UncommonSense

3/22/2002

I just had to add this one. Remember when Bush took the first press conference question from Ron Fournier and pretended not to be sure who he was, and I responded by pointing out that Fournier is Bush's AP whore extraordinaire, caught by Buzzflash publishing descriptions of presidential events hours before they happened? In this New Republic piece, we get to see the Washington whore press in all its gaudy sphincter-licking glory. It is a description that seems more like the politicking that takes place in the days before a high school prom than a Washington press event. Of note is who is taking Karl Rove to the dance - none other than our good friend and shameless mouthpiece, Ron Fournier!

War Criminals! This confirms what Greg Palast said earlier. The president of Venezuela, who thumbed his nose at World Bank requirements to sell his country piecemeal to billionaire pirates, has been targetted by CIA operatives for liquidation. If the CIA is doing the bidding of the World Bank and not the people of the United States, then it is time to close the doors at Langley and send those people to jail. What better definition of treason do we need?

More war criminals! (Actually the same ones) This states it pretty clearly - Bush sets up his own courts and own judges to try and convict people he chooses - all of this is utterly outside the Consitution. If saying in court, no I didn't get a blowjob, when you really did, is grounds for impeachment, what then do you call circumventing the Congress, the courts, the Constitution, and the will of the people?

300 million dollars to promote marriage? Can you say throwing money down a hole? Total waste of resources? Guaranteed not to make a difference except to the bank account of some one-eyed, bearded preacher with a limp and an air conditioned dog house? Who wants to take a bet that the vast majority of this money won't be funneled to a half dozen ultra-conservative Protestant organizations who helped elect GW Bush? Wealthy business people get tax breaks and lax regulation for their business, while wealthy Christian ministers get government-sponsored programs to promote their brand of morality and build 300-foot-tall concrete crosses. Either way, it all boils down to - help me get elected, and I'll give you some of this h'yer free money that's just a-laying around all over Washington.

Lo! and Behold! Ken Starr - zipper-grubbing former independent counsel (now there's a misnomer!) will lead the legal assault against Campaign Finance Reform. Senator Mitch McConnel (R-Kaintuck) says, "This is a mission to preserve the fundamental constitutional freedom of all Americans to fully participate in our democracy." Since he is so concerned about our participation in democracy, I now fully expect Mitch to lead the fight for full and mandatory public financing.

I wasn't hearing things. The Supreme Court seems on the verge of approving mandatory drug testing for all children. Funny, if you think about. Bush probably went AWOL to avoid mandatory drug testing of military personnel, yet he is now president. If children have to undergo drug testing, then it should only be fair that all elected and politically-appointed government officials lead the way and submit themselves for the same. Bush should be at the head of the line, pee-cup in hand.

Senate Republicans accuse Lieberman of conducting a fishing expedition in his subpeona of Enron officials and attempts to discover if there are any links to the White House. Do you suppose that, just maybe, they're afraid he'll catch a fish, maybe the biggest fish of all? Gee, what are the chances? It would be kind of like fishing in a pay pond full of starving catfish. You don't even need bait, just a sufficiently sharp hook and a tow truck large enough to haul the stinking, grotesque, money-bloated carcass to shore.

The Fall of Rome

Harper's Weekly Review

The Daily Screed - Variety

The time now is 9:45 am Central Time. A gunman has just shot up an aircraft parts plant in Indiana. I predict that, before the end of the day, some tasty little tidbit of embarrassing news will flare briefly on the political horizon, only to be buried by the usual media frenzy over a crazed lone gunman and his high-speed chase.

Our local half-assed rock station, owned by Clear Channel (of course) has recently begun replaying the morning and afternoon shows in place of actual evening programs. Instead of live air from six to midnight, we have the pleasure of hearing a repeat of the obnoxious morning crew and the slightly more entertaining afternoon guys. This replaced a 6-10 show by a young, new, interesting and entertaining DJ who managed to fill his slot without resorting to endless sophomoric sniggering sexual inuendo, who still believed that the music he was hired to play was more important and more interesting than the sound of his own voice. This not being in line with the management style of Clear Channel, and his meager salary needing to be reabsorbed by Clear Channel management in these tight financial times which they brought upon themselves through shameless whoring for the Bush candidacy, we now hear, on a nightly basis, what was once simply not done in radio - taped broadcasts. Which leads one to ask - why bother listening at all?

