You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you donÂ’t, you get stuck in Iraq.
Sen. John McCain:
If you offend somebody, whether you intend to or not, you should apologize.
Sen. John Kerry:
I apologize to no one for my criticism of the President and his broken policy.
Listen, I want to believe the argument that John Kerry didn't really mean to insult our all volunteer military servicemen and women. If it were any other guy, without John Kerry's history, I might be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
But given that John Kerry began his political career by throwing his military ribbons over the White House fence in protest over a military service which he claimed led to widespread and systematic atrocities — which he later admitted that he never witnessed, and which were later proven to have been completely made up — I sincerely doubt that his "explanation" is genuine.
If John Kerry intended to insult the president with his "botched joke," why then are the words "president" or "Bush" nowhere to be found within the text of that joke?
If John Kerry really fucked up the script so badly, why then didn't he immediately clarify himself? We've all been in that situation. When I mis-speak, and inadvertently give offense, that's what I do. It's customary, even through embarrassment, to say, "I'm sorry, what I meant to say was..." But Kerry didn't do that until the firestorm began this morning. Now that he's busted, it's a little hard to believe his denials.
Here's an instructive thought experiment. What if, instead of touching the third rail of conservative politics by insulting the troops, John Kerry's "botched joke" had imputed stupidity to African Americans? Would he then have apologized quickly and repeatedly? You bet your ass he would have, and he'd have done it based on John McCain's maxim I quoted above: "If you offend somebody, whether you intend to or not, you should apologize." The fact that John Kerry, even now after "admitting" he made a mistake, still refuses to apologize to the American military he claims to respect so much, is tantamount to insulting them a second time. He doesn't think they're worth the courtesy.
What really happened is that John Kerry had a "Dixie Chicks" moment. Like Natalie Maines in England, Kerry thought he had a sympathetic audience of liberal college students to whom he could pander, by sharing a little inside humor. "Heh, heh, I know you guys despise the military and think they're dummies. I do too. Ain't I cool? Vote for Angelides."
Should any of this matter? Probably not, since Kerry can't be voted out of office this year. (Personally, I think Kerry should be forced to resign from his seat on the Committee on Foreign Relations. Nobody with his history of undisguised contempt for American military personnel should be allowed to sit on such a committee, with that body's concomitant influence over the deployment of those same soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen.) But that's a different question from whether any of this will matter. And I hope it does. Not only because it may forestall the Democratic takeover I predicted earlier, but because Kerry's latest blunder probably and irrevocably scuttled any hope he might have had of trying for his party's nomination in '08. Democratic power brokers will never ever forgive him for this gaffe, nor should any of us.
1
I'm a Veteran who left a prestigous private college after two year to join the US Army to fight in the first Gulf War.
After being medically separated for injuries sustained in combat, I earned a BS in Professional Writing. I now write complex documentation sets for real-time tactical command and control systems for network-centric warfighters. I doubt Mr. Kerry has a high-enough security clearance to even read the documents that I write, and even if he did, he'd have no f'ckin idea what they meant.
Maybe If I would have studied harder I wouldnÂ’t have ended up stuck in Iraq back in 1991. Maybe I could have made something more of myself.
Posted by: Robbie at October 31, 2006 09:36 PM (53jDZ)
Posted by: Jake at October 31, 2006 09:56 PM (V6rxT)
3
The Kerry formuila for political success:
1. Open mouth;
2. Insert foot;
3. Shoot foot;
4. Deny that the foot is yours.
Posted by: shelly at November 01, 2006 03:36 AM (Eodj2)
4
Kerry's an absolute idiot. Perhaps more people realize it now. Intellectualism is not a prerequisite for military service to your country. Valor is. We happen to have the smartest military in our history. (Even the founders would be envious)
I wish I had half the guts and brains these cats have!
Posted by: Mike C. at November 01, 2006 04:30 AM (YadGF)
5
Kerry's explanation didn't make much sense to me. What he specifically said was that if you study hard, etc, you can "do well", implying that he was talking about doing well economically, and clearly referring to American youth as a class, not to future US Presidents as a class.
In any event, notice that in his explosive reaction, Kerry basically accused Republican political operatives of orchestrating the anger directed at him. He seems to have no clue that hundreds of thousands of people reacted to his words spontaneously, without having to be told what to think.
Posted by: david foster at November 01, 2006 07:25 AM (/Z304)
6
Robbie you stupid fuck, you're clearly not smart enough to marry a rich woman, me either. I only involve myself with women who suck money out of me.
We should all face the facts. Kerry is a smart guy. If we were smart like him, we'd let some fucking loser carry the load. Someone poor common fuck who'd never go skiing in Gstad anyway.
Conscripts by Siegfreid Sassoon
‘FALL in, that awkward squad, and strike no more
Attractive attitudes! Dress by the right!
The luminous rich colours that you wore
Have changed to hueless khaki in the night.
Magic? WhatÂ’s magic got to do with you?
ThereÂ’s no such thing! BloodÂ’s red, and skies are blue.Â’
They gasped and sweated, marching up and down.
I drilled them till they cursed my raucous shout.
Love chucked his lute away and dropped his crown.
Rhyme got sore heels and wanted to fall out.
‘Left, right! Press on your butts!’ They looked at me
Reproachful; how I longed to set them free!
I gave them lectures on Defence, Attack;
They fidgeted and shuffled, yawned and sighed,
And boggled at my questions. Joy was slack,
And Wisdom gnawed his fingers, gloomy-eyed.
Young Fancy—how I loved him all the while—
Stared at his note-book with a rueful smile.
Their training done, I shipped them all to France,
Where most of those IÂ’d loved too well got killed.
Rapture and pale Enchantment and Romance,
And many a sickly, slender lord whoÂ’d filled
My soul long since with lutanies of sin,
Went home, because they couldnÂ’t stand the din.
But the kind, common ones that I despised
(Hardly a man of them IÂ’d count as friend),
What stubborn-hearted virtues they disguised!
They stood and played the hero to the end,
Won gold and silver medals bright with bars,
And marched resplendent home with crowns and stars.
Posted by: Casca at November 01, 2006 07:55 AM (Y7t14)
7
I see the Rovian hand in all of this. No doubt a microchip was installed in the good Senator during operative treatment of his grievous wounds suffered in Vietnam, and Rove has once again reactivated it to control the mind of this good and honorable scion of elitist liberals.
LMAO, oh, if I could choose my enemy, it would be he.
Posted by: Casca at November 01, 2006 08:22 AM (Y7t14)
8
Casca:
Kerry is paying for every dollar with his blood. His wife ignores him completely and will not appear in public with him unless movie stars are involved. She is forever telling people in front of Kerry that her dead husband is ten times the man that Kerry is. She probably has him on a tight weekly allowance.
No wonder Kerry looks and talks angry all of the time.
Posted by: Jake at November 01, 2006 08:45 AM (V6rxT)
9
My boy, we all pay in blood when it comes to the fair sex. For all you civilians too fucking stupid to tell, my comments were all .
Posted by: Casca at November 01, 2006 08:51 AM (Y7t14)
10
Jack Heinz was a star; he's have been President by now. For them that never knew it, he was a solid Republican, the Senator from Pennsylvania. I had the pleasure of knowing him; by the way, when she was young, she was slim and a knockout, and, most importantly, she kept her fucking mouth shut 'cause he had the purse strings.
If he was alive, we'd still have Pennsylvania solid Red. Life is so unfair. But then, the only "fair" I know is in Pomona.
Thank the stars for John Kerry!!! Send him out on the campaign trail again, PLEASE!!! I loved the Demo comment "He wasn't content to blow it in '04, he wants to blow '06, too".
(P.S. Casca, great poem. I guess they teach a little at OSU)
Posted by: shelly at November 01, 2006 09:03 AM (0Co69)
11
Annika,
I don't often venture over here too much, but this is one of the best points I have heard on this matter:
What if, instead of touching the third rail of conservative politics by insulting the troops, John Kerry's "botched joke" had imputed stupidity to African Americans? Would he then have apologized quickly and repeatedly? You bet your ass he would have, and he'd have done it based on John McCain's maxim I quoted above: "If you offend somebody, whether you intend to or not, you should apologize."
You nailed it. Kudos!
Posted by: Billy at November 01, 2006 10:43 AM (SLFj+)
12
In addition to the factual mistakes about the "education" (and socioeconomic class) of U.S. military personnel, Kerry misses the point about the innovation and creativity of U.S. servicemembers. For every bad apple the media focuses attention on, there are hundreds of young men and women coming up with clever and thoughtful solutions to not only tactical battlefield problems, but also cultural, social, humanitarian, and other "non-combat" crises and conflicts. The vast majority of these young people are going to come back and infuse the same thinking into their local communities well beyond their military service.
Posted by: Col Steve at November 01, 2006 02:25 PM (pj2h7)
13
Forgive him? Forgive him? I LOVE him.
Hell, he deserves a medal (first one he ever really deserved).
RNC Most Valuable Player.
I think Karl Rove relly did insert a microchip in his brain and flipped the "off" switch at just the right time.
Posted by: shelly at November 01, 2006 03:56 PM (0Co69)
14
NPR reported this evening that the text of the speech--text supplied by Kerry's people--included the words "President Bush." The reporter read the sentence, and if that really was the way it was originally written, it was a slight directed toward President Bush. Not that this makes Kerry look any better.
Posted by: Joules at November 01, 2006 10:09 PM (u4CYb)
15
Kerry had his chance to just say "Here's what I intended to say, but I misspoke, and I am sorry for the mix-up".
Instead, he chose, in his haughty, pseudo-Franco manner to deny he had said it and to defend it, REFUSING to apologize.
By the way, there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING, more aggravating to a Jew than another Jew who refuses to acknowledge his heritage. Although he has allowed Massachusetts voters to believe that he is Irish, Kerry is NOT Irish, he is of Jewish descent. Fuck him and the ship he rode in on. (sic)
Posted by: Shelly at November 02, 2006 12:58 AM (YadGF)
16
He's a twisted bizarre personality in the extreme. His egomania is Clintonesque.
Posted by: Casca at November 02, 2006 07:14 AM (Y7t14)
17
Annika,
He made quite blunder. I can't really imagine that he set out to defame the employment prospects of the under achievers he migh have been addressing. He may be an idiot but that would rise to the level of ________?
He clearly was trying to make the equation:
"lazy ass no nothing, alcoholic national guard slacking Yale grad ignoramous= get us stuck in Iraqi criminal military adventure. True but not terribly relevant at this late date. America got the president they almost voted for. Serves the majority that elected the other guy right!
It was lame from the start and he should have done exactly what Shelly said.
