Check this out: http://sendkarlrovetojail.com/
Please sign the petition. This administration is so lawless...
July 18, 2008
government waste
OK, I work for the DOD. Where *I* work, people generally try to do the right thing, and not waste (not to sound trite, but it's so true) your taxpayer dollars. (My naivete' is being tested lately, and I am all too frequently reminded that greed is a basic aspect of human nature that is celebrated and rewarded by many, much as it was in the eighties and as it has been through history.) Still, this shit just frosts me.
Bush, McCain and company pander to voters' fear so we'll continue to vote for the big daddy who will best see us through crises both current (the Iraq war that the Bush administration bamboozled us into) and future (watch out for Iran!). I'm so much more afraid of the morally bankrupt climate in Washington that allows the Air Force top leadership to be addle-pated enough to spend counter-terrorism funds on '"comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs.' Here's the clincher: 'Changing the seat color and pockets alone was estimated in a March 12 internal document to cost at least $68,240.'
Were I religious, I'd pray this mess is a career ender for all who are involved with this shameful waste of money.
I won't get started on the war profiteers who should be jailed...
Bush, McCain and company pander to voters' fear so we'll continue to vote for the big daddy who will best see us through crises both current (the Iraq war that the Bush administration bamboozled us into) and future (watch out for Iran!). I'm so much more afraid of the morally bankrupt climate in Washington that allows the Air Force top leadership to be addle-pated enough to spend counter-terrorism funds on '"comfort capsules" to be installed on military planes that ferry senior officers and civilian leaders around the world, with at least four top generals involved in design details such as the color of the capsules' carpet and leather chairs.' Here's the clincher: 'Changing the seat color and pockets alone was estimated in a March 12 internal document to cost at least $68,240.'
Were I religious, I'd pray this mess is a career ender for all who are involved with this shameful waste of money.
I won't get started on the war profiteers who should be jailed...
July 10, 2008
My new hero!
His name is L.F. Eason. He was the director of North Carolina's Standards Laboratory until this week, when he opted to retire rather than fly the flag at half staff in honor of Jesse Helms. What a grand gesture!
Eason followed his heart. He thought Helms' first election was a fluke, but asserts that Helms was able to establish a core of supporters who based their votes on fear, and so he continued to win reelection. I remember the Helms years. I absolutely could not believe that a state that produced so many fine writers also elected a senator of his ilk.
And speaking of terrific North Carolina authors, I heard Jill McCorkle read from her new book in 1989, when Helms was in the midst of a tough reelection campaign against Harvey Gantt. When I had the opportunity to speak with her, I told her how much I admired so many authors who hail from North Carolina, and expressed my loathing for Jesse Helms. She drawled, "Oh, Jesse - we're so embahhrrassed." She was so charming. When Helms won (after his last minute racist ad barrage), I received a postcard from McCorkle that ended, "P.S. Boo, Jesse!" This represents the only fond thought that comes to mind when I think of Helms. I think it's pretty cruel to call someone a waste of skin, but Helms and Strom Thurmond (or Sperm, as my brother calls him) come pretty close. Frickin' racists.
Anyone who's curious about Jesse Helms' history can read about him here. I will take a holiday from reality and pretend he never existed for a while, until I feel the need to remember the evil that can happen when sheeple vote from fear, as I fear many will in the upcoming presidential election. (Hint: McCain is already working on making you afraid, very afraid.)
Eason followed his heart. He thought Helms' first election was a fluke, but asserts that Helms was able to establish a core of supporters who based their votes on fear, and so he continued to win reelection. I remember the Helms years. I absolutely could not believe that a state that produced so many fine writers also elected a senator of his ilk.
And speaking of terrific North Carolina authors, I heard Jill McCorkle read from her new book in 1989, when Helms was in the midst of a tough reelection campaign against Harvey Gantt. When I had the opportunity to speak with her, I told her how much I admired so many authors who hail from North Carolina, and expressed my loathing for Jesse Helms. She drawled, "Oh, Jesse - we're so embahhrrassed." She was so charming. When Helms won (after his last minute racist ad barrage), I received a postcard from McCorkle that ended, "P.S. Boo, Jesse!" This represents the only fond thought that comes to mind when I think of Helms. I think it's pretty cruel to call someone a waste of skin, but Helms and Strom Thurmond (or Sperm, as my brother calls him) come pretty close. Frickin' racists.
Anyone who's curious about Jesse Helms' history can read about him here. I will take a holiday from reality and pretend he never existed for a while, until I feel the need to remember the evil that can happen when sheeple vote from fear, as I fear many will in the upcoming presidential election. (Hint: McCain is already working on making you afraid, very afraid.)