3/21/2002

The Daily Read

More signs of the end times - black water in the Gulf, fisherman with flesh-eating virus.

A little light flickers over my head, and the sound of air escaping my lips goes, "Ahhhhhhhh-ha!" Sen. John Warner told the Armed Services Committee that attacking Iraq (predicted to occur by the end of the year) could cause terrorists to step up their attacks here in America. Eric Alterman agrees. So that's what this is all about! Attack Iraq so that you can use that as an excuse to institute martial law here in America. Boys and Girls, now is the time to say no. Once the bombs start falling on Bagdad, it will be too late to complain. Complaining will be outlawed.

Gene Lyons says it as it ought to be said. Politics and logrolling are fine and dandy, and we all know that the good-olde-boy network rules in the corridors of power. But bipartisanship (and everything else) goes out the window when you are talking about nominating corrupt, racist judges to powerful Federal benches. It isn't about changing the tone, it's about fighting for what is right. Of course, Trent Lott, who sees communists climbing up his leg, is so offended by what's good for the gander, he thinks he has the power of Jesus Christ ("I'm willing to forgive them, for they knew not what they did, perhaps." - TL) speaking through his lips, giving him the authority to threaten everyone in the Senate. Mississippi, recall your boy - he's clearly come unhinged.

The White House wants 10 billion dollars for an Emergency Response Fund. This is money they can spend without oversight. Considering that this White House is made up almost entirely of people supported by criminal swindlers, isn't it obvious that this money will be used to line their own pockets? Considering that this White House is loath to release any documentation of its activities, legal or not, isn't it obvious that the reason they have been fighting to keep their secrets so that they won't ever have to report where that 10 billion is spent?

The Daily Screed

Glory! Praise! The Senate passed Campaign Finance Reform. An excellent first step. It passed 60-40, which means that some eight Republicans other than John McCain saw the writing on the wall. One of them, Senator Fred Thompson, isn't planning to run again, so that lets him off the hook.

Bush will reluctantly sign it, but only because he knows his friends at the Heritage Foundation will immediately begin challenging it in court. Eventually, the law will come before the Supreme Court, and he's pretty sure that Rocco Scalia will be able to convince Milquetoast Kennedy to help strike it down.

So now it's time to work for full and mandatory public financing of political campaigns. Let's get all the graft out of the system by requiring candidates to use public financing and only public financing. Level the field and let all candidates compete based on their merits, not the wealth and influence of their friends.

Just take a moment, close your eyes, and imagine an America wherein those who run for office do so for the love of country and desire to serve. Imagine the corridors of power filled with people who have no legal loophole through which to receive corporate bribes. Imagine representatives who seek to represent the people who voted for them, and not the ones who paid for the votes. Imagine a government administered by people who aren't in it for the huge payoffs that come with the selling of power and influence.

Now, imagine how impossible this America is with the current system, even as it will be modified by the Campaign Finance Reform bill. As long as corporate money greases the axles of government, you will never, ever have a voice in that government. That government will always be run to enrich those who invest their money in purchasing the keys to all its doors. You, with you 40-hour a week job and your mortgage and bills, will never be able to match the buying power of an Enron or a Haliburton. When Dick Cheney leaves office, your offering him a job stacking paint cans at your hardware store isn't going to attract his attention. You'll never be invited to a high-level Energy planning session. Those perks are enjoyed solely by those capable of coughing up a hundred grand of pocket change. Your government doesn't, nor can it ever, represent you until your voice, your speech, is heard at the same volume as that of Richard Mellon Scaife and Ken Lay.

Money is not speech. (Love of) Money is the root of all evil. - JC

3/20/2002

The Daily Read

Oh, really? How bloody convenient. Iraq involved in September 11th? And just when you need an excuse to invade.

