The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, "Who's going to meet my needs?" and starts asking, "Whose needs can I meet?" Do you ever ask that question? -- Rick Warren
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Q&A Friday #31: Why Is There Such Animosity Towards America Around The World?
Question: "why do feel that there is so much animosity towards America around the world. One only has to look as Europe, Asia, Oceania to see that America is the most hated nation in the world." -- kida
Answer: As long as America is a Super Power, we'll be hated by a lot of people. It goes with the territory. When you're the biggest, richest nation in the world, no matter how much good work you do, everyone else resents the fact that you have the power to do things that they can't and have a say in areas where no one cares what they think. Because of that, they find reasons to dislike you, rational or not.
Want other nations to at least seem to love America? Then, we can be lapdogs of the UN and Europe and let them tell us when it's OK to defend our country, how we can do it, and we can sign every sovereignty and economy killing treaty they put in front of us. If we do that, our poll numbers in other countries will go up and we'll be lauded for being such great international citizens.
Then, the first time we get out of line and do what we want, instead of what they tell us to do, they'll despise us again. Don't buy that? Well, let's see: we saved Europe from the Nazis, rebuilt them after WW2 with the Marshall program, protected them from the Evil Empire for 40 years, took care of the Serbians in their own backyard -- and all that brought us, what, 6-12 months worth of gratitude from the ingrates, if that, after 9/11?
That's not to say we shouldn't do our best to create good will towards America in the rest of the world, but, being liked isn't as important as defending our country from terrorists, guarding our sovereignty, or looking out for America first.
For whatever it's worth, I support John Shadegg as a replacement for Tom DeLay. Want to know why you should support him, too? Here's the very first paragraph from his bio:
"John Shadegg has represented Arizona's Third Congressional District since 1994. He has established a reputation in Congress as a leading advocate for reduced government spending, federal tax relief, and the re-establishment of state and individual rights."
"The United States will have new tools to fight terrorists, human smugglers, and drug smugglers after two amendments were added to the border security bill today.
The amendments, sponsored by House Policy Chairman John Shadegg, increase the penalties for forging documents – especially if the forgeries are used by drug smugglers or terrorists – and allows prosecutors to go after money launderers who work for human smugglers.
“Securing our border is vital to national security,” Shadegg said. “These are serious crimes, and our law enforcement agencies and courts need to be able to treat them effectively.”
The first amendment increases the penalty to at least 25 years for document fraud committed to facilitate an act of international terrorism, and increases the maximum sentence from 20 to 40 years for document fraud committed in drug trafficking.
The same amendment also adds 15 years to the prison sentence of an illegal immigrant who commits a crime of violence or drug trafficking, if that illegal immigrant was already ordered to leave the United States for committing a crime here. Any illegal immigrant who commits any violent or drug trafficking-related crime will also have 5 years added to his or her prison sentence.
The second amendment adds “human smuggling” to the list of crimes in the federal money laundering laws. Human smuggling is a fast-growing category of crime which brings in an estimated $10 billion a year.
“If we want to secure our border, we must get serious about the penalties for border-related crimes,” Shadegg said. “These are common-sense changes to deal with reality on the border.”
"The Enumerated Powers Act, H.R. 2458, requires that all bills introduced in the U.S. Congress include a statement setting forth the specific constitutional authority under which the law is being enacted. This measure will force a continual re-examination of the role of the national government, and will fundamentally alter the ever-expanding reach of the federal government."
Now most of you are probably thinking, "This guy sounds pretty good, but does he really have a chance to become Majority Leader?"
Absolutely! Shadegg is no lightweight. He has a power base in the House that gives him a real chance to win:
"Shadegg was recently elected Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, the fifth-ranking position in the House Leadership. He is the only member of the Republican Class of 1994 currently serving in Leadership.
From 2000 to 2002, Congressman Shadegg served as chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest conservative organization in the House of Representatives. Under Shadegg's leadership, the organization grew from 40 to more than 70 members, and became the most influential and respected force in the U.S. House shaping conservative policy for the country."
John Shadegg is exactly the type of guy conservatives should want running things in the House of Representatives. He's honest, he's conservative, and he has proven that the principles we believe in really mean something to him.
That why I endorse John Shadegg for Majority Leader.
*** Update #1 ***: Shadegg's lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union is 98 out of 100.
Question: "Congressional Term Limits...How can we realistically expect elected officials to impose them? What are the pro's and con's? What are our options? How do we put a stop to the current circus and restore respectability to the legislative branch?" -- Scotty_iraq
Answer: Putting Term Limits on Congress is tough for two reasons: because it would likely take a Constitutional Amendment to get them through and because Congressmen would be voting themselves out of office.
Here's a possible solution: make it so that the Term Limits only apply to newly elected members of Congress. That way the old guard can support them and get credit for being reformers without having to worry about it costing them their jobs.
That being said, Constitutional Amendments are always difficult to get passed through so it would take a massive grassroots effort, a presidential candidate making it part of their platform, something to jumpstart the effort and give it a chance to happen.
As far as the pros go, in many districts and states our Congress has in effect ceased to be a democratic body, particularly in the House. If you're a Congressman sitting in a district that has been gerrymandered to be 60% Republican or Democrat, you have such a big advantage over any primary challengers or opponents from the other party that it's essentially a lifetime job if you want it in most cases. There tend to be more competitive races in the Senate, but even there, in every election cycle, the majority of Senators don't have competitive races. That's a problem because it leads to career politicians, who are more prone to corruption and less in tune with voters, which is something the Founding Fathers never intended. That's why regularly getting new blood in Washington is so important.
As far as the cons go, there are trade-offs. Even if you had a good representative, he'd have to leave after, let's say, 2 terms in the Senate or two in the House. Of course, I'd say that numbers wise, there are a lot more mediocre and average career reps than great ones in Congress and as a country, we'd benefit from their being cycled out.
The argument could also be made that the experience level in our Congress would drop. Again, I don't find that to be a convincing argument because I believe serving the people in Congress may be a difficult job, but there are countless people who are up to the job (even if they don't have what it takes to get elected). In my personal opinion, you could replace Ted Kennedy, Robert Byrd, and Joe Biden with randomly selected 50-year-old Democratic cops, business men, or soldiers and chances are it would be a big improvement. Honestly, that's probably true for 80% of the people in Congress on both sides of the aisle.