Posted by: Strawman at November 02, 2006 08:36 AM (9ySL4)
18
Here is what John Kerry should have said.
I appoligize to all service personel that were offended by my comment. I reviewed the transcript and understand why those words were offensive and I sincerely apologize that I uttered them. Those words do not reflect what I was trying to say. I was attempting to state that if you are an under achiever educationally like President Bush you will get us stuck in Iraq. In the interest of making this apology sincere, I must also admit that President BushÂ’s grades at Yale were slightly higher than mine so that even my intended meaning probably would have been offensive to many. I apologize for that also.
Posted by: Bob at November 02, 2006 08:52 AM (OPNg7)
19
Straw,
In which Ivy League school did you complete your undergraduate and graduate degrees?
What's that? You got the famous GED certificate from the Marshall School for Adults. Wow!!
Just kidding you, Straw. But calling Bush dumb (or an ignoramus)is, well, dumb. His academic record was not mind-blowing, but it was better than both Lurch and Algore's. The guy has a fucking MBA from Harvard. He's just not a good speaker; and, let's face it, people from the South often sound a little dumb. The accent is not one that inspires confidence. It's not fair; but it's true.
It's just another one of those lies that the Left keeps repeating and, in this case, has managed to get many people to believe. (Funny, though not surprising, how the MSM has never widely reported on the academic mediocrity of Kerry and, the world's smartest man, Algore.)
Posted by: blu at November 02, 2006 11:13 AM (j8oa6)
20
I have a son with autism and know how very true it is that there are people who have good intelligence but they aren't wired for good verbal skills. Frankly, it often doesn't feel right if a politician is too silver-tongued.
Posted by: Joules at November 02, 2006 03:05 PM (u4CYb)
21
Blu,
I stand by my words. HArvard MBA not withstanding. This blankey everbody wraps him in is bullshit. " He just don't speak so good" is a rationale that is used to make Americas, who ain't the sharpest tack either, feel more secure.
I am a good judge of intelligence and this man is not too bright. He was passed from class to class with "passing" grades which were notices that he showed up, did a modicum of work, and was a presidents son. He did not fail. That is all you can say. Is his IQ over 120? I would guess it is and this means he knows what? That is all I am saying, he knows nothing of history, science, literature, economics, etc. If he did, regadless of how bad a public speaker he is, he could demonstrate a grasp of a subject and speak conversationally about it or answer a question that deviates an iota from his scripted remarks. You heard him when he was flogging the SS initiative? Not a wit of sense came out of his mouth when asked to explain any of it. The few people who brief him that have been candide have said in polite open ended sentences that they experienced him as not engaged. He would ask a few questions and say thanks.
Blu, you know as well as I that education is an ongoing process of inquery fueled by a love of knoweldge and curiosity. It leads us to read books, ask questions, and read more books. How do you find yourself defending a man who bragged that he didn't read books? They were so embarassed that this year his flacks can't tell you offen enough what the president is reading. Do honestly believe he can read Shakespeare? Would you bet against Kerry or Gore in a jeopardy game with George or a scrabble game?
He is a by the seat of his pants, bright guy who in spite of his background could not get anywhere in business in spite of being handed sweetheart deals. A fellow who partyed hard, liked cocaine and booze, became severly depressed as his life unraveled while his brothers succeded and hit bottom. Instead of lifiting himself up with self knoweldge and exhibiting some insight he took the bit of religion deep into his mouth, shook his head, whinneyed a little and imbibed another antidote to clear thinking and self esteem. How exactly he beacme the lackey and spokes model for the evangelicals and then nefarious neocons is a story we may never know, but that is what he is today. And as their policies fail before all our eyes he blinks, stands tall and like a wind up doll spouts the ridiculous without flinching
Posted by: Strawman at November 03, 2006 06:11 AM (9ySL4)
22
I actually think he speaks pretty fluently about economics - especially macroeconomics. Currently, America is experiencing one of its best economics periods thanks, in part, to his economic policies. The Left doesn't like to remember the bad ol'days when Clinton left office. Let me remind you: the stock market had lost about half of its value. Only the Great Depression had more of a negative emotional impact on the Market. The Dow is now around 12,000. Bush also inherited a recession and then a few months into his Presidency 9/11 occurred, (another gift from Clinton) which was devastating to our economy for both real and psychological reasons. It is simply amazing that we've recovered to this point. We managed to do this while fighting the GWOT and retooling a military that Clinton had literally gutted. (If you want to know what Clinton did to our military, talk to somebody who was in the military during his Presidency. They HATE him. Bush, on the other hand, is loved by military personnel.)
As far as social security goes, I just think you are wrong. It's a complicated topic that he was trying to explain at a high level. The bottom line is that he was right and his opponents were wrong. Not only wrong: they lied and distored the economic reality and simply tried to scare old peole. It was disgusting, but, also, business as usual for the Left. SS is a less than a worthless social program. I want to spit every time I see my money stolen from me to be given some person that I don't even know. God help us, someday will see SS in the ash heap of history. Weaning Americans off it and into a system were people control their own money is better for individual investors, our economy, and is in the best tradition of our liberal capitalist system.
And, yes, I think he could read the Bard. I don't know, however, if he would make that choice. BTW, find me the quote where he said he didn't like to read. I do know that he said he doesn't bother much with the MSM. Who the fuck can blame him? The American paper of record, the NY Times, is a worthless, socialist rag that routinely prints lies, distortions, and, of course, national secrets all the while openly cheerleading for Democrats.
Posted by: blu at November 03, 2006 06:54 AM (IDpQp)
23
"education is an ongoing process of inquery"
Hey strawman, why don't you "inquere" a little bit more on the subject of spelling?
; )
Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
Posted by: annika at November 03, 2006 06:58 AM (qQD4Q)
24
Oh, Forfend, dearest Annka. Me thinks it was the fault of the hound that hath nibbled the spellcheck button to a fare-thee-well no bigger than a titmouses'cloaca which my great finger could not navigate. Apologies.
Blu,
Wrong,
Wrong,
Wrong.
Posted by: Strawman at November 03, 2006 07:54 AM (9ySL4)
New Word
I learned a new Spanish word today while having lunch with my boyfriend and his mom. She's the sweetest lady, and a former U.S. Army officer. Kerry's face flashed across one of the tv's in the restaurant, and the conversation went like this:
b/f's mom: What a loser. I don't listen to that culÃcagao.
me: what's that?
b/f's mom: In the island, that's what we say when somebody is full of shit.
Posted by: ziggy at October 31, 2006 03:08 PM (meFnW)
2
And don't let anyone get away with repeating that lame ass excuse that he was talking about Bush and not the troops. That obvious lie should be laughed off stage immediately.
Posted by: kyle8 at October 31, 2006 04:32 PM (OPhHb)
3
Back around the time dirt was being invented, I shared a bunch of classes with a Iranian engineering student who taught me to cuss in Farsi in exchange for lessons in LA (lower Alabama) speak. Not much use for that here in rural N Florida these daze, needed to learn Mexican Spanish cussin' in order to communicate effectively with the approximately 30% of the local population without green cards.
You may enjoy this link:
http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/
Posted by: Bogdaddy at November 01, 2006 07:35 AM (W1y+A)
Posted by: annika at November 01, 2006 02:35 PM (zAOEU)
7
I don't get it. You guys are spending your time bashing Kerry for his comments which in reality are not meant to offend people in the military. You may call him clown and what not but at least I did not vote for a guy who can't pronounce nuclear correctly. Why the hell did you guys vote for a degenerate like that buffoon who is in office.
Posted by: Derek at November 01, 2006 11:26 PM (9mBDG)
8
Derek, I wasn't born yet, so I wasn't able to vote for President Carter. But if I had been around, I'm sure I wouldn't have been that bothered by the fact that he mispronounced "nuclear" in exactly the same way as President Bush. Or perhaps you weren't aware of that, you ignoramus.
Posted by: annika at November 01, 2006 11:46 PM (qQD4Q)
I Go On The Record
I've been following the polls and the elections closely, but until now I've avoided making any predictions. Now, a week out, I'm ready to cut through all the MSM's pro-Democratic propaganda and all the pie-in-the-sky optimism from the right wing press.
Here are my predictions. The Senate looks tight, but I think it will take a miracle for the Republicans to retain control. By my calculations, it will be a 50/50 split after next Tuesday. Republicans will lose in MT, OH, NJ, PA and RI. I think Corker will beat Ford, keeping TN Republican, but I could be wrong about that. In MD, Steele deserves to win, and though I mistrust polls generally, they can't be that far off. I don't think Steele will do it.
An evenly divided Senate is a de facto Democratic majority, since there are enough turncoat RINOs in the Senate to do Harry Reid's bidding. The Dems also know how to play rough and they will insist on some sort of accomodation on committee chairs. Republican Senate leaders, never known for stiff spines, will cave in to these demands.
As for the House, I have just two words for you: trust Gerrymandering. The Republicans will hold the House.
Divided government here we come. Now maybe in peacetime, a Democrat Senate was tolerable, but Kerry's despicable anti-military insults yesterday illustrate clearly why the Democrats cannot be trusted with any position of leadership.
1
There's only one poll that counts, and it's taken on election day. Dewine deserves to lose, but it is laughable that Sharrod Brown will win in Ohio. He is a Kucinich type flake, and an empty suit like Casey. The word is "low turnout", that works for us. Worst case, the D's end up in a blowback situation for '08. Can you say President Hunter?
Posted by: Casca at October 31, 2006 10:58 AM (Y7t14)
2
You could be right about the Senate. My guess at this point, which I think is too early, is that the Dems are +4 or +5. Still, either party can pull a Kerry in the last few days. Also, there can always be some world event that shapes perception. Two weeks are an eternity when things are this close.
I think you are correct about the House, but the Dems still win 10+ seats.
Posted by: blu at October 31, 2006 11:14 AM (IDpQp)
3
Did I write two weeks? Oops! Well even a week is an eternity. Let's hope the Rep $ advantage makes a difference.
Posted by: blu at October 31, 2006 11:16 AM (IDpQp)
4
How do independents figure in? If there are two independents and both caucus with the Dems, do the "count" in the Dems favor if it ends up 49-49-2? Or does Cheney still hold the tiebreaking vote?
Posted by: ken at October 31, 2006 11:43 AM (hFZJx)
5
Ken,
I'm pretty sure that the I's can caucus with either party. In this case, both the I's are committed to the Dems.
Posted by: blu at October 31, 2006 11:49 AM (IDpQp)
6
I disagree.
I think there will be a record turnout of Republicans that exceeds the huge turnout of 2004. Republicans will not turnout because they like the Republican candidates.
