, Iraq was not involved in 9/11, and while, yes, there are Al Qaeda in Iraq, the majority of the insurgency is based on US presence in their country. When England fought all those years ago to try to preserve a certain colony under their control, the people living there rose up and caused a revolution, fighting to the death to preserve their independence. Were those colonists insurgents? No, but only because the English didnt wield enough power to topple the government before trying to subjugate the people with a government they didnt support. I do think that the Iraqi government could use some democratic ideals, but to foist it on them with no choice in the matter is absurd.

I think that a key part of this political dialogue is missing or being ignored, and that part is the middle ground between stay the course and cut and run. Those who oppose the war do not all necessarily think we should immediately withdraw all troops from the Middle East. Instead, there are those of us who simply want to see a timetable created for the withdrawal of troops and the return to normalcy of life to the Iraqi people. There are also those of us who think that our troops could be better used tracking down the terrorists responsible for the threats to our own shores, and guess what, those terrorists are allies of Bin Laden and US intelligence tells us theyre not in Iraq (but then again, neither were the WMDs).

There has to be some other voice that can loudly proclaim that there are more options than bravery and cowardice. Shout it to the masses, so they can see through this smoke screen.

Currently listening: Wolfmother By Wolfmother Release date: 02 May, 2006

MonkeyHouse Radio reports: The Lieberman/Bush Administration Propaganda Machine

Im really starting to dislike this pattern that is occurring. Lieberman is receiving back-up support directly from the Bush administration. Lamont is continuing to be pounded like an Asian whore from all sides. Lieberman has consulted with Karl "Antichrist" Rove about his independent run, and now has the help of the Cheney shiny bald propaganda machine, and Joe Schmoe is just falling into goosestep line with the Bush Administration. The latest? If Lamont wins the election in November, it will show the terrorists that tried to bring down the international flights last week that we are weak on terror. The exact quote was, "And Ned Lamont winning is a tremendous victory by the people who wanted to blow up these planes in England!"

DEAR GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS!!??

It is even being reported that the White House asked the British government to apprehend the terror suspects quickly so as to use their Lamont smears that much more rapidly. Now, I dont know if I really buy that, but this administration is capable of secrecy and shadiness for much less important causes, so why not.

CNN anchor Chuck Roberts has even gone so far to say that Ned Lamont is the "Al Qaeda candidate." My friends at Mediamatters.org have drafted a letter to CNN asking for Roberts to be disciplined for such an unfounded and obviously false and malicious accusation. You can view that here: http://mediamatters.org/items/200608140003

 

At this point, it is obvious to me that this simple primary victory has the Republican base so incredibly spooked that this will become a trend in the November elections that they will do ANYTHING to ensure that Lieberman wins his Independent bid and that they will bury Lamont under as much useless shit as they can find.

Currently listening: Tonight Not Again/Live at Eagles Ballroom (CD & DVD) By Jason Mraz Release date: 24 August, 2004

Weekend Antics

So I decided to go to illustrious and beautiful downtown Hartford this weekend to celebrate my friend and bandmate, Steve's birthday.  We chose the Pig's Eye Pub, not because it is the best bar, or has the cheapest drinks, but because it has no cover and pool tables.  It was a pretty uneventful night, just drinking, playing pool and drinking some more.  We did a couple group shots of tequila and Southern Comfort, drank some more and just had a good time, and then came about 12:30, when we heard that Steve had gotten tossed out of the bar.  For some people that wouldn't be all that shocking, but this is Steve.  You could punch this kid in the face and he'd say thanks...he's just a mild-mannered nice guy.  I guess it turns out that he had been standing at the bar trying to get a drink for like 20 minutes and finally got the attention of one of the bartenders, put down his money and tried to order a drink.  when the guy ignored him, he picked the 10 bucks back up and tried to put it back in his pocket.  At this point, the moronic bartender accused him of stealing his tip...wait let me get this straight, steve was going to leave a ten dollar tip for a beer he couldn't get?  I don't think so.  Well the bartender got the bouncer to toss him anyway, and I guess they have the last word, so out he went, which was stupid.  We had a group of at least 20 people who had been buying drinks, alot of them, all night and we all bailed when Steve got tossed.

CONGRATS TO STEVE FOR BEING TOSSED!!! YOU ARE THE BADASS OF BADASSES!!!

Currently listening: U2 - The Best of 1990-2000 By U2 Release date: 12 November, 2002

The Monkeyhouse Editorial Minute

My wife sent this to me, and I found it well written and intriguing.  I think you'll find it thought provoking, and hope it will stimulate a discussion...without further ado, our MonkeyHouse Editorial Minute 

 Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the
 Orange County Register, which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined.