So, in my view, the sooner we add terms for Congress, to go along with the Term Limits on the President, the better government we'll have for this country.
Answer: I've never been much of a drinker. I started drinking occasionally in high school and drank a bit here and there until I was oh, 21, 22? But, I never liked beer and rarely ever drank unless I was planning to get wasted and head out with some friends to go to a party or clubbing, which wasn't an every week thing for me. In fact, I bet I never drank more than a half dozen times over any one year's time.
Eventually, after I decided that parties were horribly boring and had come to mildly regret some of the dumb things I'd said and done while trashed, I just quit drinking completely.
But, my favorite drink -- when I did drink -- was Absolut Vodka mixed with Kool-Aid (Can you tell that I haven't drank since college? =D)
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Q&A Friday #31: Are Republicans Serious About Stopping Abortion?
Question: Dear John,
Recently a question was purposed in another forum: What have Republicans done to stop abortion? His (the author) main thesis was that Republicans use the Pro-Life label to get elected and then do relatively nothing to defend it. Is this the case? Could you please cite to me specific examples?
Thank you, Dane Davis
by Dane
Answer: There are plenty of places you can ding Republicans for talking the talk, but not walking the walk -- like spending and illegal immigration, just to name two. But, in my opinion, abortion isn't one of them.
First of all, Republicans can't ban abortion outright because of Roe v. Wade. We could try for a constitutional amendment to get around that, but it would be futile, because they couldn't get enough support for it. Until Roe v. Wade is overturned (and we'd need to replace at least one more judge after Alito gets on the court to do it), we're stuck.
On the other hand, there are some things Republicans can do to nibble at abortion along the edges and we've done so when we've had the opportunity. For example, Bush signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban and withheld funds to the UN Fund for Population because it was used for abortions.
Unfortunately, what you have to keep in mind is that until Roe v. Wade is reversed and the abortion issue truly comes back into the democratic arena, Republicans are very limited in the options we have to fight against it.
Q&A Friday #31: What About Gonzales For Another Opening?
Question: John, what do you think of the idea of "saving" a nomination of Alberto Gonzales as Supreme Court Justice for a possible open seat after a theoretical Democratic victory in the '06 elections?
If the Democrats were to take over the Senate or (in a more realistic scenario) trim the GOP margin, it would be hard to push a nominee between the obstructionists and the RINOs. In that case, a maybe-conservative already called "acceptable" by Democratic leaders might seem more palatable.
Would you agree with the politics and would you support the choice in that more difficult scenario?" -- hitnrun_1
Remember this from Dr. Seuss?
"i could not, would not, on a boat.
i will not, will not, with a goat.
i will not eat them in the rain.
i will not eat them on a train.
not in the dark! not in a tree!
not in a car! you let me be!
i do not like them in a box.
i do not like them with a fox.
i will not eat them in a house.
i do not like them with a mouse.
i do not like them here or there.
i do not like them ANYWHERE!
i do not like green eggs and ham!
i do not like them, sam-i-am."
The way he feels about green eggs and ham is how I feel about Gonzales, except I'm going to change my mind at the end of the story. There will never, ever be a good time to nominate Gonzales to the Supreme Court and that's doubly true after the brouhaha Bush caused by nominating Harriet Miers.
Plus, at this point, the chances are better that the GOP will add seats in the Senate or at least break even rather than lose any. The Democrats are definitely not going to take back the Senate and even if a nightmare scenario were to take place for the GOP, the Dems still couldn't take more than 2-3 seats. That means the GOP would have a majority (with enough arm twisting) capable of killing the nuclear option and voting through a strong conservative nominee.
But even if the GOP didn't have a majority, the President would be better off trying to force through a conservative nominee. In my view, it's better to risk having your top candidates voted down than to just put up a 3rd stringer right off the bat. If the Democrats vote your candidate down just because he/she's conservative it makes them appear unreasonable, gives Republicans a great excuse to do the same thing to a Democrat one day, and even if the 2nd or 3rd choice turns out to be a Souter or a Kennedy, at least the President has a defense (Well, I couldn't get my #1 choice).
Q&A Friday #31: Angelina Jolie Or Jennifer Aniston?
Question: "Alright, on that note: Angelina Jolie, or Jennifer Aniston?" -- maledicta
Answer: You have Jennifer Aniston, who has the ultimate girl next door look and then you have curvier and more exotic looking Angelina Jolie. Both of them are rich, famous, and talented women and at first glance, you'd think any single guy would jump at the chance to be with either of them.
However, I have to tell you, I know a little too much about Jolie to even make this a fair contest. In fact, Jolie is so daffy, that I wouldn't even want to go out on a date with her. I know you're thinking, "Come on, Hawkins, you're just talking trash. What red blooded American man would turn down a chance to go out with Angelina Jolie?"
Right here, folks. I'm that guy.
First of all, she swings both ways. Now, I know most guys think that's great, but I've known more than one guy who has had to suffer through the embarrassment of having his girlfriend dump him for another woman. And Jolie has apparently had a decade long affair with Jenny Shimizu, who's probably the least attractive "super model" I've ever seen in my life (and yes, I'm including Grace Jones in that group). In and of itself, that's a killer. But then there's the fact you couldn't even trust Jolie alone with another guy for 5 minutes because she has fallen for men she has done films with multiple times.
On top of that, we're also talking about a woman who once tried to hire someone to kill her, wore clothes decorated with her own blood, kept a vial of former husband Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck, and has engaged in knife play during sex. I'm sorry, but there's no woman on earth beautiful enough to make that freakshow endurable.
Q&A Friday #31: If You Couldn't Live In The US, Where Would You Go?
Question: "First, happy birthday John! My question is if let's say you couldn't live in America, for whatever reason, what would be your first pick of where to live and why?" -- karensp9
Nothing against anywhere else in the world, but I'd want to live in a Western culture. Other than the US, the 3 last remaining bastions of Western civilization that don't appear to have been neutered and socialized by the left appear to be Australia, Britain, and Israel.