No, the Republicans will turn out to spit in the eye of the MSM and to get revenge on the MSM for their vote suppression techniques, news suppression and left-wing cheerleading. Republicans also want revenge on Democrats for all their outrageous insulting statements.
We are mad as hell, and we are not going to take it anymore.
Posted by: Jake at October 31, 2006 12:15 PM (V6rxT)
7
Annika, let's hope your prediction about the Senate is as accurate as your predictions on Monday Night Football have been.
Posted by: Jason H. at October 31, 2006 02:26 PM (jTuRA)
8
Annie, before the Kerry "f" up I would agree with you, but I think a lot of pissed off repubs and independents just might remember how much they hate these guys and go out to vote against them, rather than voting for the Republicans.
Posted by: kyle8 at October 31, 2006 04:29 PM (OPhHb)
9
The Associated With Terrorists Press is running a story with Dems insiders predicting them winning 35 seats (giving them a 20-seat majority).
The MSM has been running stories like this for the past two weeks. Any contrary opinion gets buried in the middle of the story. The cheerleading will be constant and loud the next few days.
I've yet to see one-story about how Kerry's fuck-up might affect things. That's not part of the template.
Posted by: blu at October 31, 2006 06:01 PM (IDpQp)
10
Annie:
Stick to the books. Politics is a very difficult game, a body contact sport, indeed.
The most important vote, every session, is the very first one. All the others are just details.
We will definitely hold the Senate, even if it is with 50, and that includes the RINO's. But if you control the Agenda, you control the pace and the issues, and don't scoff at it. I'll take every vote we can get.
I also agree that we will hold the House. I am in San Francisco for a few days, hanging out with people who are intoxicated by the thought of a Pelosi Speakership. They are doing the end zone dance, before they have crossed the goal line. We Republicans are mad, and are all voting; the Democrats are dancing.
My only question is: From which bridge will Nancy jump after she doesn't get the new drapes? George Washington, Golden Gate, Francis Scott Key, Golden Gate or 14th Street?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Posted by: shelly at November 01, 2006 04:02 AM (Eodj2)
11
Shelly, I have to agree with you. All the old war elephants have seen this dance before. It's really hard to pickup seats. That's why you need a tidal wave like '94, you remember, the Clintons, national health care, and a congress full of check kiters.
Pelosi's thugs have done a great job of October surprising and sliming the shit out of R's this year. Heh, knocking off Bob Ney was a coup. They have been masterful. The Delay thing was all part of the plan. One hopes that R's learn the lesson, which I think Boener will, and spend the next cycle ripping these NGCS's a new asshole.
Ultimately, our targeted cash, and ground organization carries the day. Plus the tide of history is running R, and has been since Nixon.
Posted by: Casca at November 01, 2006 08:17 AM (Y7t14)
12
The Dems peaked too early--around Foley. But this is going to go down to the wire and be very close regardless of who ultimately winds up on top. If I had to bet, I'd go with exactly the opposite result as Annie's prediction: R's hold the Senate, D's take the House, but razor-thin margins in each. The GOP will lose PA and RI, but I think we'll pick up NJ since Menendez is such a disastrously terrible candidate and Kean has name recognition. And I do think Mike Steele will win in Maryland: Prince George's County especially will swing in his favor way beyond what the polls suggest, because black voters do not want to tell pollsters they'd vote Republican. That should be enough to even counter any voting shenanigans in Baltimore.
Posted by: Dave J at November 01, 2006 07:01 PM (GKQ+L)
13
You didn't mention Virginia. Webb and Allen have been in a statistical dead heat in the last several polls I've seen.
Posted by: Matt at November 02, 2006 08:39 AM (10G2T)
Posted by: annika at November 02, 2006 09:27 AM (zxtCi)
15
We'll see. Webb just released his response to the NRA questionnaire, and he got 24 of 25 substantive questions right. I give him half-credit for the other one. (Maybe he just hasn't thought it through.) That'll play well outside Northern Virginia, though it may also be a sign of desperation.
Posted by: Matt at November 02, 2006 10:57 AM (10G2T)
Halloween is Poetry Day: The Raven
For this Very Special Halloween episode of Poetry Day, I offer a poem by the Original American Master of the Macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. Some find this poem scary, and while the setting and word choice are certainly not cheery, in the end I find this tale of a lonely widower lamenting his beloved (but dead) wife sad rather than frightening.
If you like, you may go to this page to hear Basil Rathbone read "The Raven." Versions are available in mp3 and Real Audio formats.
The Raven
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
" 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;
Only this, and nothing more."
Don't like waiting in line? Here's an idea, idiots. Get to your polling place early.
Here's another idea. Vote absentee.
When I go to the Post Office and there's a long line, it doesn't mean I'm being discriminated against. It just means there's a lot of customers. And if I show up at the Post Office at 5:00 and they shut the door in my face, it just means that I should have got there earlier.
Another thing, idiots. If you can't figure out the ballot, fucking ask somebody to help you. Or study the sample ballot before you show up.
It ain't that hard. If voting is so important to you that you are ready to scream disenfranchisement at the drop of a hat, why not take the time to avoid problems by planning ahead.
Unless of course, crying fraud is part of your strategy for winning.
P.S. If you're one of the unfortunate voters who has to use one of these beasts, and you encounter problems, blame Florida and disregard the above. I've never trusted the idea of computer voting, its an example of knee-jerk overreaction to a nonexistent problem.
1
Is California still using paper ballots? We've got e-voting in Maryland. There were so many problems with the machines during the primaries, Governor Ehrlich has recommended voters use absentee ballots ...which are, of course, in short supply.
And since the Governor is a Republican, the Democrats are screaming blue bloody murder he has recommended paper ballots.
Posted by: Victor at October 31, 2006 06:36 AM (WHtgF)
2
Everybody has to vote! Even though he likes it or not. The vote is one of the most important human rights because it represents the man's capacity of deciding for himself. If the computerized voting system does not present the safety that we want..then let us change the system.
Posted by: Barcode Printers at November 07, 2006 11:24 AM (UaqnT)
Cotillion News
It's been a while since the last Cotillion carnival, but Beth of Blue Star Chronicles has done a wonderful job of collecting the best recent posts from the premiere group of female bloggers. Go check out Cotillion Colloquy. I'm in there!
Project Valour-IT is fundraising again. Superblogger Beth of My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy is on the Marines team, though she's an Air Force veteran. And our very own A-List blogger Cassandra is leading the Marines team.
Every cent raised for Project Valour-IT goes directly to the purchase and shipment of voice-activated laptops for wounded servicemembers. As of October 2006, Valour-IT has distributed nearly 600 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country.
During its initial phase, Valour-IT created “libraries” of laptops equipped with voice-controlled software for the severely wounded staying at major military medical centers. In many cases a laptop was provided to a wounded hero for permanent use.
Click on one of the links and donate whatever you can for this great project.
Art and jewelry collectors take note: Holly Aho (a huge supporter of Soldiers' Angels by the way) has opened a new online store with here original artwork and jewelry. Go send her some love.
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Monday Night Football Pick, Week VIII
New England at Minnesota. Patriots favored by 2½ points. The opening line was closer, at 1½ points. To me, this signals that the crowd is going with NE, and I agree. On turnovers, balanced running game, and quality of their quarterback and coaching, New England is the superior team. I'll take them to cover the spread.
Result: Patriots crush the Vikings. I'm now 5 and 3!
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A Guide For Voters
Here are my California ballot proposition recommendations. It might be interesting to you, even if you're not from California, since it provides an insight into the workings of my political mind.
As I've said before, I have an easy way to decide on any bond issues. I vote no as a rule on every bond measure, no matter how tempting it sounds (with one exception, I vote yes on all prison bonds*). It seems to me that bond measures are a way for this state's government to spend beyond its means, even though excessive spending is its biggest problem. My philosophy is that the legislature should do its job and prioritize the budget so we won't have to rely on bonds to get things done.
I'm also sick and tired of two or three school improvement bonds every time we have an election. They generally win, because nobody (except me) wants to vote to keep kids learning under leaky roofs and without enough crayons or construction paper. Yet every election, the schools hold out their hand for more. Whatever happened to the promise that the California Lottery was supposed to solve all our school problems? I'm told that "Our schools win too" was the motto back in '84 when the lottery initiative passed. Well, I for one won't play that game anymore. Whatever they're doing with all that money isn't working, so let's cut off the spigot and force them to try something else.
Here's the propositions on the statewide ballot:
Prop 1A: TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PROTECTION This initiative would force the government to use gasoline sales tax revenues for transportation improvements only, instead of dumping that money into the general fund so the legislature can squander it as they love to do. I vote YES.
Prop 1B: HIGHWAY SAFETY, TRAFFIC REDUCTION, AIR QUALITY, AND PORT SECURITY BOND Here's an example of a bond measure with worthy goals, which I will reject simply because of my hard and fast rule about bond measures. If the legislature would do its job, cut the frivolous spending, and cut regulation and taxes to keep businesses from fleeing the state, we'd have enough money to do this kind of shit without mortgaging our future with 39 billion more in bond debt. I vote NO.
Prop 1C: HOUSING AND EMERGENCY SHELTER TRUST FUND More bonds. Hey, I'm all for helping out battered women and their kids, low-income seniors, the disabled, military veterans, and working families. But again, if this is such a priority, the legislature should find a way to do it without adding to the bond debt. Otherwise, let's encourage private charities to continue their good work in this area. I know that there are many fine non-profits that help battered women and provide shelter for their families, because I did pro-bono work for one of them last year. I vote NO.
Prop 1D: KINDERGARTEN–UNIVERSITY PUBLIC EDUCATION FACILITIES BOND Another school bond. See above. I vote NO.
Prop 1E: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND FLOOD PREVENTION BOND Another bond. I vote NO.
Prop 83: SEX OFFENDERS. SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS. PUNISHMENT, RESIDENCE RESTRICTIONS AND MONITORING This initiative tightens punishment and monitoring of violent sexual predators. Again, where was the legislature on this? Why is such an important public safety issue being left up to the initiative process? A definite YES vote.
Prop 84: WATER QUALITY, SAFETY AND SUPPLY, FLOOD CONTROL, NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION, PARK IMPROVEMENTS, BONDS All important and worthy goals, which I support — Just not by increasing the bond debt. I sound like a broken record here. I vote NO.
Prop 85: WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINORÂ’S PREGNANCY This proposition would require a doctor to notify parents when a minor comes in for an abortion, with certian exceptions. If I had a kid, I'd want to know if she was going to have an abortion. I don't care if some other kid doesn't have a good relationship with her parent. I'd want to know about my daughter. It's that simple. I vote YES.
