UncommonSense

4/5/2002

Daily Read

The Five Sock Puppets of the Supremely Criminal Court must have had a revelation on the night they handed the presidency to George W. Bush. They must have said to themselves, Selves! We sold our moral foundation tonight. We corrupted the very fiber of the rule of law. We pissed on the pillars of Justice. We tarnished our sacred benches for years, nay! decades to come. History shall look upon us and grieve. So what the fuck, we might as well do what we've always wanted to do. Pass me a copy of the Consitution. I need to wipe my ass.

Good news for Arkansas. (Sorry to my friends in Arkansas.)

There is a fatal flaw in the search for the anthrax mailer, in my opinion. Everything that I have read makes the assumption that the culprit produced the anthrax himself, which requires a high level of very specialized knowledge. This is based on an asnother assumption that the CIA or military does not have stockpiles of weapons-grade anthrax so large that a zip-lock bag full of powder could be stolen and never missed. This assumption is killing the investigation. Of course we have massive stockpiles of anthrax. A clever janitor or materials handler or lab assistant could scoop a small amount of powder out of a dozen containers and it would never be missed. Such a person would naturally have the benefit of immunization shots, considering where he works. He could probably slip the powder out of the facility in the same way drug smugglers get heroin across the border - inside a swallowed condom. But until the government admits that it has massive stockpiles of bioweapons (thus admitting to a violation of bioweapons treaties), they HAVE to pretend the suspect created it himself. As long as they continue to work from flawed assumptions, they'll never find this guy.

One more nail in the coffin of our innocence. Some day, the truth might actually be told. But probably not. Read this link soon, as it will probably not be around forever.

Today's comic is by Ted Rall.

Whore alert. Norah Vincent, a second rate Camille Paglia wannabe, plays tickle-me-Elmo with fellow fatuous right-wing blogger Andrew Sullivan. She praises St. Andrew of Many Lies, while proclaiming a liberal media bias everywhere it isn't. In fact, the only place you'll find a liberal bias is the very sorts of places she says are ruled by the conservative chardonnay-and-cigarettes crowd - blog sites. What's wrong with a liberal bias, anyway?

Daily Screed

By the way, why do we continue to talk about Conservative Christians? Conservative Christians are anything but conservative. Let's call a spade a shovel. These people are radical fundamentalist christians (with a small-c). They haven't a conservative bone in their bodies.

Our radical fundamentalist christian president.

4/4/2002

Daily Read

Media Whore Alert - New York based Committee to Protect Journalists has filed a formal complaint against Israel for expelling journalists and shooting at them. Why don't they also file a report against the US government for its actions in Afganistan and elsewhere?

Like I said, black water mystery solved? Not harmful? Think again.

Smokin Joe Conason lights 'em up again. "But the Bush administration’s decision to abstain from diplomacy in the Middle East—and even to mock former President Clinton’s strenuous engagement—was a disastrous mistake, with consequences yet to be fully revealed." NOTE to Joe, and to anyone else who cares to comment nationally on the Bush administration's bashing of Clinton's efforts (especially what Ari the Liar said), you might want to read this, and then use quotes from it. Quotes like, "The Middle East peace talks at Camp David became the subject of a political scandal in the US last night when reports emerged that one of George W Bush's foreign policy advisers had warned the Israeli delegation to be prepared to walk out of negotiations." This was BEFORE the election. His people were tampering with Clinton's Camp David negotiations, trying to ruin them. Are we seeing the results of their success?

Well, you always knew it. Back in '72, the government's own marijuana study commission concluded that marijuana presented no danger to society as a whole. Yet Dick Nixon's psychosis trumped their findings, and we've been living the Nixon lie ever since. As a society, we have a lot of problems that need solving, and most seem more important than legalizing marijuana. But it's time we faced the truth, it's time the government told America what it's own studies and commissions have discovered - it's time to quit putting people in jail for this.

The whole world needs a big fat doob.

Daily Screed

Those who have been visiting this site since its inception know that I sometimes report on my dreams. Occasionally, I have dreams which seem to me to be significant for one reason or another. For example, I recently started having dreams about the Middle East, as documented in the archives. Now look what's happening.

This has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I dreamed of the WTC and Pentagon attacks on the night of September 9th. I dreamed of the Challenger disaster three years before it happened. I've dreamed about numerous other inconsequential things that later happened in my life. I don't know why I dream these things, nor why I try to convince people that I have dreamed them.