Out of those 3, Australia would easily be my first choice.
That's because unfortunately, in my #2 choice Britain, the left seems to be winning the battle against the wan strain of British conservatism that seems to be in vogue. Also, it might be a little weird for me to live in my #3 choice, Israel, where Christians are a tiny, unimportant minority.
So, if there's a subject you've been wanting me to tackle or an issue you want to hear my opinion on, just ask your question in the comments section. Your question can be about politics, ideology, history, blogging, RWN, from a liberal, conservative, or libertarian perspective; heck, it can even be about movies, music, literature, or TV. Then, I'll select some of the more interesting questions and answer them.
By popular (Ok, not really) demand, here's a follow-up to an earlier post I made today: the "B-List" right-of-center blogs based on traffic (regularly topping 85k impressions or so per week):
It can't be pleasant for family members of a judge who sit through confirmation hearings. Just imagine being in their position. Here's this person you have great love and respect for, on TV, in front of the whole world, being attacked by a bunch of ill-tempered, blustering bullies whose goal is to destroy his reputation in order to try to derail the nomination. Meanwhile, your family members have to sit up there and smile and nod at jabbering buffoons like Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden, as if their incredibly obnoxious behavior was completely proper.
Given all that, it's not really surprising that Alito's wife broke down and cried yesterday and it's hard not to have a little sympathy for her...well...that is, unless you're one of the Kos Kidz.
King moonbat, Kos himself, suggested that her crying was a staged "PR stunt" and some of the Kossacks were, let's just say, not very kind to Mrs. Alito. Here's what a few of the Kos Kidz had to say:
Pacified: and do we want a judge who would marry such a weak-willed b*tch?
nightsweat: Good reason not to confirm
If his wife is so fragile that she can't watch the questioning, I think its clear that a Judge Alito thrust into the national spotlight constantly by sitting on the Supreme Court will be too distracted tending to his fragile, fragile wife to be able to adequately render service to the nation.
It's a sacrifice we all appreciate and gosh darn we're sorry he won't be able to sit on the court.
BTP: Channeling Eric Cartman
Yes! Yesss!! Oh, let me taste your tears,
Martha-Ann! Mmm, your tears are so yummy and sweet!
tjb22: Poor woman...she probably teared up when she saw what a bigot she was married to...I'd cry, too. And come to think of it, if they made me wear those ugly republican clothes I'd probably get a little emotional, too.
My question. This is not some rated 'G' family oriented hearing. This is how the nation gives somebody the right to interpret it's constitution for the next decades.
WILL SHE INFLUENCE HIS ABILITY to JUDGE????
next thing we know, this guy will do whatever the wifey is crying for. (omg, omg, they are killing unborn baby...waaa waaa....)
WTF?
GO HOME...
This is the MOST blatant attempt to manipulate public emotion. She should go f*ck herself."
phoenixandrew: Mrs. Alito is the typical conservative woman.
Martha-Ann Alito is an idiot and a moron. She'll REALLY have something to cry about if she doesn't grow up.
Buzzer: What a whiny little b*tch. I'm GLAD she was reduced to tears. These hyper-pampered Stepford wives have never endured anything more stressful than making it to Saks Fifth Avenue before it closes. If seeing her poor widdle hubby getting caught in an avalanche of lies about his not-exactly-concealed racism triggers the weeping-willow response, I'd venture to say Martha needs to get out a little more. Maybe visit a black neighborhood or two and get acquainted with a few strong women who DON'T burst into tears while DAILY dealing with hardships that Martha's fragile, feeble mind could not even conceive of. What a phony, fraudulent, sheltered twit.
"Lindsey Graham Made Mrs. Alito Cry"
Sounds like a note someone passed me in algebra.
Why are people allowing themselves to get drawn into this episode?
-You made her cry, bully!
-I didn't make her cry, HE did!
-Well, she's crying now and everyone thinks YOU did it!
With all due respect, F*CK Mrs. Alito! We are dealing with a decision that will affect millions of people over generations! I don't give a good godd*mn about Mrs. Alito. Frankly, I'd be much happier seeing MISTER Alito crying due to a withering grilling by the Dems. But the only folks crying over the Democratic senator's questioning are other Dems (including me).
Maine Atticus: WTF is she doing there, anyway! She should be home baking cookies and making more home-made clothes!
Why do wives, or husbands for that matter have to hang around, looking like complete *sses at these hearings?
Another stupid cow married to another Nazi motherf*cker.
Cry, you cow. You moron. You sh*thead married to a man who would destroy this country!
Cry? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Not very nice liberals, are they? Not very classy either...
You hear the phrase "A-List Blogs" tossed around a lot, but few people actually name the blogs on the list. Well, based on the traffic they receive that I have seen at Blogads and other places (I'm going to say around 200,000 impressions a week, average, qualifies), here is the complete list of right-of-center A-listers:
Like John Hancock, Rush Limbaugh, and Howard Stern, I have a birthday today. That's right, today I turn 35 years old -- and let me say that I'm not quite ready to join the AARP yet and complain about kids walking across my lawn, but 35 does feel really old -- especially for a guy who still plays PC games and likes to watch South Park.
Now, on their birthday most bloggers would be tempted to take a day off, especially when they have a large stable of guest bloggers ready, willing, and able to fill in. But, did I take a day off? No, I didn't. I'm right here, on my birthday and I...hey, wait a second...I should have taken a day off! Oh well, it's water under the bridge now.
Anyway, most of you are probably wondering, "Where am I going for lunch," or, "Who's going to win the Super Bowl?" But, maybe the rest of you are wondering, "It's Hawkins' birthday, so what can I do for him?"
Here are three suggestions:
#1: If you're an advertiser, buy an ad.
#2: If you're a reader, click on an ad.
#3: If you're a blogger, find a post on RWN and link it on your blog so you can send me more people to do #1 and #2.
See, it's all really simple -- oh, and happy birthday to Rush, too!