Prop 86: TAX ON CIGARETTES This initiative would add $2.60 in taxes to each pack of cigarettes. Right now, they're about $5 a pack. If this initiative passes, a pack would cost more than it does in New York City. I was shocked at the cost of cigarettes during my last trip to New York. I suppose I should favor this proposition because it might motivate me to quit. But realistically, even though I grumbled, I still paid the seven bucks when I was in New York. I generally oppose sin taxes, because they encourage the black market. We already have enough problems with drugs and illegal aliens coming across the border without creating a whole new market for contraband. I vote NO.
Prop 87: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. RESEARCH, PRODUCTION, INCENTIVES. TAX ON CALIFORNIA OIL PRODUCERS This is the most controversial measure on California's ballot. President Clinton is doing tv spots in favor of this plan, which would create a whole new alternative energy research bureaucracy funded by a tax on oil drilling in California. The opposition ads are disingenuous because they do not say that the law would prevent oil companies from passing on the tax to the consumer. It sounds tempting, especially to those who don't understand economics. But when you do the research, this proposition reveals itself as one of the worst ideas to come down the pike in a long time. Virtually every major newspaper to opine on the issue agrees that it's a horrible idea. And I'm talking the San Francisco Chronicle, the L.A. Times, the Sacramento Bee, the O.C. Register and the Wall Street Journal. That's a pretty wide sampling of the editorial spectrum there. I'd encourage anybody undecided on this measure to read those editorials, which can be found here. As much as we'd all like to stick it to the oil companies, It doesn't make much sense to punish them for developing domestic oilfields in order to achieve energy independence. If it's no longer profitable to drill in California, guess where our oil will come from? That's right, overseas. I also have a problem with the prohibition against passing the new tax on to the consumer. In my view, the way to encourage alternative energy sources is to let the free market work. High gas prices are the best way to create a demand for the new technology, not a poorly regulated and graft ridden new bureaucracy. I vote NO.
Prop 88: EDUCATION FUNDING. REAL PROPERTY PARCEL TAX The schools got their hand out again. They're like the cookie monster, except it's not Chips Ahoy they want, it's your money. This time they want to add $50 to everybody's property tax bill. If we let them, next year it will be another $50 or maybe $100. Just say NO.
Prop 89: POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, PUBLIC FINANCING, CORPORATE TAX INCREASE, CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE LIMITS Another corporate tax increase at a time when California needs to stop business from fleeing out of state. How is that a good idea? And how is it a good idea to make it harder for ordinary Californians to run for office by requiring "a specified number of $5.00 contributions from voters?" This initiative also puts limits on political contributions to state candidates, which is a free speech issue. I vote NO.
Prop 90: GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION, REGULATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY The last ballot initiative is the Protect Our Homes Act, which I first heard about from Tim Sandefur. This is the anti-Kelo initiative. It would basically prevent the state government from using its eminent domain power to grab your property and give it to some corporation, which is what happened in the Kelo case. If you hated Kelo, vote for this. I vote YES.
There you have it. Since I encourage all my blog's visitors to be in complete agreement with me, I suggest that you Californians print out this post and take it with you on November 7th.
_______________
* The reason I vote against school bonds and for prison bonds is not because I'm a heartless bitch. I understand the argument that better schools may lead to fewer criminals. But school bonds always win, and yet we still need prisons. Insofar as my one vote can be a message, I plan to send that message. Where school bonds are concerned, my message is that the state should use the gobs of money we send them for schools each year more wisely. As for prisons, they're an unpopular but necessary part of our infrastucture, and my message is that I want them built. As the late Ann Richards said of Texas' vast prison system, when asked what kind of a message it sent to the world: "If you commit a crime in Texas, it means we got a place to put you."
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You are right about the bonds. The market is gunshy about California bonds now. I certainly would not buy any. All these new bonds could collapse the house of cards called California Public Financing.
They want to steal money from an industry that is giving us cheap energy and give the money to an industry that will only give us expensive energy. Most of the money to push this bill is coming from people who have big investments in alternative energy companies. As is the case with all the left's big ideas, poor people will suffer the most from this bill.
Posted by: Jake at October 29, 2006 12:44 PM (V6rxT)
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I'm torn on Prop 84, the last thing the state needs it more debt...but the money would be good for (my) business.
Posted by: the Pirate at October 29, 2006 07:47 PM (MifjL)
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Since spending on education, and spending per pupil, both in real and in relative numbers has gone up continuously since the 1950's while performance has gone down. You could make a good case that more money equals stupider kids.
Also, the correlation between criminal activity and education is not the direct causality one might assume. It really means that the criminally minded are usually stupid, lazy, and not inclined to take education seriously. I don't see how any amount of government spending can change that.
In other words, be a heartless bitch, thats why we love ya.
Posted by: kyle8 at October 29, 2006 07:50 PM (ruMxx)
4
Fifty years ago, when educational professionals were called teachers, they were both. Now, when teachers are called educational professionals, they are neither. They are government employees who hang around waiting for retirement, and rubber stamping the future. Oh, not all, just 90%.
Did you know that the highest paid public employees in America are public school superintendants?
BTW, I pledge to vote the Annikan Ballot.
Posted by: Casca at October 29, 2006 09:28 PM (2gORp)
5
I'd be right inline with your voting on these if I were in Cali. These education grubbers are all over this vast great nation. In Georgia these "initiatives" usually come in the form of Splost referendum. (special Purpose local option sales tax- or some such nonsense) I also vote no consistently but teachers and people who really don't know they're already paying for education, often trump me. And we continue to rank among the worst in education. People make education work-
not money.
Posted by: Mike C. at October 30, 2006 04:17 AM (GIL7z)
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We have a wonderful prison system here, and the county jails are top notch, especially in Dallas...now, if there were only more ladies like Annika out here, then Texas would be the place to be
Posted by: Scof at October 30, 2006 01:17 PM (afLeY)
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I'm with you on most of these -- I've been torn about Prop 87 but I think I'll vote against it. I do think *something* needs to be done to wean us from our dependence on oil, foreign *or* domestic, but this bill only addresses one side of the coin (and the wrong one, at that). Don't get me wrong -- I've no love for domestic-product oil companies, but all this will do is make more people head to the Exxon Mobil station next door. The notion that this won't be passed on to consumers is just plain silly and bad economics. Of course the tax will be passed on to consumers, and the execs will hire enough economists to make it appear that they're complying with the law.
We need to be allowed to tax the foreign oil companies (and we need concrete goals for how to spend the money, not to create some stupid wasteful commission that only creates needless jobs and needlessly spends the money that way). I blame the dormant commerce clause for idiotic ballot measures like this one.
I, too, am sick of spending so much money on public schools without seeing results. A huge part of this is that throwing money at a problem doesn't work. Wisely investing money *might*, but generally the people who are smart enough to know how to fix schools aren't working for the government educational boards. I'm certainly not in favor of raising taxes just so kids in the richest schools get the option of checking out laptops for homework, while the kids in East LA (or comparable areas in other parts of the state) don't even get a complete set of schoolbooks for the year.
Posted by: The Law Fairy at October 30, 2006 01:22 PM (XUsiG)
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Hey thanks for the recommendations. I am also looking for recommendations on the judges. Am having a hard time finding any online. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Anna at October 30, 2006 03:46 PM (SGG+E)
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"Of course the tax will be passed on to consumers, and the execs will hire enough economists to make it appear that they're complying with the law."
Exactly what I was thinking, LF.
Anna, on judges, I'm as stumped as you. If I come up with any ideas, I'll post them.
Posted by: annika at October 30, 2006 03:52 PM (zAOEU)
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Is there really a fundamental difference between education bonds and prison bonds? One can claim that education should be funded out of the general budget, rather than bonds. Why not make the same argument for prisons - namely, that we shouldn't be funding something as important as prisons via a funding method as atrocious as bonds? Yes, I know that a previous proposition dedicated funds to education, and that there's no similar dedicated revenue source for prisons, but I still believe that we need a better source for prison funding - it should come out of the general budget.
Regarding politicians, my views are as follows:
(1) Unless there's some absolutely pressing need, don't vote for incumbents. They have to earn their keep, and normally they don't.
(2) Whoever strikes with the first negative ad loses. If you're getting enough money to air negative ads, then someone's funding you who probably doesn't have my best interests in mind.
(3) Don't be afraid to write in candidates that you like (Deborah Acker, here we come). It won't make a difference, but you'll feel better.
Posted by: Ontario Emperor at October 30, 2006 06:14 PM (OeJic)
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I voted like that (absentee) - No on everything, and "NO!" especially whenever they bring out the old lie, "it's for the children" to pass over-funded school measures. It's bogus, they need to get over it.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 30, 2006 06:16 PM (VNM5w)
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"It doesn't make much sense to punish them for developing domestic oilfields in order to achieve energy independence. "
We cannot achieve energy independence through domestic oilfield development; not even close.
It will take major strides in 3 areas;
1. Energy efficiency (more bang for the btu)
2. Sustainable energy sources (so we don't have to do this again in another 20 years)
3. Conservation (biofuels and related efforts will only get us ~20% of the energy we use now from petroleum)
While I agree with you that the proposition has some warts, it would assume high risk to believe that 'business as usual' is the answer.
Posted by: will at November 01, 2006 01:45 PM (h7Ciu)
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I'm voting no against the school bonds too. Our schools would not be overcrowded if it weren't for the illegals and their anchor babies, and our school performance would not be nearly as dismal if it weren't for the huge numbers of non-English speaking kids in them that need special attention. Ditto our crubmling infrastructure -- it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have four million illegals living here and using it for free. So "no" from me on the infrastructure bond too.
Posted by: Mary at November 07, 2006 10:02 AM (oawG2)
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My dear Annie:
I am your loyal Golden Bear friend and fan. And I cancelled you out on every single proposition, without exception. Go us!
Beat the 'cats! Beat the Trojans!
Posted by: Hugo at November 07, 2006 01:49 PM (yLeev)
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lol hugo! i cancelled you out!
Cal Bears 4ever!!!
Posted by: annika at November 07, 2006 01:57 PM (kX6Jn)
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Annie, you do know that Garamendi was a star lineman for Cal in the 1960s? Don't ex Cal gridiron stars automatically deserve a vote, regardless of their politics?
Posted by: Hugo at November 07, 2006 03:15 PM (yLeev)
OSU Lends Cal A Hand
Or more specifically, Beaver DE Jeff Van Orsow lends Cal a hand, by batting away John David Booty's last ditch pass to send the game into OT. Beavers win (despite wearing the NCAA's ugliest uniform) and Cal moves into sole possession of first place in the Pac-10.