This is sure to push me even further into crank-land in some folks' book.

Several years ago, I had another space shuttle disaster dream. In the original Challenger dream, I saw the shuttle crash into an elementary school. You'll recall that the shuttle was carrying a school teacher. In the new dream, I saw the shuttle crash into a construction site.

So when I read this article this morning, you might understand my concern and my desire to get this on the record. The shuttle was on a countdown for "a space station construction mission." The countdown was stopped when fuel began to spray from a broken or disconnected line.

The shuttle is carrying "the newest piece of the international space station, an elaborate 44-foot girder." In my dream, I tried to take cover under some scaffolding. That's how I knew it was a construction site.

"No one was right at the pad because the fueling operation is hazardous, but sensors detected the escaping fuel." It just so happens that a good friend of mine makes these sensors. Maybe it was one of his sensors that detected it.

I can't very well call NASA and tell them my concerns. After all, I am a crank. "Yes, I am a psychic, and I wanted to warn you not to continue with the next shuttle launch."

"That'll be five dollars for the first minute, and three dollars for each additional minute."

Well, anyway. You are my witnesses.

4/3/2002

Daily Read

All I am trying to say, only said better. Love your country, but verify.

Verify. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I'm just not seeing the whole picture. But if I am wrong, then explain this. Just because something is outrageous and incomprehensible doesn't mean it is a conspiracy theory. Love, but verify.

Conspiracies to destroy whole groups of people for the enrichment of one powerful person and his friends are nothing new. One old example is the destruction of the Knights Templar at the beginning of the 14th century. To those who argue that huge conspiracies are impossible because it is impossible to keep such a thing secret, let it be known that we are only now learning, almost 700 YEARS LATER, that the pope pardoned the Templars in a secret trial, but failed to announce his pardon out of fear of the French king. The Templars were burned at the stake as a result. That's a secret that's been kept for 700 years.

When journalists who apply journalistic standards to conspiracy theories and discover that they aren't outrageous unsubstantiated claims made by unhinged glory-seekers, when they discover that real questions need to be asked, they are ostracized by their peers and bosses.

In fact, it's pretty clear that conspiracies of one sort or another are going on all the time. Some administrations seem chock full of conspiracies.

Daily Screed

Last night, I caught the last half of the new Crossfire. The panelists were Paul Begala, Ralph Nader, Pat Buchannan and Tucker Carlson. I though Ralph and Pat were full of themselves, but Tucker Carlson has to take the cake. He seemed genuinely offended that anyone should dare to have thoughts or opinions that do no sync precisely with his own. At one point, while Saint Ralph was berating American automakers for failing to keep up with the Japanese (thus costing American jobs), Tucker asked, with obvious disdain, I suppose you think you could run these corporations better.

To which Ralph responded, with wonderful surprise, Well, Yes! Of course.

It was a great moment in which Tucker displayed his shameless admiration and worship of anything with a CEO in front of his name, and Ralph displayed his shameless admiration of himself.

Tucker should know, as Ralph knows, that the only skills needed to become a CEO are a totally ruthless nature and a serial killer's complete lack of conscious - until he is caught.

In any case, CNN should be applauded for putting this show on the tv. It is the only one of its kind, as it has truly liberal co-hosts (not moderates who seem liberal compared to the right-wing insanity of their counterparts) who are not afraid to defend liberalism. Email Crossfire and let them know how much you appreciate the show.

4/2/2002

Daily Read

This one is rich. What did he say?

Tennessee Must Read - Henderson County GOP chairman Randy Hart said the race is wide open in the rural counties. He said the question is: "Who is going to support President Bush the most?" "I'm going to be a friend of George Bush in Congress, and that relationship will be a great benefit to the Seventh Congressional District," said Kustoff. These shameless monkeys are running on the platform of who will suck up the most to the agenda of Dick Armey and Tom Delay. It makes me ashamed to be a Tennessean. How about one of these jerkoffs running on a platform based on, say, the needs of their contituents, or ably representing the people who voted for them? But no, the GOP has become so degenerate, they run their campaigns based on who can shove his nose deepest into the presidential butt crack. This is shameless.

God forbid Nashville schoolchildren should see artfully depicted nudes in some seedy, uptown dive called an art gallery. They might be deceived into thinking there is nothing dirty or malicious or evil about the nude human form, that it might be (gasp!) an object of beauty, and they might even develop a mature view of human sexuality before they're old enough to ruin their lives in a hormone-induced Qioxotic quest for the misunderstood forbidden fruit. After all, if blind pig-ignorance was good enough for their grandparents and the Attorney General of the United States, it should be good enough for them.