I Get Letters: The Republican Nasal Control Implanting Agenda
Here's one of the more, uh -- let's say "unique" -- pieces of email I've received of late and, yes, before you ask, it's real:
From: Raymond Flowers rflowers1964@********* Subject: bark bark bark said the Bush drone
Has anyone noticed the use by George W. Bush and Jeb Bush and the republican party of nasal control implants in children as their family continues to re-entrench itself from World War II where it used the control technology on the German population running the yes sir Nathan Hales of the Hitler youth.
They use stories to continuously bombard students creating day dreams producing what is commonly called attention deficit disorder in addition to hyper activity and they even produced dyslexia using the nasals to get the visual from the optic nerve and a Hewlett-Cray-Motorola computer did a dictionary look up for the current pattern which was regenerated weekly in some locations and is the reason that words written very poorly didn't jumble as the primitive software couldn't figure out what the word was and either left it alone or broke connections between letters to re-arrange what looked like components between humps or risers on the letters.
Notice how the Bush hide some of the funding as the Republican party money hidden under various corporate names is moved around by the Central Intelligence agency to manipulate the stock market to fund the Bush's national control implanting agenda.
That's right, folks, you better check your noses before it's too late!
Michael Ledeen reminds us this has been going on for more than 20 years and the actions of many nations have been less than honorable when dealing with terrorist killers, even one who tortured and killed a US servicemember in a hijacking.
This is a letter from Kenneth Stethem to President George W. Bush. Ken is a former U.S. special-forces operator and the brother of Robert Dean Stethem, the Navy diver who was brutally tortured and murdered by Hezbollah 20 years ago. Robert's murderer was just released by the German government (and fled to Lebanon) in an apparent exchange for a German hostage in Iraq.
The administration has claimed that we did not know in advance about the release and the administration has not acted to compel the Lebanese government to arrest Stethem's killer, Muhammad Ali Hammadi, and turn him over to face American justice. That is why Ken Stethem, on behalf of the rest of his family (including his and Robert's parents), has written this powerful letter. Let's hope the president is as moved by the letter as I am.
Date: January 8, 2006 4:15:57 PM PST
To: president@whitehouse.gov
Cc: vicepresident@whitehouse.gov
Subject: ROBERT DEAN STETHEM
Mr. President,
I would like to provide you with an explanation as to why Muhammed Ali Hammadi's recent release by Germany, and your Administration's lack of any attempt to prevent it, is so upsetting to our family and to Americans everywhere. I am not writing you out of grief or anger but out of a hope that his example will inspire you to follow act on your own words and the dictates of your conscious in this War on Terror.
Robert Dean Stethem was singled out, beaten beyond recognition and tortured in order to make him scream into a transmitter (so that the tower would send a fuel truck). Not a cry was heard to come from him, despite the brutal beating he endured. Instead he chose to remain silent and endure the beatings because he knew that the only way a rescue attempt could be conducted by U.S. forces was if the aircraft remained on the ground.
I hate to harsh every one's mellow first thing (Thursday), but I didn't start this, I'm just making sure some more people pay attention.
How many of our "allies" have now paid ransoms to the terrorists in Iraq and thereby financed the deaths of Americans? I won't count because it's far too many with the Italians being the most egregious. Some of these clowns are adjunct fundraisers for our enemies, being kidnapped and ransomed by their governments, then taking to the media to denounce US! We can't make foreign policy for our "allies", but we can make consequences for those who make common cause with terrorists. Paying these ransoms is wrong period, but it is worse when the kidnappings increasingly appear to be a tacit agreement between anti-war activists and the swine we are fighting to conduct fund raising activities.
Mr. Stethem deserves an answer as to what consequences the Germans will face for paying to equip our enemy, and what we will do to capture his brother's killer and take him to wherever the CIA has set up shop to see if any of his friends have called since he got out of jail. It always shocks me to see the victims of appeasement continue to keep feeding the beast in hopes they will be the last eaten. I don't know about you, but that's why I have a gun.
This content was used with the permission of Blackfive.
Sacramento's Out Of Iraq Forum sounds like it was a rollicking good time for anti-war lefties. Just look at some of what happened there last week-end...
"...anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, author David Dionisi, 4th Congressional District candidate Charles Brown, and surprise guests--academy-award winning Sean Penn and author Norm Solomon spoke to a packed SEIU hall in Sacramento, California. With nearly 200 people inside and a large overflow crowd gathered out on the sidewalk...
Wait, they had a Congressman, Cindy Sheehan, and Sean Penn all there and it only drew 200 people plus some people standing around outside? That's kind of pitiful when you think about it, isn't it? Know what's even sadder? That they actually booked a place that would only hold 200 people because they must have known they couldn't draw flies. Did I mention the word, "pitiful," yet?
Dave Dionisi, author of American Hiroshima and former U.S. military intelligence officer, provided insight on pre-9-11 intelligence. This information should have been utilized to prevent the attacks on the World Trade Center.
These lefties look back at 9/11 and claim we should have connected the dots. Now, post 9-11, they relentlessly fight almost everything the Bush administration does to make it harder for terrorist groups to attack us. Maybe they'd just rather yell, "Why didn't you connect the dots," at a Republican President than actually have him do it, save American lives, and get credit for it.
...Welcomed with a standing ovation, Cindy Sheehan and co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace gave a rousing talk. She stressed the need to impeach this administration as war criminals who continue to lie to the American public about pre-war Iraq intelligence. She also contends that Pres. Bush's assertions about pulling the U.S. troops out of Iraq would lead to chaos are a part of a calculated strategy to mislead the American public. Cindy reminded the audience that we all need to take responsibility for Iraq—as we elected the officials who ultimately allowed the invasion and occupation. We have the power to remove them from office. Cindy emphasized we must exit Iraq now to save precious lives.
Yada, yada, yada. New day, same old nonsense.
After expressing her support for a Dept. of Peace, Cindy concluded that she'd like to create a U.S. Dept. of History, with herself as the first secretary.