1
And yet, not a word about the number one team in the country. These Buckeyes are awesome. This team is far better than '02, and probably transcends '68.
I'm a little disappointed. I wanted USC to show up unscared in Glendale in January, so that there asswhipping could be complete. Looks like the Buckeyes will be the only undefeated team in the country at the end of the season no matter who shows up in Glendale.
Posted by: Casca at October 28, 2006 05:28 PM (2gORp)
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If thats the case Casca, then you might meet Texas again, After all, so far the only team that beat us is the number one team in the nation.
Posted by: kyle8 at October 29, 2006 06:04 AM (63Tqx)
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Sorry Kyle, as Anni or Shelly or another of the fucking lawyers might instruct you. This is settled law, besides, if anything the defeat would merely be more gruesome. It'll be the surviving team from the SEC.
Posted by: Casca at October 29, 2006 08:59 AM (2gORp)
4
Not if the SEC winner has two losses, which is entirely possible.
Also, although I believe that Ohio is clearly the best team in the country this year, If we played again the score would probably be closer. Don't look now but that little kid Colt McCoy, who played only his second ever game against Ohio State, has since then gotten good, real good.
His numbers are better than Vince Young's at this point last year.
But if we play USC in the non-title BCS game that's ok with me, I'd like to beat them again.
Posted by: kyle8 at October 29, 2006 07:42 PM (ruMxx)
5
My day of mourning is almost over so here it is:
I am a fucking lawyer; Annie is a fucking law student. Subtle distinction to be sure, but there it is.
Secondly, Cal will hold the lead until November 18; then they will go home with their tails between their ursine butts. Pete Carroll is not pleased;four turnovers will not win football games. Glad I'm not doing the pushups and running up the steps of the Coliseum this week.
OSU is clearly the best as of now. Spit happens.
Where the Hell is Glendale? The only one I know is near Burbank and Pasadena. I'm afraid that USC will be there, but OSU will be in Tempe. I was of the distinct impression that the BCS title tiff was at the Fiesta Bowl this year;last time I looked,it was still in Tempe.
Maybe Casca has had one too many spills on his four stroker Nazi two wheeler without wearing his helmet.
Posted by: shelly at October 29, 2006 08:48 PM (vFS/o)
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lol, careful you addled old bile factory. Were I in need of a fucking lawyer, I know which of the two of you I'd turn to. Now if I needed to influence public policy, you might make the list.
On to current events. The Fiesta Bowl now does business out of a brand new stadium in Glendale, AZ vice Tempe starting this year. Now take all of your guns and pills over to your son's house and lock them up until the second week in January.
Kyle, Colt's doing well because he has some talent, and you guys play punks. There aren't many defenses on the same level as the Buckeyes, but the Wolverines have one. Alas, the folks at UofM have no receivers without Manningham, and the Buckeyes can handle him if he returns. I'm sure that Colt is better now. Trouble is that the Buckeyes are MUCH better now. The Buckeyes always have a defense, this Defense is almost as good as 2002. The difference is that the Buckeye Offense could and will play in the NFL. That should be the BCS championship... Buckeyes vs the Raiders, or the Cardinals!
Finally, you mention Colt McCoy when Troy Smith is playing Heisman ball for the Buckeyes? Where's your head at? Oh, I'll tell you! It's up the fat lady's ass!!
Posted by: Casca at October 29, 2006 09:51 PM (2gORp)
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casca is right, I'm out in Phoenix right now and have been to the new stadium out in glendale, looks a bit like a silver ufo in the desert, but nice as hell inside. I'll look forward to Michigan and West Virginia playing there in the title game...
Posted by: Scof at October 30, 2006 01:27 PM (afLeY)
8
...and those Cal bears better watch out for my wildcats on the 11th. I think we've recovered nicely from that 45-3 beat down LSU put on us, the team psyche is like a wounded, delirious animal, we're crazy! watch out!
Posted by: Scof at October 30, 2006 01:30 PM (afLeY)
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Cal is going to get mauled for two straight weeks then. USC plays Stanford for practice this week and then will get personal with Cal on the 18th.
It is conceivable that we can run the table on Cal, UCLA and Notre Dame, maybe enough to get us to Glendale (my ASU graduate son never mentioned the change to me), but I'm not betting on it.
Looks like we go to Pasadena to play Michagoose,unless they kick some Nutmeg butt; again, I'm not betting on it.
Oh, well, it's a shorter drive.
Posted by: shelly at October 31, 2006 06:54 AM (YadGF)
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Oh yes, there's money to be made here. Put your money where your mouth is Scof. You want UofM over the Buckeyes? Bring it on bitch.
West Virginia? They don't belong in the top ten. They're tokens for their conference like Louisville. Shit, they'd have a claim if they played ANYONE ranked. They are a great run offense team and a mediocre everything else. In the SEC they'd be lucky to be .500.
Posted by: Casca at October 31, 2006 07:42 AM (Y7t14)
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There are lawyers who specialize in fucking? And all this time I thought "screwing the client" was just a figure of speech.
Posted by: Victor at October 31, 2006 09:20 AM (WHtgF)
12
Lets try the 3way here....
Casca: I'm tellin ya man, Carr looks rabid angry this year, the buckeyes will bowdown. how you wanna do it yo? I'll place fifty on UofM. perhaps we can both paypal it to annie and she can distribute the winnings to me afterwards.
Victor: Divorce lawyers?
Shelly: How the hell could you do that to your son? Did you lose a bet? I mean its ASU for pete's sake! Your son's school colors are urine yellow and tampon red!
Posted by: Scof at October 31, 2006 01:55 PM (a3fqn)
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Dude, you're on! $50 US, Anni can hold the cash, or you can just paypal me directly. You won't be going home with the dough. I'll take the Buckeyes and even money any day! You obviously haven't followed the Buckeyes this season, and know nothing of how Jim Tressel OWNS Carr's ass. This will be SOOOO sweet.
Posted by: Casca at October 31, 2006 02:43 PM (Y7t14)
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Troubling point on the BCS roundup show tonight. In actuality, USC's loss is bad for Cal, because even if Cal beats USC, now they won't be beating an undefeated team, and the effect on their ranking won't be as great. Damn, I should have been rooting for USC.
Posted by: annika at October 31, 2006 06:54 PM (qQD4Q)
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Shit, and I thought you just hated the rubbers.
Posted by: Casca at October 31, 2006 07:15 PM (2gORp)
Pumpkin Nation
Here it is, the long-awaited first music video from Peter Pumpkin The Spectacular Pumpkin!
I call it "Pumpkin Nation." It's a poignant story of love triangulation, set to a pulsating beat.
From Paris Hilton to David Hasselhoff and William Shatner, it's natural for cultural icons to branch out into the world of music video. Peter Pumpkin is no exception. So gimme a break.
Chris Matthews has been obsessing over the chick from the Ford ad all week. I think he's smitten. He keeps calling her "sexy, sexy, naked, naked, very alluring, sexy, naked," etc.
But she just isn't that hot. Seriously, I don't even think Casca would go after her. Well, maybe after a few Bacardi and Cokes, I don't know.
More: In Australia, there is a conservative politician running for a seat in a district named, coincidentally, Forde. Her name is Hajnal Ban and she is something.
1
Firstly, I don't drink rum & coke, unless there's nothing else. It's a chick drink. Give me anything on the rocks.
Secondly, I might give her a hot meat injection, but I wouldn't fall asleep until her ass was out the door. She's got psycho written all over her.
Posted by: Casca at October 27, 2006 11:13 PM (2gORp)
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I appreciate the recent Australian content. The post on Sheikh Hilali got me to finally look up just how it is that he came to be "mufti of Australia", since it's not as if he's state-appointed. And Hajnal Ban turns out to be in the federal seat next door to mine. :-)
Posted by: mitchell porter at October 27, 2006 11:29 PM (pdA3q)
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Good call, Annie. She's definitely not hot. If anything, she screams "WT." I'm betting Ford could do a whole bunch better.
The ad was obsolutely not racist; it's biggest sin was being very unfunny and kinda dumb.
Posted by: blu at October 27, 2006 11:59 PM (IDpQp)
Posted by: barry at October 29, 2006 12:56 PM (kKjaJ)
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I can't believe that the national press is trying so hard to turn this ad into something racist. The WT chick at the end is one unfunny bit out of many. The MSM knows the race-baiting charge will hurt the Rep in the race, so I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised. Still, to call this ad racist is just plain stupid.
Posted by: blu at October 29, 2006 10:07 PM (IDpQp)
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p.s. I should add that an even dumber MSM trick than tyring to make this stupid ad racist is its perpetuation of the lie that Evangelicals are moving away from the GOP. It's a totally unproven charge, based on polling data that shows that some are not 100% pleased with Bush & Co; but there is not an inkling of proof that they plan to stay home or change their vote to the Socialists...er, I mean...Democrats. Liberal media bias is getting intense the last few days of this campaign. It so bad now that it should be obvious to even somewhat casual political observers.
Posted by: blu at October 29, 2006 10:12 PM (IDpQp)
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There is a subset of Christians who have no desire to participate in the political process and had to be dragged into the polls the last few elections. These insular people don't care about politics because they think it's part of the world that they reject. They will stay home. I don't know what percentage of the whole they are, I'd guess it's a minority, but I don't know if it's something to be worried about. I've met these types and I don't understand them, but I know they exist.
Posted by: annika at October 29, 2006 11:44 PM (qQD4Q)
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Blu,
Though I don't fully agree with you that the possibly naked white babe is totally without racist ovretones and just unfunny, I am curious what the response would have been if she were black.
Curious too, as there were two choices of women (light skinned-dark skinned) why they chose white and risked the cry of playing the rasce card, when choosing a black women would have eliminated it.
Posted by: Strawman at October 30, 2006 07:30 AM (9ySL4)
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Yowza. I can't pronounce the Aussie chick's name, but I'd vote for her just to buy her some extra face time on TV.
Posted by: Matt at October 30, 2006 08:13 AM (10G2T)
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Weird, Straw, because I thought throwing in a black chick would have been more racist - but just as silly. (When I look at Ford, I see a guy who looks like he's got a bit of both races running through his veins. I don't know that for a fact though.)
Frankly, I think the whole Playboy thing is a non-factor. The guy is single. If he wants to go check out some hotties, who gives a rats ass. He ain't messing around on his wife, and he ain't a nancy boy. Reps should leave that shit alone.