July 04, 2008
ignorant voters
I keep thinking I'm as disillusioned by politics as I can get, but then I read an article like this. I'm appalled by a 74-year-old resident of Findlay, Ohio, named Jim Peterman, who sounds reasonably intelligent, but who chooses to believe what his friends and neighbors say about Barack Obama rather than trust the facts as printed in the newspapers and trustworthy blogs, broadcast in non-Fox-news shows, and available from a plethora of other reliable news sources if an intelligent voter cares to do a bit of research. This yahoo believes that "Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance." (Note that those aren't his words; this is a quote from another resident who spouts the lies that most Findlay residents are happy to believe. Findlay's astute analysis? ""I don't know. The whole thing just scares me," Peterman said. "I'm almost starting to feel like the best choice is not voting at all."")
Peterman is a card-carrying patriot. This is true because he flies a flag in his front yard and has since 1960. His entire neighborhood is simply awash in unabashed displays of red, white and blue, from painted windows to multiple flags per household, which is a result of one-upmanship. Findlay was officially dubbed "Flag City, USA" by the House of Representatives, courtesy of a local congressman. So Findlayians must be patriots, yes? If this is the definition, I am not and never will be a patriot. For me, patriotism is personal, and a big part of it is casting the most informed votes possible.
But back to Findlay's peculiar brand of intellectual patriotism. Leroy Pollard, another political scholar and resident of Findlay, Ohio, states, ""I understand he's from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He's got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me."
Peterman is opposed to the war and doesn't much like McCain. He's thinking he'll just not vote, though. This Obama character is too iffy. How can Peterman trust him? His buddies can't be wrong - could they?
Talk about sheeple.
This is one of the scariest articles I've read during this election. It makes me want to call this Peterson guy and ask him what he's using in place of a brain. It makes me want to fly to Findlay to take a look at these brain-dead Stepford voters for myself. Well, I guess there's no rush. The dumbing down of the US isn't exactly a new story - we'll probably continue this decline for a long time, much to our detriment.
Apparently Findlay's economy is crappy, which makes it even scarier that residents of Findlay supporting a presidential candidate like McCain who confessed he doesn't know much about the economy - this while he was running for president. (When would be a good time to bone up? After you're in office?) Findlay residents must not mind McCain's vile temper - he's on record as having referred to his current wife (not the one who waited for McCain to come home from Vietnam, only to be dumped for Cindy) as an effing c word - sorry to be so demure, but that's one word I just won't use. I suppose Findlay residents wouldn't believe that. It's much easier to question the ethics of a racially suspect candidate. (Findlay is 93% white.)
I'd love to write a more coherent rant about Findlay and Peterson, but I'm too sad, too angry, and too deeply offended. Most of all, I'm too worried that the American voters will once again get the president they deserve.
Peterman is a card-carrying patriot. This is true because he flies a flag in his front yard and has since 1960. His entire neighborhood is simply awash in unabashed displays of red, white and blue, from painted windows to multiple flags per household, which is a result of one-upmanship. Findlay was officially dubbed "Flag City, USA" by the House of Representatives, courtesy of a local congressman. So Findlayians must be patriots, yes? If this is the definition, I am not and never will be a patriot. For me, patriotism is personal, and a big part of it is casting the most informed votes possible.
But back to Findlay's peculiar brand of intellectual patriotism. Leroy Pollard, another political scholar and resident of Findlay, Ohio, states, ""I understand he's from Africa, and that the first thing he's going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He's got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there's the Muslim thing. He's just not presidential material, if you ask me."
Peterman is opposed to the war and doesn't much like McCain. He's thinking he'll just not vote, though. This Obama character is too iffy. How can Peterman trust him? His buddies can't be wrong - could they?
Talk about sheeple.
This is one of the scariest articles I've read during this election. It makes me want to call this Peterson guy and ask him what he's using in place of a brain. It makes me want to fly to Findlay to take a look at these brain-dead Stepford voters for myself. Well, I guess there's no rush. The dumbing down of the US isn't exactly a new story - we'll probably continue this decline for a long time, much to our detriment.
Apparently Findlay's economy is crappy, which makes it even scarier that residents of Findlay supporting a presidential candidate like McCain who confessed he doesn't know much about the economy - this while he was running for president. (When would be a good time to bone up? After you're in office?) Findlay residents must not mind McCain's vile temper - he's on record as having referred to his current wife (not the one who waited for McCain to come home from Vietnam, only to be dumped for Cindy) as an effing c word - sorry to be so demure, but that's one word I just won't use. I suppose Findlay residents wouldn't believe that. It's much easier to question the ethics of a racially suspect candidate. (Findlay is 93% white.)
I'd love to write a more coherent rant about Findlay and Peterson, but I'm too sad, too angry, and too deeply offended. Most of all, I'm too worried that the American voters will once again get the president they deserve.
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