 Dear Editor:
 So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this
 land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests he should tear down the Statute of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

 Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of  immigrant any longer.

 Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times.
 They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
 They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children  assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them.
 All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents  had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of  these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their  parents had come from.  They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German-American or the Irish-American. The people of France saw only Americans.

 And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a  disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
 And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same  rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being  an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice  in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.
 I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.
 And for that suggestion about taking down the Statute of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I  wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
 (signed)

Rosemary LaBonte

Currently reading: His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass By Phillip Pullman Release date: 01 October, 2001

MonkeyHouse's Lieberman Report

Can I go one day without dishing on our favorite fallen CT Republicrat, Joe Lieberman?  Probably, and I will eventually run out of info to do a daily report, but until I do, he gets his very own MonkeyHouse feature.

As predicted, Senate Democrats from around the country are jumping off the Lieberman train and flocking to support the new CT nominee, Ned Lamont.  The likes of Hilary Rodham Clinton and Christopher Dodd have stepped up and thrown their support behind Lamont, with many other Democrats joining in a little support chorus.  Both Clinton and Dodd, who supported Lieberman and campaigned for him prior to the primary, have unfortunately stopped short of calling for Lieberman to withdraw and do the right thing, i.e. supporting the winner of the primary. 

Lieberman is acting like the spoiled child who refuses to stop crying even after mom has (1) told him he can't have the toy, (2) checked out at the supermarket, (3) brought the groceries out to the car, and (4) driven away.  All the while, little crybaby Joe is sitting in the backseat of the minivan shrieking his little heart out that he wants Jazzercize Barbie.  Mom knows better...knows that it will make him stronger in the end.  She also knows that his good friend Georgy Bush doesn't like fairies, and of course, only fairies and girls play with dolls. 

Wait...where was I?  Huh?  A point, you say?  Oh....

Lieberman should withdraw, and not give Republican Schlessinger a chance to win when the Democratic vote gets split.  You lost, Joe...just let the better man go forward.  This isn't double elimination!

Currently listening: Chroma By Cartel Release date: 20 September, 2005

Bush Says US still at risk for attack

what What WHAT?

Thanks, Captain Obvious.  With the thwarted terror threat on transatlantic flights from England to the US, is there any doubt that there is still a risk?  Check it out here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060810/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_4

He says that we're at war with Islamic fascists.  I don't know...maybe that's true, but I don't whether it's necessary to throw the religion in there.  Yes, they are Muslim, but I don't think it's smart to even kind of proclaim it as any sort of holy war.

Stay tuned for today's Lieberman report...

Currently listening: Beautiful World By Big Head Todd & the Monsters Release date: 11 February, 1997

To anyone who may disagree with me...

Lieberman has lost the Democratic nomination...yes, I know that this is my 2nd post about him today, but I decided to preempt any rebuttals that might arise about my dislike of our fallen CT senator.

Click here to find out one of the reasons that I harbor such disdain for this once great Democrat. For anyone too busy or lazy to actually click the link, I'll summarize. (Begin paraphrase)Anyone who votes for my opposition has forgotten about 9/11 and doesn't care about our country(End Paraphrase)

I've said before that I hate people using a tragedy such as 9/11 as a campaign stump subject. I hate it even more when 9/11 gets used out of context to justify a war that has stolen thousands of military lives and billions of tax dollars. A war that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11!!! There is NO proof, and there never was any. I can't believe that politicians are still throwing that out there as probable cause for a war with Iraq.
 

Are there terrorists in Iraq today?  Yes...but they're there because we've been occupying the country for a couple years now.  They are helping the insurgency to keep its foothold in the country.  Al Qaeda wasn't a presence in Iraq until we invaded!!!

Lieberman, I will say it again...do the right thing and endorse the democratic nominee and then go join some board of directors somewhere or, heaven forbid, become a lobbyist or something!

Currently listening: Fortress By Sister Hazel Release date: 27 June, 2000

I backed the right candidate

After several elections ending in disappointment, I am proud to say that WTFU Radio has backed the right candidate in yesterday's primary.  Ned Lamont, a cable television mogul, faced off against Joe Lieberman, a 3-term incumbent Republicrat and one-time vice presidential candidate, and beat him heads-up for the Democratic nomination.  It had been speculated for weeks that it was possible that Lamont could win, but based on the last minute polls, Lamont's lead had shrunk and, to be honest, I wasn't sure he was going to pull it off.  When the dust had cleared from yesterday's voting, however, Lamont was the clear victor.  I watched his victory speech, listening as he thanked supporters, and then put out a call for party unity.  Minutes before, Lieberman had given his concession speech, vowing to fight on and run as an independent.