Posted by: blu at October 30, 2006 11:17 AM (j8oa6)
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Blu,
Well of course, but we know that the party of Linclon is first and foremost the party of hypocrisy and innuendo. If they think they can alienate 6 coonhounds from voting for him they'll try.
Posted by: Strawman at October 30, 2006 12:12 PM (9ySL4)
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The Aussie girl is not just that: She's Hungarian descent, born in Israel, with an Aussie accent? Oy Vey, she must melt the knees when you see/hear her!
Of course, I haven't heard Annie's voice yet...
Posted by: Aviator Otto at October 30, 2006 09:40 PM (Xg9vC)
Same Shit Different Day
And just in case you thought a cease fire in the north meant peace all over Israel, think again.
Just because the anti-semitic media in this country doesn't deem it news don't meant this shit ain't still happening almost every fucking day.
P.S. The comments under the article are crazy. Man, if a Kassam rocket landed in my yard, but I was only "lightly injured" do you think I would: a) say "no harm no foul," and go on with my day, or b) get pissed as hell and start screaming nonstop until I saw warplanes flying back from Gaza with empty hardpoints.
Sheik Hilali was quoted as saying: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside ... without cover, and the cats come to eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat's? The uncovered meat is the problem. If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [the headdress worn by some Muslim women], no problem would have occurred."
Well, let's see, that means pretty much every female in the western world, I guess — including you, me, your sister, your mom, etc. We're all pieces of meat waiting to get eaten by a gang of cats.
1
So cats worship Islam, or Islam is the religion of cats?? It's that ancient Egyptian thing all over again.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 26, 2006 10:02 AM (VNM5w)
2Nice religion, assholes.
You really need to get that copyrighted.
Posted by: Gordon at October 26, 2006 10:28 AM (XxI53)
3
"Sheik Hilali was quoted as saying: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside ... without cover, and the cats come to eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat's? The uncovered meat is the problem."
Yeah, I've got your meat right here, sheik...
Posted by: BobG at October 26, 2006 10:56 AM (slQRd)
4
What a shit religion. You know, they'll blow themselves up for an imagined 72-scoop helping of virgin poon, yet they can't stand the site/scent of the feminine in this life. They're driving themselves crazy!!
....apparently Islam doesn't provide a strong enough moral code to live by if the mere site of a woman without her veil leads to rape.
Posted by: oddball theory at October 26, 2006 11:03 AM (a3fqn)
5
I think we've said it all concerning this vile, disgusting "religion." I'm not certain how much more I could dislike an ideology. Islamo-fascism is quickly catching up with communisim in regard to its disregard for human liberty and life. Of course, it has a long ways to go in order to reach the number of deaths for which it's responsible; but, if these guys have their way, it won't be long. Just another reason why success in Iraq specifically and the GWOT generally is fundamental to the survival of the West.
Posted by: blu at October 26, 2006 11:08 AM (IDpQp)
6
To continue the analogy, Sheik Halali apparently sees Muslim men as cats -- animals, in other words.
Thing is, I have very little regard for animal life. I have no problem with rendering entire species extinct if doing so serves humanity's interest. Survival of the fittest and all that. Truth be told, I used to shoot feral cats for sport. That's what you do with vermin. (I quit when, one day, I tagged one that turned out to have a collar. I felt badly about that.)
The Sheik should be more careful with his analogies. People are liable to get ideas.
Posted by: Matt at October 26, 2006 11:41 AM (10G2T)
7
Isn't it funny how the last post says that the religion shouldn't be belittled like that? Odd that he doesn't comment much on the idiotic comment of the Muslim cleric. It's always that way, they try to get us to bend over backwards and be understanding on their culture. Well, fuck their culture.
Posted by: Larry at October 26, 2006 03:31 PM (hRx9a)
8
Hey Gjerdes,
What do you think of that fascinating part of Muslim culture where women are stoned for being raped. (In the enlightened Islamic tradition, multiple males must vouch for a woman being raped. If not, well then that women is obviously an adultress and based on Sharia can be stoned. This is happening TODAY in Muslim countries.)
There has been nothing interesting about Islamic culture since it was kind enough to return Aristotle back to us. I'll give the Islamic tradition one thing though: Fucking great slave-traders!
FYI: Turkey is still full of 7th century-loving radicals who want a world-wide caliphate.
And, finally, name me the top 10 Islamic countries where women and religious minorities have the exact same rights as Muslim men. I'll be waiting....a long fucking time.
Posted by: blu at October 26, 2006 04:18 PM (IDpQp)
9
Sheikh Feiz Muhammad a Muslim leader in the UK said this:
"Strapless, backless, sleeveless - they are nothing but satanical. Mini-skirts, tight jeans - all this to tease men and to appeal to (their) carnal nature. Every minute in the world a woman is raped, and she has no one to blame but herself, for she has displayed her beauty to the whole world."
Bin Laden has said a number of times that his number one reason for wanting to destroy the West is the way Western women act and dress.
Posted by: Jake at October 26, 2006 04:40 PM (V6rxT)
10
One wonders why they ever left the desert, and their beloved goats.
If you haven't seen the videos, you've GOT to see Borat! He's fucking hilarious!
Posted by: Casca at October 26, 2006 08:41 PM (2gORp)
11
I have a dream....of mosques turned into bacon and sausage factories, with minarets serving as smokestacks for the World's Greatest BBQ cook out.
Posted by: Nick Byram at October 26, 2006 09:13 PM (XtdkR)
12
(oh, gosh Casca and I both laugh at Borat how will I get through the day? Casca, you know his is an over educated liberal Jewish Brit, right?)
Well,
At the risk of sounding like a religo-relativist I would venture to put forth the idea that if all that the world heard about American Christians and their beliefs and practices came from the people we see running the Jesus camp in the film now playing in theaters near you (forgot the name) or Jerry Falwell (911 was payback by god for Americas sins) all people with reasonable minds would be saying "nice religion, assholes" as well. Now don't go telling me that Sick fuck Christian fundo-facists don't call for stonings and revenge killings, they do and applaud every shot doctor that performs abortions, but yes Blu, our country tends to put them in jail and Syria does not, and so forth. I KNOW THAT. But they are nuts and promoters of violence and mayhem in the name of their faith in god and knowing his desires but they are also NOT the prevailing voice of their religion, just brought up to the microphones by the media whores. The same I think is true for the nut Islamists.
Of a billion followers of Islam, or the same of Catholicism you will not have to search too hard to find the sick fucks who have such serious distotions of character that their interpretation of gods wishes are antithetical to idea of "peace on earth good will towards men." Why are we outraged and seemingly surprised to see people like this highlighted by the media whores?
Posted by: Strawman at October 27, 2006 07:51 AM (9ySL4)
13
He probably watched V for Vendetta. It must've taught him that the Koran is something to cherish with all of its "beautiful imagery."
Posted by: reagan80 at October 27, 2006 07:53 AM (S6c/L)
Posted by: reagan80 at October 27, 2006 09:10 AM (S6c/L)
15
I guess it a numbers game, Straw. There are literally millions of Muslims with the distorted beliefs we are discussing. This may not be the majority in Islam, but it is a signficant minority - (see the surveys done in Islamic countries and the surveys done of Muslims living in Western Europe). The same argument cannot be made for any other of the world's major religions. The relativist argument is not a strong one in this case. Sure, you can point out anecdotal cases, but that's it.
Posted by: blu at October 27, 2006 11:12 AM (IDpQp)
16
Raygun,
DOn't get me wrong, I hate islam and all it stands for and how it leads people to strange conclusions about how to live. Basically I feel that way about all deistic religions. But I do recognize that the majority of people that follow any faith are rational and willing to get along. More members of some religions than others but the numbers of those that espouse intolerance, hatred and violence against non believers is a small percentage. I think that the figures that you cite about Jihadists and Muslims that, if asked, would burn America to the ground is inflated by those Muslims that hate America for reasons that have more to do with our foreign policy of belligerence, militarism and terror against Muslim states than which of those two inchoate books of fiction we follow.
Posted by: Strawman at October 27, 2006 11:33 AM (9ySL4)
17
"terror against Muslim states"
Which states specifically?
Posted by: blu at October 27, 2006 12:02 PM (IDpQp)
Posted by: Strawman at October 27, 2006 01:54 PM (9ySL4)
19
If Straw thinks we're terrorizing them now, wait until he sees a real THWTH strategy executed instead of the current liberal nation-building campaign.
Posted by: reagan80 at October 27, 2006 02:29 PM (dFOlH)
20
I wasn't aware that securing a nation's freedom from a murderous dictatorship and putting it on track towards a democratic government, bloody work though it may be, counted as terrorism. I thought terrorism was the act of targetting innocent civilians with random acts of violence in order to cause terror in a specific area. I wasn't aware that American had as its policy this specific definition. I'm pretty certain though that there are terrorists groups working in Iraq, backed by Iran and AQ, that are committing terrorists acts in order to stop the formation of said democratic government and in hopes of establishing an Islamo-fascist regime.
Surely, Straw, you were talking about these groups - not the country responsible for more human freedom and liberty than any in history.
Posted by: blu at October 27, 2006 04:21 PM (IDpQp)
21
Well Blu,
I think invading a country because we feel the form of government or the tyranny of their leader is not to our liking, or coveting their resources or concocting a propaganda campaign that construes a threat to our security is the act of a terrorist nation. Or maybe the term should be “terrifying nation” A nation of such unstoppable hubris and narcissistic, disordered thinking that it is willing to stomp another country out of existence because it can.
Bloody it surely is. The Iraqi people are suffering terribly for something they were not consulted and had they been and been given a clear picture of our strategy and goals, would have rejected. Why you Blu, an educated man, still cling to the silly idea that this adventure had altruistic underpinnings is fascinating. You who tout your knowledge of history and synthetic thinking about current events cannot see the real motive tells me more about the rigid and constricted thinking of the anti-liberals than anything else. You are willing to tie yourself into rhetorical knots with ropes of deceit rather than to see the incredible suffering of Iraq and its people and the complete failure of a cynical plan to install democracy with no attempt to care for the people whose country and lives are ruined in the process. This process which is mired in the corruption, weak will and ignorance of its designers. Designers who appear to be willing to sacrifice thousands more of our sons and daughters to this folly. This folly that has had NO positive effect on regional stability or national security but rather has deepened and solidified the hatred for our nation the world over, has swelled the ranks of those who will fight us if given a chance, has polarized our nation, and appears to have strained the credulity of the lumpen masses so that the republican yes men that lent it support will be swept from power. (that BTW is a good thing)
Did you happen to watch the POV "My Country, My Country" Wed. night on public television? A 6 month visit to Iraq by an American documentarian that follows the run up to the elections while living with an Iraqi doctor and his family. Very enlightening. Very sad.