A Cindy Sheehan led Department of History? Can you imagine a history curriculum designed by Cindy Sheehan being sent to kids? I bet it would go something like this:
"Ok children, we've just concluded the sixties where the Bush family evil empire had Kennedy assassinated. Then there was the Nixon impeachment in the seventies and war criminal Ronald Reagan getting into office in the eighties. He picked a fight with the greatest country in the world, the peaceful and prosperous Soviet Union. Unfortunately, Gorbachev decided to disband that model for humanity rather than risk Ronald Reagan destroying the world in an attempt to break them up. Now tomorrow, we'll be covering the illegal wars of the Bush administration and explaining why George, Sr. should have been impeached and George, Jr. should have been sent to Abu Ghraib and forced to walk around on his hands and knees at the end of a leash held by Lyndie England."
Actor Sean Penn added to the enthusiasm of the day by stressing that all of the nation's anti-war activism was taking hold and was starting to work—while admitting that the stress of living under the current administration was making it tough for him to quit smoking.
So Penn blames Bush because he's having trouble quitting smoking? What's next? Will Michael Moore accuse Bush of fouling up his diet? Maybe Danny Glover will claim Bush kept him from taking out the garbage? They really do blame Bush for everything.
Maybe they could just make a big sign -- no, better yet -- a huge display featuring giant puppet heads that says, "It's all Bush's fault," and save themselves the trouble of getting together for a conference. It's just an idea....
Michael Jackson is facing new charges of child molestation following allegations from a 20-year-old that the singer assaulted him, forced him to have plastic surgery and stole his musical ideas.
“It is alleged that my client was present at Michael Jackson’s residences and other places from the age of two to 14 and was molested many times over the course of those years,” said Michael Mattern, a lawyer for the man.
“There is also an allegation that my client came up with song ideas, lyrics and melodies which were used by Mr Jackson in his records and made an awful lot of money."…
The civil lawsuit was filed by the man without the aid of a lawyer a month after Jackson was acquitted in Santa Maria. His handwritten complaint was then resubmitted by Mr Mattern. “The defendants, who include Michael Jackson, his production company MJJ Productions and his corporate entity, Sony, have all been served with a lawsuit,” Mr Mattern said.
The complaint says his client was “subjected to unnecessary cosmetic surgery procedures”.
“I have got photos of my client with these red lips just like you see on Mr Jackson and a big old cleft on his chin which he didn’t have previously,” Mr Mattern said.
Guilty? I have no idea. But Jacko is going to spend the rest of his life, and whatever money he has left, fighting child molestation civil lawsuits. Perhaps living the life of Peter Pan and sleeping in the same bed with 12 year old boys wasn’t such a hot idea, after all.
Now some of you out there probably remember that I was right in the thick of the pitchfork-wielding mob of conservative peasants that was figuratively storming Castle Bush after he nominated Harriet Miers. After all that, after at least a post a day for weeks hammering on Bush and Miers, you're probably wondering: "What's going on? The Alito hearings have been going on for two solid days, everyone in the blogosphere is writing about it, and now he has nothing to say? It makes no sense!"
But, here's what you have to understand: these hearings are just Kabuki theater. Probably 95 out of the 100 Senators up there already know how they're going to vote -- on the filibuster and on Alito -- and the other 5 will be swayed by political pressure and reelection concerns rather than anything Alito says in these hearings. Remember, because of the Ginsberg precedent, Alito is allowed to sidestep, dodge, and weave as much as he likes. In fact, Alito's goal is going to be to come across as knowledgeable and likable while simultaneously telling people absolutely nothing of substance about what he actually believes.
Put all this together and you have Senators grandstanding for the cameras & Alito doing the two-step. It goes about like this:
Senator Kennedy: Mr. Alito, isn't it true that you want to put black Americans back in chains, deny women the right to vote, make George Bush a dictator with unlimited powers, and force poor women to eat their own children to survive?
Alito Thinking: You know what would have been fun? Being the judge this clown was in front of after he left Mary Jo Kopechne to drown. Boy, I can just imagine the look on his face right after I sentenced him to 20 years of hard labor!
Alito Responding: Gosh, Senator Kennedy, those aren't my positions at all! Actually, I love freedom, puppies and motherhood! Speaking of mothers and family, there's my family right over there. Aren't they telegenic? Oh, and have I mentioned that I have no ideological agenda, love justice, and think everyone should be treated equally under the law? I have? 11 times already? Well, let me say it again now!
Unless Alito really slips up, these hearings are just a lot of sound and fury symbolizing nothing. The only really important thing is whether Alito will be confirmed or not and by my calculations, the Republicans have the votes to launch the nuclear option if need be and get Alito confirmed afterwards.
Once that glorious day comes, not only will the court have shifted significantly to the right, the GOP will have exorcised the demons of the Robert Bork hearings once and for all. That, my friends, is something worth looking forward to...
Newsflash For Liberals: People Who Want To Fly Planes Into Our Buildings Are Worse Than Republicans
Let's see. We just had Harry Belafonte call George Bush, not Osama Bin Laden, "the greatest terrorist in the world." Then, there was the most annoying liberal of 2005, Cindy Sheehan, who said that Bush "is ten times the terrorist that Osama ever was."
Now, we have the loons over at Democrats.com encouraging their readers to spy on the cell phone records of prominent Republicans in retaliation for George Bush authorizing wiretaps on Americans having conversations with members of Al-Qaeda overseas.
So are these lefties hysterically overhyping how bad George Bush is, thoughtlessly underestimating how monstrous Al-Qaeda is, or is it some combination of the two? Say what you like about conservatives, but at least we understand that Al-Qaeda is worse than the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly obvious that a large number of liberals have gotten so out of touch with reality that they wouldn't say the same about George Bush and/or the GOP.
Orrin Hatch: Stevens Retiring Within A Year Or So?
You think the Democrats are gnashing their teeth over Alito? Well, in a year or so, if Orrin Hatch turns out to be right, you haven't seen anything yet.
From Matt Margolis, who got to hear Hatch speak at an RNC blogger forum in Washington:
"Hatch also believes that there will another vacancy before the end of Bush's term. He thinks Steven will retire within a year or so."
If Stevens were to retire and be replaced with a conservative justice, it would have the potential to be one of the key political turning points of the last 40 years.
John Roberts? He replaced another conservative, Rehnquist. So in essence, that was a lateral move for the court. Alito? He's a solid textualist replacing O'Connor, a wildly shifting moderate. So, he will move the court to the right.