Patrick Martin does a good job dissecting the president's 3/13 press conference. Check this out, posted last Friday, for comparison.

Debunking the Reagan legacy.

The Language of Justification.

The Daily Screed

Is it just me, or do things seem to be teetering on the brink of massive, unthinkable, unbelievable, horrible revelations? Is it possible that the bought and sold corporate media is swiftly approaching a point where plausible deniability is no longer plausible and they will have to report on things or else stop even pretending to be reporters?

Are we about to face some upheaval of unimaginable proportions? Whether it is the connections between the junta, Enron, terrorism, and the drug war, or environmental factors like shrinking ice caps, doesn't it seem to be coming apart rather quickly? I saw a documentary the other day that said that the end of the last Ice Age might have been precipitated by the melting of a large inland ice barrier, which allowed a huge freshwater lake to empty into the sea, causing a massive change in regional sea salinity, thus altering sea currents on a global scale. Couldn't the sudden breakup of an ice sheet the size of Rhode Island have similar world-wide results? El Nino is said to be firing up again, a mere four years after the last one. When El Nino was first studied, scientists theorized that it would return in cycles of 7-11 years. Now we're getting it every four years.

Or how about the asteroid that passed very close to the earth just a few days ago. Nobody saw it until it was well past us. What with Bush ramping up our nuclear program and setting the world on edge once more, what are the odds that a smaller impact caused by just such a small undetected asteroid would be mistaken for a nuclear first strike and result in a massive retaliatory launch?

I also get the feeling that this is not my own personal impression of impending horror. People who read, people who pay attention see it, too. Some resign themselves. Some lash out. Some rage against the tempest.

For years, the religious right has been screaming that America has lost its soul, but that's only because those soulless bastards of the religious right think that they are America. Vampires can't see themselves in the mirror, even when a cured bloodsucker like David Brock holds it up to their faces.

The real problem is that these people have lost their minds. Last night, I saw that the Supreme Court Felonious Five is likely to support drug testing for all school children. Can anyone honestly say that, given this precedent, we won't one day see the same thing applied to any and every citizen? It is the logical next step - to get your national ID card, you'll have to submit to a 'voluntary' drug test.

How much longer can this go on? How much lower, as a country, can we go? As Joel Schalit says in his book, Jerusalem Calling, religious fundamentalists share an apocalytpic world view - they long for the end times. Isn't it becoming apparent that Bush and his prayer circle are doing their damndest to push the world in this direction? They aren't satisfied with God's timetable, they want the rapture now.

Is being the anti-Christ an impeachable offense?

3/19/2002

The Daily Read

Judge Pickering gets the boot. There is a God. Trent Lott, of frothing and bulging fame, decided to retaliate by blocking the money needed to investigate the events of 9/11 and determine how to prevent them in the future. Seems like our buddy Trent thinks it is more important to have his fellow Klan brother in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals than to discover how and why four commercial airliners were simultaneously hijacked.

Bill Moyers' inner Kafka speaks.

"Americans don't listen to anyone," Zardran said. "They do what they want. Most people escaped. You can't call that a success."

USA Freedom Corps - The Bush administration wants to rebuild volunteerism and community involvement. The decline of these civic virtues is most often blamed on the culture wars of the 60s, but this simply isn't true. There is something else that took place in the 60s that has had the most profound influence of all - wage suppression. During the so-called Golden Years, a family could survive quite nicely on a single salary. Now, both partners have to work just to make ends meet, and in some cases, one or more partners works multiple jobs (this is my case, BTW). There simply isn't time for American civic virtues because corporate America has seen fit to destroy the wage earning power of every American in its quest to reward wealthy stockholders with ever increasing profits. So, to President Bush, if you want to renew civic virtues, get your buddies on the boards to give Americans a living wage.