Posted by: Strawman at October 27, 2006 06:13 PM (9ySL4)
22
You don't believe when Iraq stabilizes and the government begins to function properly, taking of its primary function - that of providing security for its people - that this will help provide regional stability and also ameliorate the larger ME condition? I absoulutely believe it will; and I also believe it is in our long-term national interest for a host of reasons, including security and, yes, energy (oil).
If Iraq fails, the world will be a much more dangerous place; if it succeeds both the world and, more importantly, American will be better off.
Posted by: blu at October 27, 2006 06:48 PM (IDpQp)
23
"I think invading a country because we feel the form of government or the tyranny of their leader is not to our liking, or coveting their resources or concocting a propaganda campaign that construes a threat to our security is the act of a terrorist nation"...so--suppose France and Britain had decided to attack Germany in 1935 in order to suppress the growing threat of Naziism. Would this have been an act of terrorist nations, in your view?
Posted by: david foster at October 28, 2006 09:20 AM (/Z304)
24
I know the use of terrorist in this context is quite a stretch and I did recant a bit by dubbing our intervention the act of a "terrifying nation".
I think it is easy to say that Britain and France should have acted preemptively and that although it would have been an act of war and denounced, we, with the aid of hindsight see it plainly as necessary. I am not enough of a student of history to know the answer to you question. I suspect that there was plenty to judge the likely outcome if Hitler was not stopped. I am reasonably sure that 30 or so million would not have died. On the other hand if you are trying to make an analogy to Iraq I think you are barking up the wrong tree.
It would have been and was relatively easy to assess the military strength acquired by the Reich and to understand what they had in mind and how difficult it would be to repel them once they began their offensive.
No matter what Iraq had going for it militarily there was NO QUESTION that it could be contained and crushed if any aggressive action was initiated by Saddam. We flew over with planes and satellites and our and the west in general has military might so far and away beyond Iraq's that there was no threat. NONE. To believe anything else is to believe the Chainy-Rice-Bush propaganda program that was a complete falsehood from the start and only became more histrionic and nutty as time went on.
So David, were you feeling insecure about Iraq and their capacity to cause you and our country harm?
BLU,
This government will NEVER stabilize and be a benefit to the well being of the region. I donÂ’t know where you get the signals that lead to your optimistic view.
Posted by: Strawman at October 28, 2006 11:11 AM (9ySL4)
25
"This government will NEVER stabilize"
One can make a reasonable argument about us not going in the first place or getting out of there now without resorting to unproveable absolutes. Wars are long and difficult and always unpredictable.
Posted by: blu at October 28, 2006 03:27 PM (IDpQp)
26
"It would have been and was relatively easy to assess the military strength acquired by the Reich"...there were still plenty of people in 1935 who thought the German threat was entirely containable. The French Army and the Royal Navy were both viewed as unmatched in their power; also, many people argued that Hitler's rhetoric was just for domestic consumption, that he didn't really mean it, and that anyhow, more-responsible forces in the military and in business would keep him in check.
Strategic decisions should be a function of the overall situation, not just of whether some particular country or leader makes one feel "insecure." I doubt if FDR felt terribly insecure about the threat posed by Italy; nonetheless, the invasion of Italy was probably a strategically-correct thing to do.
Posted by: david foster at October 29, 2006 08:52 AM (/Z304)
27
re assessment of Hitler's strength. This is an early example of intelligence overestimation. A. Scott Berg's biography of Lindbergh has the story of how Lindy was sent over to Germany to gather info on their war machine in the thirties. He was completely hoodwinked by Hitler, who impressed him by showing the same planes again and again, so Lindbergh thought Germany was stronger than it actually was. This trip led Lindbergh to become anti-war. Well, that and he was a total anti-semite.
Posted by: annika at October 29, 2006 01:04 PM (qQD4Q)
28
Annika,
The Russians did this too. The "bomber gap" as it was called in 1957 it was a response to a deceit that caught the CIA sleeping. Bear and Bison bombers were flown past observers at an air show multiple times sugessting that the R's had far more of these nuke carring bombers than we thought. ( I had heard a story that they parked them outside hangers each day with new numbers painted on the tails but I can't find confirmation) Ike doubled the production rate of B-52's and authorized U-2 flights to make an accurate determination, which confirmed there was in fact no gap but CurtisLemay got what he wanted. the same was true a few years later regarding the "missile gap"
Posted by: Strawman at October 29, 2006 03:54 PM (9ySL4)
Danish Court Dismisses Jihadi Lawsuit Over CartoonsScore one for our side.
"It cannot be ruled out that the drawings have offended some Muslims' honor, but there is no basis to assume that the drawings are, or were conceived as, insulting or that the purpose of the drawings was to present opinions that can belittle Muslims," the court said.
The seven Muslim groups filed the defamation lawsuit against the paper in March, after Denmark's top prosecutor declined to press criminal charges, saying the drawings did not violate laws against racism or blasphemy.
The plaintiffs, who claimed to have the backing of 20 more Islamic organizations in the Scandinavian country, had sought $16,860 in damages from Jyllands-Posten Editor in Chief Carsten Juste and Culture Editor Flemming Rose, who supervised the cartoon project.
What they need to do now is get rid of the stupid law that allows people to sue for "belittling Muslims."
A boy got stuck inside a friggin' toy machine today! Can you believe it?
Crazy kids. Whattayagonnado?
After dropping $20 in quarters, Dad finally gave up 'cuz the stupid claw thing kept dropping the kid. "Those damn things are rigged," he was heard saying as he drove away in frustration.
Charles E. Cheese could not be reached for comment.
1
Gah, that brings back memories of my days in kindergarten. I even remember those damn Coke commercials with that guy in them. Back then, I noticed the 5th & 6th graders were using paper book coverings, with Headroom's likeness on them, over their texts.
I didn't understand the point of the character, but after looking at his Wikipedia entry, I realize now that he's just some anti-Thatcher/Reagan persona.
Posted by: reagan80 at October 25, 2006 09:43 PM (dFOlH)
My E-Mail From San Fran Nan
I got an e-mail from Nancy Pelosi today. No lie. I'm on some Democrat list, inexplicably. I thought it was a weird e-mail because it was titled "what we need to do," yet she pretty much avoided mentioning any of the key issues of the day. So much for a Democratic version of the Contract With America.
Here is the entire text of the e-mail:
Dear annika,
You know how high the stakes are -- so I'll get right to the point: there's never been a more critical time to highlight the priorities everyday Americans share.
Right now, working families suffer because corporate lobbyists write the laws. Our seniors can't get the drugs they need because the drug companies get everything they want. And President Bush continues to threaten one of our society's greatest accomplishments -- Social Security -- with his risky privatization schemes.
Congress needs to focus on an agenda that benefits the American people:
* Impose new rules and regulations to break the link between lobbyists and legislation
* Allow the government to negotiate with drug companies and fix Medicare Part D
* Stop Social Security and Medicare privatization plans in their tracks
* Raise the minimum wage to $7.25
* Cut the interest rates on student loans in half
* Roll back subsidies to Big Oil and gas companies
* Enact all the recommendations made by the independent 9/11 Commission
And that all needs to be done in the first 100 hours!
Working together, we will make that happen. Please help Americans United today:
There's a lot at stake in the coming weeks, but we must never lose focus on the task at hand: building a better country. Your work changes the national debate, raising awareness about the misplaced priorities of the current leadership.
Last year, Americans United led the national media campaign against Social Security privatization -- and won.
Now, with so much more at stake, will you help us win again?
Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader, U.S. House of Representatives
That's it?
(It's nice that the Democrats want to cut student loan rates in half, but if you can't afford 8% over thirty years with the almost unlimited deferment schemes available, something is seriously wrong with your post college career path.)
I'm sorry but that was a weird e-mail. It's weird because she said absolutely nothing about the big issues that people are arguing about — the issues that are going to get people off their ass and down to the voting booth less than two weeks from now.
She said nothing about Iraq.
Nothing about the War on Terror.
Nothing about impeachment.
Nothing about tax cuts.
Nothing about gay marriage.
Nothing about abortion.
Nothing about crime.
Nothing about North Korea.
Nothing about Iran.
Nothing about the border.
The Democrats are either a party with no agenda or a party with a hidden agenda. Either way, they absolutely cannot be trusted with a majority.
1
"Allow the government to negotiate with drug companies"
"Negotiate with" the drug companies? Probably more like "dictate to", in practice.
I also swoon at her non-solution to the fiscal black hole that is Social(ist) Security.
Yeah, I'm racking up a lot of debt on my college loans, but I'm not desperate enough to put that socialist hag's party in charge so they could wreck my prospects for keeping a decent post-grad job to pay off those very loans. The Dems are just going to enact policies that will sap the entrepreneurial ammo away from my potential employers.
Posted by: reagan80 at October 25, 2006 09:24 PM (dFOlH)
Posted by: The Truth at October 26, 2006 12:43 AM (3mfkT)
3
How right you are Annika. I'd be interested to know whether Nancy's retirement relies soley on Social Security or if she's invested in the Stock Market, like everyone else on Capital Hill. They've really run the propaganda machine on this one.
Posted by: Mike C. at October 26, 2006 03:12 AM (GIL7z)
4
Let's see, the R's were out of power in the house for about sixty years. Most of my life I lived with a go-along-get-along R minority. Then came Newt. Nancy, you are no Newt.
Although it would be delicious to see fatboy Denny bounced, and the Princlings in the house made to bow and shuffle. Hell I even think the Republic could withstand the roll to port. It's not going to happen.
But if it does... just watch what the R's in the house will do to get back up on the porch now that they know they can do it. Before 1994, nobody believed that it could be done. This time there will be no allowing them to go with grace. They'll be running for their lives, and living in a basement somewhere.
Posted by: Casca at October 26, 2006 06:26 AM (Y7t14)
5
Let's see, roll back the Bush tax cuts which costs me money, to lower the rate on student loans (consolidated at the lower rates.) Yep, there's a reason to vote for the Dems.
I'm sure the people who own drug company stocks (oh yeah, me again in my 401K) will be thrilled when they tank. Not to mention the poor folks who get some disease that might have been cured, had the drug companies been able to research it. Yep, good reason to vote for the Dems.
It's simply not bold enough. I want the minimum wage to be $200/hr - and $5000/hr for me. I want the Dems to impeach the Iranian and Kim, and Osama too. I want free cable TV, and a Lexus.
My vote can be had, but the Dems have to try way harder than this.