America's Shooting Gallery - Elderly man saves wife from robbers using a privately owned firearm. Think he's happy about killing one of the robbers? Not likely. Think he's happy he had a gun at hand and ready for use when robbers invaded his home and began dragging his wife through the house? That's a question you'll have to answer for yourself. But he only had to fire one shot to drive them off. Think he could have done that with a baseball bat or a bowling trophy? Not likely.

Black water solved? Not hardly. According to the article, "Some of these things were probably quite common in the past, but we didn't know about them because we didn't have the imagery," he said. "It's invaluable to us." Oops. They should have been reading UncommonSense. If they had, they'd have known not to make this statement, as the black water was first spotted by fishermen, not by satellite. The fishermen had never seen anything like it before. The article says there is no danger. Why, of course not. And those same fishermen aren't sick from it either. Never mind that there doesn't appear to be anything living in the black water, nor that they have scooped up nets full of rotting fish from the sea bottom. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Daily Screed

Events in the Middle East are too depressing for words, and too much like my dream from last Monday.

4/1/2002

Daily Read

Here is the story of the Tennessee vote fraud from the 2000 elections. This is why Bob Clement can't beat Lamar Alexander in a close election, especially since this has never been properly investigated.

Ancient sunken city off the coast of Cuba? I read about this months ago. Glad to find a recent mention. This is a story that can't go away, simply because if it turns out to be true, it could rewrite our entire understanding of Western civilization.

Spineless Democrats receive another wakeup call. When will they quit hitting the snooze button, I wonder?

BS Alert, BS Alert - Marine's training to infiltrate actual urban environments, such as Boise this month, and North Little Rock last month. According to the Marines, this is training to help them learn to operate in urban environments like those they will face in possible future engagements. Sounds reasonable. Except for one problem. Boise surburbs aren't anything like suburbs of Kabul or Bagdad or wherever. By practicing in American urban environments, all you are learning is how to conduct military operations in peaceful American urban environments. Unless this is the point? US Marines sent against Americans? Last month, Bush watched a mock assault against unarmed protesters. What is the Bush administration planning?

Also, I wonder if Congress will learn of it through the newspapers, just like they have learned of everything else the Bush administration has done or not done.

Before we invade Iraq this autumn, we must have a good reason. Saddam Hussein is not, all by himself, a good enough reason. We need proof of some crime worth going to war over. What, I wonder, will be the proof? What horrible act will compel action, I wonder? And will it occur on the anniversary of September 11th?

More on the Pentagon plane. Remarkable how being offended and insulted can be a substitute reason and logic. The book, apparently, asks some serious questions - questions than need answering in ways more believable than the horrible puff-piece floated by Bob Woodward. But rather than counter the accusations, it seems some people think it is enough to be outraged over the mere suggestion. Well, a conspiracy to murder JFK is pretty outrageous, too, but most Americans agree that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. Now is not the time to close our eyes and deny - this is not something that we should wait 20 years before investigating, as that is why we'll never know who really killed JFK, RFK, MLK and all the other unanswered questions of the American past. In every outrageous crime of our past, we have closed our eyes and ears and refused to believe the impossible, and each time we have been shown that, had exhaustive investigations been conducted at the time, the truth might have been discovered, but that the truth was hidden for all time because the investigations were prevented for the sake of national unity or the peace or the comfort, etc. Will we allow the greatest of American tragedies to go without serious investigation because the truth would be too horrible to comtemplate?

Daily Screed

What does it take for the President of the United States to postpone his fucking vacation? As the Middle East teeters on the brink, the President spends Friday driving around in his pickup on the ranch. On Saturday, he makes some phone calls averaging five minutes per world leader.

This is leadership? This is action? "I think it is very important for our country to provide an opportunity for discussion, an opportunity for people to come together," Bush said.

NO! What the president must say at times like these is, "This must end, and it must end now. I am calling on the United Nations to immediately authorize peacekeeping forces to be sent to Israel today. If the UN will not act, the United States will."

If George W. Bush can't react, if he can't take decisive measures, if all he can do is hem and haw and continue his vacation - if he can't deal with the situation, give us someone who can. This, not September 11th, is the test of his measure as a man, a leader, and a president. The world hangs in the balance.

GO BACK TO WORK, GWB,

AND DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!