The Daily Screed

Now that Fred Thompson (R-TN) has announced that he won't be running for the Senate again, the contenders have begun to line up (and just as quickly) drop out of the race. The two Republican possibilities are former governor and failed presidential candidate Lamar Alexander (who promised that the 2000 election would be his last political race), and Congressman Ed Bryant - Bush flunkie and Tom Delay devotee. Lamar seems to be the choice of the Bush administration, despite Ed's slavish willingness to vote for whatever Dick Armey tells him. I'll give Ed one point, though - he hasn't bowed to the pressure and withdrawn from the race. Maybe he wants to be his own man, for once.

The same cannot be said of the Democrats. Earlier reports that Tipper Gore might seek the seat were, thank heavens, denied. This would have been a collosal mistake for the Democrats. Tipper, bless her soul, is a frigging Nazi. You wonder why Gore chose Lieberman? Look no further than Tipper. They are two of a kind.

So now, Congressman Bob Clement is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Who is Bob Clement? Bob Clement is the guy who will lose to Lamar Alexander. Bob Clement might be a great guy, a hard worker with lots of experience, but please, for God's sake, the man's name is Bob. There is nothing appealing about the man. He's been around for a while, paying his dues with the Democratic party, and that's why he got the nod. He's a good solid candidate who will run a close race with Lamar Alexander, only to lose to Republican vote-rigging and election day shenanigans. It's said that Tennessee made Florida look like a bastian of fair elections during the 2000 race. Bob Clement can't win a close election here, and it will be close - Lamar Alexander was a popular governor.

The best Democratic candidate has, thus far, voiced his support of Bob Clement. He is Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. There has been some speculation that he might run, and I truly hope he changes his mind before the filing deadline. Congressman Ford is young, good-looking, exciting and energetic. He is the kind of candidate who can make the election exciting enough to get people out to vote for him. He is the kind of candidate who can motivate Democrats to mobilize on his behalf.

A Ford candidacy would have spillover effects in other races. He'll bring Democrats to the polls, which can only help Democrats in other races. If Ed Bryant runs for the Senate, that will open up his House seat, and a Democrat could take that seat just on the spillover from the Senate race. Congressman Ford's own 9th district House seat would remain secure in Democratic hands.

So, by running Bob Clement, the Democratic party of Tennessee is sure to lose to Lamar Alexander, Ed Bryant will remain solidly in place in the House, and there is a chance that Bob Clement's House seat would be lost to a Republican - this is a net gain of zero and a possible loss of one. If Harold Ford were to run, the Democrats could gain both a Senate seat and a House seat, without risking anything.

Which leads me to wonder - who is running the Democratic party? Republicans?

3/18/2002

The Daily Read

Jon Carroll, probably the best thing about San Francisco besides the food, first examines the importance of voting in Zimbabwe, then defines Reichsfuhrer Ridge's Homeland Security Color-Coded System of National Panic. Make Jon part of your daily read. He is tops on my list.

Another score for the war criminals record. President Bush watched and cheered a military exercise wherein troops practiced firing machine guns into crowds of unarmed protestors. If this doesn't scare the bejesus out of you, nothing will. Don't believe that they would never use these methods against Americans. Gentle reader, if you didn't understand it before, please pay attention now. THIS demonstration of urban suppression is why the 2nd Amendment exists. It isn't about maintaining armed forces, it is about maintaining an armed civilian population. The 2nd Amendment is the only thing standing between us and those helicopter gunships. As big and powerful as our armed forces are, there are probably more armed civilians in New York state than in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines combined. The armed populace is the last defense of democracy. The NRA may be full of gun-crazy kooks, but they are the only organization holding the last defense.

England gets smart about marijuana. One day, we'll be the only country in the world who believes using a nuclear weapon in a first strike is A-OK, but smoking a joint is just plain wrong.

This is something I've been saying for some time. Only Harry Browne says it better.

Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney - the world is hip to your criminal enterprises. How much longer do you think you can get away with it? - yet another score for the war criminal record.

The Daily Screed

Note: Monday's Daily Screed - A Free Press and the Rule of Law, by Catherine Austin Fitts, has been moved to its own permanent page here.