But, even after Alito is confirmed, the court will be split: 4 conservatives (Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito), 1 moderate (Kennedy), and 4 liberals (Stevens, Ginsberg, Souter, and Breyer).
Now, you replace Stevens with a Karen Williams, Maura Corrigan, or Michael Luttig and suddenly, it's a whole new ballgame because a controversial 5-4 decision of the last few decades will suddenly have the potential to shift the other way. That means Roe v. Wade, Kelo v. New London, and Bowers v. Hardwick, among many, many others could be overturned.
Getting Alito on the bench is certainly important, but if Bush gets to replace one of the liberal justices, that will be a selection that has the potential to really change things.
"To Convince Enough Senators That Alito Is Wrong For Our Country, We Are
Setting A Goal Of Gathering 500,000 Petition Signatures To Deliver To
The Senate." (NARAL Email, "Just 5 Days Left!" 12/5/05)
NARAL's Result:
"With The Help Of More Than 50 Volunteers We Were Able To ... Enter
2,000 Signatures Into Our Activist Database From The 'Oppose Alito'
Petition Drive ..." (NARAL Email, "Thanks For Your Hard Work!" 1/10/06)
And they'll still be all over TV trying to show that American women are afraid of Alito's confirmation, when the evidence is that most women either don't care or want Alito to be confirmed.
Just one more sign of NARAL's diminishing power and influence. The only people still paying attention to them are the media.
This content was used with the permission of Betsy's Page.
The Democratic Underground Thread Of The Day: George Bush Had That Reporter Killed!
Sadly, retired New York Times journalist David E. Rosenbaum died this week-end after taking a severe beating in what appears to have been a robbery.
It's a tragic event -- or -- or -- or is it a cleverly executed assassination organized by the Bush Family Crime Junta? Once you read what some of the folks at the Democratic Underground have to say, you'll see Chimpy McBushHitler's fingerprints all over this murder -- or not -- if you're sane.
radio4progressives: This was a f*cking Hit Job by the Bush Junta vis a vis Porter Goss
...Now if this isn't an obvious hit job, i don't know what is.
People we are living in a fascists police state and the few journalists who have been trying to do good work here in state side and in Iraq (and other regions)have been gunned down by the CIA time and time again.
These people are the U.S.A. version of the Gestapo.
Trevelyan: Thank you radio4progressives - we need to know about the journalists that the bush regime has murdered. I know it is scary but the tin foil hat routine won't protect you. Standing up for our Whistleblowers may and to let these courageous people be murdered without saying a word is cowardly.
MadisonProgressive: D*mmit, they offed him
Rene: How's this conspiracy for you all.....His death was just a warning to others in the media.......much like the anthrax death of the National Enquirer photo journalist who'd just published bush twin photos.....and the anthrax sent to others in journalism.
NIGHT TRIPPER: Wanna Bet these "robbers" who kill journalist bystanders are NEVER found?
How's any potential witness ever going to remember a "dark" "vehicle" ?
"Dark colored vehicle"?
Dark?
at least give us: black, dark green, dark brown--
C'mon --just "vehicle"? --give us something like: late model car/ older model car/ suv/ sports car/ Lowrider/
but not just "vehicle"!
Hit job most definitely.
MORAL of the STORY:
Don't dare write anything that questions our fascist regime or their true motives or ELSE this may happen to YOUI!
saskatoon: re this may happen to you. I've been wondering why there havsn't been more exposes from our journalists and this is the answer of course---fear of being killed or one of their loved ones. Look, the b*stards will never stop their greed for total power and what's a few murders to obtain it. And all you naysayers out there---wake up for gods sake.
Chicago1: This is the Bush Mafia AGAIN. KKKarl, WE'RE NOT DUMB. This one is going to be investigated TOOO!!!! START THE REVOLUTION!!!!
This is like some off-the-wall Scrappleface parody of what's wrong with feminism and Europe come to life, but, I assure you, it's not satire:
"The 500 companies listed on Norway's stock exchange face being shut down unless they install women on their boards over the next two years in a radical initiative imposed by a government determined to help women break through the "glass ceiling".
After a week in which the Equal Opportunities Commission in Britain has warned that it would take 40 years for women to break into the ranks of the FTSE 100 in the same way as men, Norwegian companies face a two-year deadline to ensure that women hold 40% of the seats of each company listed on the Oslo bourse. New companies have to comply now with the rules and the government is considering extending the law to family-owned companies as well.
The requirement came into effect at the start of this year after companies were given two years to embrace the demands voluntarily following the passing of the law in 2003. State-owned companies are already obliged to comply and now have 45% female representation on their boards.
The failure of companies to act - about half of the companies on the stock market are estimated to have no women on their boards - has prompted the Norwegian equality minister, Karita Bekkemellem, to take the draconian step of threatening firms with closure.
"From January 1 2006, I want to put in place a system of sanctions that will allow the closure of firms," she said. "I do not want to wait another 20 or 30 years for men with enough intelligence to finally appoint women."
So women are going to be appointed to the boards of these companies, not because they deserve it, but because there is a quota that has to be filled or some drunk-with-power feminist wacko in the Norwegian government may actually close the company down?
That's ludicrous...but what do you expect from a country that actually has an "equality minister?"
Also, let me interject a little reality, unwelcome though it may be for some people, into this talk about a glass ceiling (Some of you may want to plug your ears at this point to protect your ears from the shrieks of feminist agony).
First of all, there may be some women who aren't getting to the very top because of sexism, but they're not the majority. You see, the truth is, most women aren't really held back by a, "glass ceiling," they're held back by an anchor tied to them by their umbilical cord. In other words: kids.
Women hear that biological clock ticking in a way that men simply don't and because of that, they have trouble competing with men for the top slots at work over the long-term. That's not to say that women can't work as smart or as hard as men -- they can -- and they often do.
But, if you're talking about cracking the highest echelons of upper level management, you're talking about people who generally have an unbelievable work schedule -- and kids cut into it for women in ways that they generally don't for men.