Posted by: MarkD at October 26, 2006 08:53 AM (oQofX)
6if you can't afford 8% over thirty years with the almost unlimited deferment schemes available, something is seriously wrong with your post college career path. Like they didn't bother to take any classes in Economics, but found "enriching personal fulfillment" in Birth of a Poet (UC Santa Cruz)... This is the insanity that comes out of a party which tries to legislate worldwide economic markets. They don't know how to build anything, they have no engineering expertise - but they have many, repeated, failed attempts at social-engineering.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at October 26, 2006 10:10 AM (VNM5w)
7
A roll to port; are you nuts?
We need to stay on a starboard tack and keep those lubbers eating our foul wind.
No mercy.
Posted by: shelly at October 26, 2006 02:40 PM (ZGpMS)
St. Crispin's Day
Today represents a confluence of five favorite blog themes: poetry, drama, politics, history and religion. Today is St. Crispin's Day. Wikipedia says this about Saints Crispin and Crispinian.
Crispin and Crispinian were once the Catholic patron saints of cobblers, tanners, and leather workers. Born to a noble Roman family in the 3rd century AD, Saints Crispin and Crispinian, twin brothers, fled persecution for their faith, winding up in Soissons, where they preached Christianity to the Gauls and made shoes by night. Their success attracted the ire of Rictus Varus, the governor of Belgic Gaul, who had them tortured and beheaded c. 286. In the 6th century, a church was built in their honor at Soissons.
The feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian is October 25. However, these saints were removed from the liturgical calendar (but not declared to no longer be saints) during the Catholic Church's Vatican II reforms.
The reasoning used by Vatican II for this decision was that there was insufficient evidence that Saints Crispin and Crispinian actually existed. Indeed, their role as shoemakers, their relationship as twins, and the timing of their holiday are suggestive of the possibility that they could have represented a local Celtic deity (Lugus-Mercurius) which had been made into a saint as a result of syncretism. [links omitted]
You may not know about the Catholic feast day, but I hope you know about the most famous speech from Shakespeare's Henry V, the St. Crispin's Day Speech. I posted that speech back during the Battle of Fallujah in 2004. Today I am reminded of the appeasers and the "cut-and-run" crowd by this famous line:
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
Celebrate St. Crispin's by watching Kenneth Branagh recite the Bard's poetry:
And let's not forget too, that 62 years ago was day three of the biggest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
1
Annika, you left out the sixth blog theme: Shoes.
Granted, their shoes were probably more practical rather than super-fantastic, but I'm stunned you left out the shoes.
Posted by: Victor at October 25, 2006 11:45 AM (WHtgF)
2
I love that monolouge - may well be the best written by the best writer ever.
Posted by: KG at October 25, 2006 01:34 PM (AC0TE)
3
Yeah, Branagh's fuckin' good. I stumbled across the last hour or so of Henry V a few weeks ago while I was channel-surfing. I got all misty-eyed an' shit during the speech. It made me want to go kill a Frenchman, or rejoin the Corps, or . . . somethin'.
Posted by: Matt at October 25, 2006 01:40 PM (10G2T)
4
"It made me want to go kill a Frenchman..."
LOL.
Very funny shit, Matt.
Posted by: blu at October 25, 2006 01:49 PM (j8oa6)
5
Annika,
I am surprised to hear you use the Rovian "cut and run" when you know full well that it is a manufactured position of the RW, pinned to the lapel of anybody who's eyes are open to the incredible morass that Iraq has become and knows there is no effective plan in place. To defend themselves for their umworkable, planless stupidity and critics, they and their pig headed committement to continue (in spite of their new pre-election disavowal of the "stay the course" mantra) they need to call every thing that is not planless and stupid, "cut and run". The idea that we are fighting a strategic battle in Iraq against the "terrorist" forces of Islam, is so ludicrous as to be laughable. The idea that killing the various members of the shite and sunni fighters is somehow about security in America or elsewhere is completely nuts. The concept that if we kill enough of thoses who are fighting to gain control of Iraq and push us out we will prevent the spread of a world wide Islamic hegemony, as the dimwit said this afternoon is drivel. Every justification and speculation about the need to be fighting in Iraq as put forth by these hacks defies logic. The emperor has no clothes, his advocates and supporters are cutting and running from him in the hope they don't go down with his foundering ship. I don't know if the democrats have any useful ideas as to how a shattered and destabilized Iraq can be put together again but I am positive the Bushies have no solution and are prepared to allow 2-3 thousand young Americans die while they try B,C, and D if they can ever figure out that A didn't work.
Posted by: Strawman at October 25, 2006 01:54 PM (9ySL4)
6
"The idea that we are fighting a strategic battle in Iraq against the "terrorist" forces of Islam, is so ludicrous as to be laughable."
The insurgency is being financed and led by Iran, the world's biggest state sponsor of terror. When Iran and Al Queda are in the same place fighting for the same goal, I'm pretty confident that we are in fact fighting the terrorist forces of Islam. Fighting them is not nuts nor is the idea of helping establish a functioning democratic state in that part of the world. Why do you think AQ and Iran are there, Straw? They don't want an American foothold in the region (that also strengthens Isreal) because it gets in the way of the Islamic hegemony they'd like to see in the region.
Read "The Looming Tower" and then wax philosophic about this topic. After that, watch the You Tube video of Henry V and maybe you'll grow a pair and then join the good guys.
Posted by: blu at October 25, 2006 02:30 PM (j8oa6)
7
Thanks for the reminded about Leyte.
A Google News search showed almost no coverage in US publications--lots of stuff in the Philippines, and one mention in a paper in Illinois.
Posted by: david foster at October 25, 2006 02:46 PM (/Z304)
Posted by: Strawman at October 25, 2006 02:56 PM (9ySL4)
9
duhh, book spammer... what do you think Henry V was about?
Posted by: annika at October 25, 2006 05:38 PM (G2SNG)
10
Blu:
There are three groups that are promoting terrorism in Iraq: Al Qaida, Iran and the Democrats.
Posted by: Jake at October 25, 2006 06:47 PM (V6rxT)
11
Keegan, I think his name is, referred to correctly as 'an eminent Britsh military historian' at keshertalk.com, has a book on '6 Decisive Battles,' and gives the story of Agincourt and the tactical ability of the English. The French did come in all their arms of knighthood in 'overwhelming force' and were destroyed by the English long bow.
Posted by: michael at October 25, 2006 09:13 PM (TKyjh)
12
It's the classic The Face of Battle, by John Keegan, you are referring to. Get a copy, it's good.
Posted by: annika at October 25, 2006 10:54 PM (qQD4Q)
Wednesday is Bad Poetry Day: NASCAR Poetry
In case regular readers of Annika's Journal haven't noticed, she has left Poetry Day in my hands. Since I can do whatever I like with Poetry Day, I've declared the last Wednesday of the month will be dedicated to Bad Poetry. This week: NASCAR Poetry.
A few weeks ago, I had some fun at NASCAR's expense, asking, "Notice there's no real good NASCAR poetry out there?" Believe me, there's not (I looked. Lord, how I looked!) and I doubt there ever will be.
I state this because NASCAR isn't a sport that lends itself to poetry. I realize there is strategy and drama and winners and losers, but the sport in and of itself isn't poetic. In fact, NASCAR and poetry are so far apart, the thought of combining the two was turned into a joke at The Specious Report. Take a look at NASCAR haiku, as printed in that article:
Pit crew watches, waits;
Tire tread and ashpalt embrace
Sweet sigh of relief.
NASCAR will never produce a Casey at the Bat. Name a situation in NASCAR with the drama of being down by one or two in the bottom of the ninth, where one swing of the bat leaves you the hero or (in Casey's case) the goat. Not to say there's no drama in NASCAR, but sneaking up on someone on the last lap just isn't the same.
Kids can't really "play" NASCAR, while lots of kids play football, baseball, basketball...you get the idea. NASCAR will never inspire anything like How To Play Night Baseball.
But still, some try. I suspect T. is a very nice person--the kind of person who'll give you the shirt off her back, invite you to her house & feed you until you can't move, and make you feel like a friend you've known since the day you were born. I kind of feel bad about making fun of her poetry.
I mean, she has a poem to her pets on her page! Anyone with pets is OK in my book. But take a look at this:
A Prayer For The Drivers
This is a prayer to say before every race begins
To keep all the drivers safe and God bless whoever wins
So bow your heads with me, and together we will ask
That God protect every driver for each and every lap...
"Dear God in heaven we ask you to watch over this track
and keep these drivers safe and sound for every single lap
watch them and protect them with your caring watchful eye
and bless them each and every time a green flag lap goes by
we pray there are no cautions because of a crash
and let them continue to race this race until the very last
so which ever driver makes his way to Victory Lane
we, the fans, know you heard our prayer
and blessed us all the same...
Amen"
Umm...OK. This is a nice sentiment (although every time I read God bless whoever wins I want to continue The rest of you LOSERS can go to hell! ) but the meter is generic (when it's not blown completely), the rhyming is forced at times, and it almost sounds as if it was produced by the head of the Prom comittee who's about to blow her own deadline or something...I dunno. Bad poetry leads to bad analogies.
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One might think that I'd relish the weekly opportunity to bitchslap this nitwit. Alas, it's reached the level of beating an idiot child, and this I can not do. One holds that he MUST be one of God's creatures, although one found on the more extreme end of the spectrum of stupidity. I shall avert my gaze.
Posted by: Casca at October 25, 2006 06:18 AM (Y7t14)
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haha, bad poetry leads to bad analogies, lol
speaking of racing poetry, one lyric immediately jumped in my mind:
"Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
Engines pumping and thumping in time.
The green light flashes, the flags goes up,
Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup."
Sounds familiar? i love that song, remember the video here. there's no cars in it, but the lyrics are definitely about some type of car race.
Posted by: annika at October 25, 2006 07:51 AM (qQD4Q)
Posted by: Radical Redneck at October 25, 2006 09:47 AM (IsmEM)
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Hello Victor,
What a great theme. I actually grew up around a place that sponsered a stock car. I could hear the races at night and I lived like 5 miles from the track. The only other thing I had to add is that there is a very cool murder mystery series by Janet Evonovich (or something like that) one of which is called Metro Girl.
Drake Steel
Posted by: Drake Steel at October 29, 2006 10:31 AM (vrCzD)
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Funny that you didn't come across my blog during your search:
http://nascarpoetry.blogspot.com/
It's mostly lyrics to popular songs altered into NASCAR race reviews, but the site started out with a handful of poems about NASCAR. I admit that none of my work is T.S. Eliot, but for the benefit of your argument, I suggest you take a gander.
Posted by: Brock Beard at October 31, 2006 05:25 PM (0WbFA)