Ok, I understand that he wants his seat back, but this infuriates me.  This position is a representative of the people of CT.  The people who support the democratic party, the very people who have elected him to his previous three terms, voted for someone else to represent them in the Senate.  Shouldn't that be a clue that he should simply pack it in?  One thing we don't need now is the splintering of the democratic party.  We want to take back Congress come November, and fighting within the party over the seat won't help to accomplish this.  If Lieberman truly cared about his constituents as he claims, he would abandon the Independent candidacy bid and throw his support behind the candidate that his party chose. 

Congratulations to Ned Lamont for a stunning and unexpected victory, and here's hoping you win in November!

Primary elections are important!!

Unless you've been living under a rock, or in Newark, you've probably heard at least some of the national buzz that the Democratic primary is causing for the race here in CT.  Joseph Lieberman, 3 term Senator, and one-time vice presidential candidate is running for reelection, but is currently in jeopardy of losing his party's nomination to private businessman Ned Lamont, who is spanking him in the polls.  It has people who know nothing asking why. 

People who know something, however, realize that Lamont is kicking Lieberman's ass in the straw polls because Lamont embodies something that Lieberman is lacking...democratic ideals.  Based on his voting record, his support for the war and his shows of cronyism with president Bush, his base is moving away from him, as he shows more and more that he is a Republicrat.

Lieberman, due to his clout in the senate, decided that, if he lost the primary, he would hedge his bets and register to run as an independent, hoping to still garner the popular vote when November elections roll around.  Now, with the primary elections tomorrow, recent polls have shown that Lamont has opened up a double-digit lead over the incumbent.  While heavy hitters like Clinton and fellow CT senator Chris Dodd have thrown their support behind Lieberman, he still seems to be sliding in the polls, so his surety that running as an independent would still win him the seat is fading.  When he calculated the information to consider running as an independent, he based it on the figures at the time, which projected that Lamont could potentially edge him out by a relatively slim margin.  It is anyone's guess as to what will actually happen when voters turn out tomorrow for the actual vote, but here's hoping that the King of CT is overthrown.

In similar news, I have to wonder why it was that Clinton threw his support behind Lieberman.  I know he's the incumbent, and he ran with Gore in 2000, but Lieberman was also one of the loudest voices condemning Clinton during the impeachment scandal.  He was extremely vocal ON the floor of congress, and if I can find a transcript of it, I will post it later. 

that's all for now...GET OUT AND VOTE, FELLOW DEMOCRATS, OR A DEMOCRAT WHO SUPPORTS THE WAR WILL BE REELECTED AND MORE OF OUR FIGHTING MEN AND WOMEN WILL DIE!!!

Body Wars

If you went to Disney World in the 80s, you probably remember the ride Body Wars at Epcot Center. I just remember it being creepy and gross. That is not what this is about.

A new type of body war has begun, and it is attacking the model syndicate. It has chosen to attack Heidi Klum

and Elle MacPherson,

two of the hottest models to grace the 20th and 21st century. If you've missed it, Heidi Klum has a new campaign with Victoria's Secret for a new line of bras called Body by Victoria, and in the commercial, she says that when she got into modeling, she was given the nickname "the body." This apparently pissed off Elle MacPherson because, as far as she's concerned, she was given that nickname a decade earlier when she started modeling, and has decided that she is attached to the moniker enough to have her representative make a press release threatening to possibly sue.

I have a solution...you should both come together and wrestle for the title, preferably in jello or mud, just like WWE divas vying for a title. Then the winner will face off against Jessie "The Body" Ventura for the ULTIMATE title. Of course, Jessie won't fight a girl, I think...

Currently listening: Creature By Moist Release date: 03 June, 1997

Another History Lesson...

Gotta love this History textbook that my wife is reading for her history class...

Did you know that God wasn't a part of the Pledge of Allegiance or US currency until the fifties?  In the same ruling, "Under God" was added to the Pledge and "In God We Trust" to the money.  Is it because we became a more religious country as a whole?  The division of the country around the Scopes Monkey trial at around this time tells me that we weren't.  No, it was a move to improve the image of the US to make us seem more morally superior to the world.  We needed to be superior to the Communists...we needed people to like us and value us more, so Communism would not spread further.

I don't really find myself on either side of the argument about under God in the pledge.  While I understand the rights of our citizens to be fully agnostic, it is clear that, with the way things are going right now, it would be nice to believe that we have God on our side, even if it's not true.  The world is going to hell in a handbasket and I feel like our country is operating the pulleys these days. 

Currently listening: Healthy In Paranoid Times By Our Lady Peace Release date: 30 August, 2005