Men don't get pregnant and they don't take maternity leave and that's a big deal in and of itself. You can't take 2 or 3 months off in a competitive job environment and not lose ground. Furthermore, even after the woman comes back from having the kid, she's much more likely than the man to cut back on her hours because she's consumed with guilt over working 80 hour weeks and hardly seeing her child. Also, if there is a husband and wife and one of them has to take a day off or leave early to pick up the kid, who does it? Usually the woman. Which member of the family usually has more time and energy draining duties at home related to taking care of the kid? The mother.
Sure, there may be exceptions to the rules. The house hubby, the woman who never has kids because it would get in the way of the job, the workaholic mom, etc., etc., but they are exceptions, not typical. That's why the boards of Norway's -- and for that matter America's -- companies aren't crawling with women: a large percentage of them decided that being a mom was more important than making it to the top of the heap at work.
I've always been a little skeptical about whether Sirius radio would ultimately work. After all, most pay-for-content deals on the internet have flopped because very few people put out content that's so compelling, so much better than everyone else's work, that it's worth paying for.
That being said, Howard Stern debuted on Sirius radio yesterday and although it looks as if he's going to shed roughly 75% of his 12 million listeners, the amount of money it's going to bring in is almost mind boggling...
"Even before his first day on the job, the shock jock recruited listeners for the $13-per-month service: The Sirius audience expanded from 600,000 at the time the switch was announced to more than 3.3 million subscribers, Stern said Monday. At the same time, Sirius stock has roughly doubled."
...At the time his October 2004 deal with Sirius was announced, the company said it could be worth up to $500 million over five years to headline two Sirius channels."
Let's see: assuming Stern is responsible for those 2.7 million new listeners (although it should be noted Sirius has been doing a lot of advertising as well), at $13-per-month, that's roughly 35 million dollars a month, $420 million dollars over the course of a year, and 2.2 billion dollars over a five year contract.
Stern may be a gross, obscene pig, but he may also be one of the few people on the planet who might end up being underpaid at $100 million dollars a year.
Furthermore, since things seem to be working out with Stern today, why not drive a dump truck full of cash up to Rush or Dr. Laura tomorrow? There are only so many really, really big names out there and with the amount of revenue Sirius can generate, no one else can offer up enormous sums of cash.
On the other hand, this whole deal also highlights how Sirius can make niche markets very profitable. For example, let's say you can actually deliver 1000 paying customers to Sirius per month. Well, if they rake in $13 a month in subscription fees, that's $156 per person per year, and $156,000 for the bunch. At that rate, you could pay someone, let's say $60,000 a year, to run a show and set aside $15,000 for benefits and still leave Sirius with $81,000 leftover for expenses and profit -- on a mere 1000 customers.
Put it all together and I'm starting to think Sirius could have a really bright future...
Revealed: Alito Made Anti-Choice Facial Expression In 1969 -- Satire By Liberal Larry
The Shrub may have thought he could slip his boy onto the bench as easy as Harry Bellafonte at a socialist dictator convention, but the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court was dealt a serious blow last week with startling revelations that he was once the member of a known sexist, racist, and homophobic organization. Both the Boy Scouts of America and Alito have yet to deny the allegations, which only lends credence to their authenticity. In addition, Alito’s recent submission to Yahoo! Movies of a slightly less then stellar review of Brokeback Mountain sheds even more light on his extremist past. Now, shocking new evidence has surfaced that may be the final nail in Alito’s confirmation coffin.
According to several people who knew the Judge when he was still a law student at Princeton, Alito once “rolled his eyes with disapproval” upon overhearing a feminist student boast that she had terminated ten unwanted pregnancies, and was looking forward to the “Big Double-Toothpicks”.
The repugs are already in full spin mode, claiming that Alito’s clearly anti-choice facial expression was merely a nervous tick, or perhaps a natural reaction to the clouds of toxic smoke from burning books, bras, and draft cards. Whatever Alito’s sorry excuse is, his behavior was certainly less than one would expect from a man who claims to be a defender of our civil liberties.
The traumatized coed needed months of counseling before she was able to once again exercise her right to choose with a clear conscience. Today, she’s the chairperson of NARAL, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to protecting women and their abortionists from maniacs like Alito, and unwanted children from the cruel indignity of birth. But time will never heal the emotional scars she suffered from Alito's vicious assault.
Tomorrow, Senate Democrats will decide whether to put this fascist on the bench - a man who didn’t like Brokeback Mountain and can, with the mere twitch of his extremist eyebrow, condemn millions of women to the horrors of back-alley abortions.
Unlike the women in Alito's bizarre fantasy world, Democrats actually have a choice. Let's hope they make the right one.
This satire was used with the permission of BlameBush!.
There was an editorial in the Wall Street Journal taking Republicans in Congress to task for putting politics over principle. Here's an excerpt that will give you the gist of it:
"The real House GOP problem isn't about lobbyists so much as it is the atrophying of its principles. As their years in power have stretched on, House Republicans have become more passionate about retaining power than in using that power to change or limit the federal government. Gathering votes for serious policy is difficult and tends to divide a majority. Re-election unites them, however, so the leadership has gradually settled for raising money on K Street and satisfying Beltway interest groups to sustain their incumbency.
This strategy has maintained a narrow majority, but at the cost of doing anything substantial. The last year in particular was an historic lost opportunity. House Republicans were also the main culprit in watering down Medicare reform, while Ohio's Mike Oxley has run the Financial Services Committee more or less as liberal Barney Frank would. Beyond welfare reform and tax cuts (and perhaps health-savings accounts), the GOP has achieved little in the last decade that will outlast the next Democratic majority.
Meanwhile, the most talented and policy-driven Members have continued to leave Congress for other opportunities. Chris Cox now runs the SEC, Rob Portman is the U.S. trade rep, J.C. Watts is in the private sector, and others are running for Governor or the Senate. The leaders who remain have become ever more preoccupied with process, money and incumbency. Ideas are an afterthought, when they aren't an inconvenience."
So what have we seen in Washington over the last decade or so?
We had Democrats, who were primarily concerned with keeping their cushy jobs, replaced by fiery Republican reformers. Then, over time, some of the more principled Republican pols left and some of them got too comfortable in Washington and what-do-you-know, we're right back to where we started with politicians in love with their cushy jobs, except this time they're Republicans.
The problem here is not the people involved, it's institutional. Because of gerrymandering, a seat in the House is almost as good as a lifetime appointment for 80%-90% of people who win. Although it's not that bad in the Senate, the incumbents have such an enormous advantage over their challengers that probably only 25% of them will ever have to seriously worry about losing their jobs.
And the job is certainly intoxicating. A Congressman is one of the most powerful people in the United States. They're wined and dined by lobbyists, have vast staffs that cater to their needs, have sweetheart business deals offered to them, are treated like VIPs wherever they go, and have their every utterance covered by the press. Given all that, should we really be surprised that we have a Congress full of people more concerned with staying in Washington than doing the right thing? No, of course not.
That's why implementing term limits is so important: because cycling in fresh blood to Congress helps keep our representatives focused on doing the people's business instead of their own. Until that happens, the people and the parties in power may change, but the temptations of the system will continue to compromise members of Congress in a myriad of ways, great and small.
Here’s one book that will never show up my kid’s bookshelf:
Meet the latest children’s author, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and his Portuguese Water Dog, Splash, his co-protagonist in “My Senator and Me: A Dogs-Eye View of Washington, D.C.”
Scholastic Inc. will release the book in May.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to create a book for young readers and their families that will deepen their understanding of how our American government works,” Kennedy said in a statement Monday issued by Scholastic.
According to Scholastic, Kennedy’s book “not only takes readers through a full day in the Senator’s life, but also explains how a bill becomes a law.” Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, was inspired to write the book from his work with a Washington-based reading program, “Everybody Wins!”
Everbody wins…except Mary Jo!
Everybody wins…except the American taxpayer!
Everybody wins…especially America’s enemies!
And the “full day in the Senator’s life” seems like something more suited to a crime novel than a kids’ book.
A full day in the Senator’s life…gory details of that six-martini lunch with Ralph Neas and Kate Michelman while they plot to destroy another Bush court nominee for no reason!
A full day in the Senator’s life…how he avoids the latest paternity suit! Watch Sen. Kennedy not see windmills block his view! Watch Sen. Kennedy relive the Goldwater presidency! Watch ironically named superdog Splash not save the drowning secretary!
I could go on like this all day.
This content was used with the permission of JunkYardBlog.
"A hate group based in Topeka, Kan. released a press release on Wednesday entitled “Thank God for 12 dead miners” and promises to picket the funerals for the slain men.
The hate group, which operates as Westboro Baptist Church, runs a website.
The release states, “God is laughing, mocking and deriding hypocritical fag-infested West Virginia.”
The release also says the WBC will picket the funerals of the miners.
When reached by phone, member Shirley Phelps-Roper confirmed that 10 to 15 picketers were making plans to protest at the funerals of the West Virginia miners.
When asked why the group was planning protests at the miners’ funerals, she responded with questions of her own.
According to the press release, “They died in shame and disgrace, citizens of a cursed nation of unthankful, unholy perverts who have departed from the living God to worship on ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and who have replaced the Bible with ‘The Da Vinci Code.’”
The group has picketed at 80 funerals since June, as many as four to five a week, according to Phelps-Roper. Most of these funerals have been for soldiers.
“Our purpose is to cause America to know our abomination,” she said.
God is punishing America, according to Phelps-Roper.
“America is doomed,” she said. “We have cracked the Bible. We know.”"
It goes without saying that what Fred Phelps and the rest of the lunatics in God Hates F*gs are doing is completely beyond the pale, especially when they're protesting these funerals. That community can -- and should -- be able to legally ban their funeral protests without running afoul of the First Amendment.
If it's permissible under the First Amendment to require permits to protest, prohibit the use of, "fighting words," and disallow people from disturbing the peace by, let's say, holding rallies at 3 AM in residential neighborhoods, then certainly communities should be within their rights to ban people from protesting funerals -- and again, they should.
At a minimum, Phelps and his group of wackos are incredibly disrespectful to people who are mourning and at worst, their behavior is so intentionally provocative that it could very easily lead to violent confrontations.
That's why it's time for local governments to step in and shut down these funeral protests once and for all.
As most of you undoubtedly already know, Tom DeLay has been indicted on dubious charges by a prosecutor with a history of politically motivated prosecutions.
....That being said, this indictment will result in the mainstream media spending months loudly and gleefully accusing DeLay of corruption while darkly hinting that he's guilty. The media's job will be made much easier by the fact that DeLay has well known ties to crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff and has been previously admonished by the House ethics panel multiple times.
Most Republicans, for the moment at least, will stick by Tom DeLay's side and insist that they want him back as Majority Leader after he beats the rap.
That is a mistake.
...What Republicans in the House need to understand is that there's a time to "stand by your man" and there is a time to turn a crisis into an opportunity. This would seem to be the opportune time for House Republicans to get rid of the biggest spending Majority Leader in history while also appearing to take a tough stand against corruption. They should make the most of it.
Make no bones about it: I'm glad DeLay is being replaced. In fact, as you can see by that old post, I was ready for a new Majority Leader months ago. Still, DeLay deserves credit for reading the handwriting on the wall after Abramoff decided to deal with the DOJ -- instead of fighting this changeover behind the scenes for a couple of months -- and dragging it out.
Thanks for doing it the easy way, Congressman! The rest of us in the GOP appreciate it.
In an interview, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, says she will plead with United States President George W. Bush to close the controversial Guantanamo prison camp, where some suspects have been held without trial since the start of the war on terror.
Just days before her first visit to the United States as chancellor, Germany’s Angela Merkel has called the closing of the controversial Guantanamo prison camp.
“An institution like Guantanamo can and should not exist in the longer term,” Merkel said in an interview with Spiegel. “Different ways and means must be found for dealing with these prisoners."
Merkel continued, “It is inhumane to hold these prisoners for such an extended length. They should be exterminated, humanely of course, within a short period of time. One method which we have found quite useful is Zyklon-B. It’s a lot cheaper than bullets, I assure you! And if you’re looking for help disposing of the bodies, I.G. Farben has some excellent industrial incinerator designs which you will find to your liking. There’s nothing quite like German engineering.”
