Some bad news to keep everyone from feeling too good, (because I know that's a danger).One: Bush gives his State of the Union tonight. We're going to hear what anti-consumer, pro-corporate policies he and the Republican Congress are going to pursue this year. Should be fun.
Two: I live in one of the 5 most retarded states in the union. I know not everyone likes to hear that, but it's the truth, and no one should shy away from that. First the poll tax, and now this: Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota, and Tennessee are all proposing new legislation that would ban ALL ABORTIONS except those in which the life of the mother is in danger. Not health, but the LIFE. Good thing we still have 5 Pro-Roe justices on the Supreme Court. For NOW. Speaking of which...
Three: Judge Alito got confirmed to the Supreme Court today. Now we have a solid bloc of hard-right justices (Alito, Roberts, Thomas, and Scalia) on the court who can be counted on to vote for suppression of dissent and for the corporate rule of law every chance they get. Both sides get very angry every time a new justice is nominated, and the focus of the argument centers on abortion rights. Important as that is, and it is important, the question that didn't interest anyone but was arguably as important, was Alito's views on the inherent powers of the Executive. Alito believes the Executive has an almost unqualified right to follow or ignore laws however the President sees fit. He finds a lot of leeway in a phrase in Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, "the President shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Alito takes that to mean, "he'll do what he feels like." This is bad news, which is why I included it on my Bad News Tuesday, which may or may not be something I do weekly. I'm a downer like that. And finally...4) Arlen Specter doesn't want people to protest anymore. He inserted a ryder to the new Patriot Act bill that says the "authorities" can haul protestors away and charge them with a felony if they breach a "security perimeter". So if the authorities set the "security perimeter" 1 mile away from the event being protested, a protestor can be arrested on a felony charge if he or she decide to exercise his or her first amendment rights to "peaceably assemble". If convicted, they would also lose their right to vote. Can we dissolve government yet?
Ugh. Bad news Tuesday's gotten me down. Something less depressing to close it all out. Hmmm. I got nothing. More inane ramblings tomorrow.
28 comments:
Great news! Thanks for lifting my spirits. Eventually, we'll be able to convict all democratic protestors, thus removing them from the polls. That translates into less votes from the dems, which further translates into a GOP-centric government. Freedom at last.
time to learn the Canadian national anthem:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Even if they did elect a "conservative" it can't be as bad as Bush.
Not a Sheehan fan, eh? I think there is something slightly off about her these days, true, but inasmuch as she's effective in distracting from Bush's empty BS and drawing attention to the fact soldiers like her son are dying in his war of choice right now, than I like what she's doing. I think she may have lost some credibility with a lot of liberals when she was arrested in front of the White House with a huge grin on her face. I'm guessing she was just really excited about being arrested for the first time, but as a grieving mother of a fallen soldier, the excitement seemed a little wrong. And the role she's been given by whichever anti-war groups she's aligned with seems too undignified for a grieving mother of her stature. Wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it to the State of the Union? It's beneath her. She should have gone in with regular attire, and either stood up and shouted questions at him until she was escorted out, or just gotten up as soon as he started talking about democracy "marching on". A slogan on a t-shirt is just so... disaffected college sophmore.
And more sandwich-related posts in the future.
politicians read good
like actors on snl
they all suck
cept Bri Bri
I never liked Sheehan.
She is a disgrace to the United States, and the memory of her son.
She used her son's death as a excuse to try and jumpstart her misguided "career" in politics. I don't believe her sons death had any true affect on her.
She is just going around making a total fool of herself and gaining the "backing" and support of morons.
I would have been happy to hear she was shot the instance she walked in the building.
What I got from the Supreme Court’s President
1. USA = Rome
2. Iran = Iraq the Sequel
3. Democrats can still show up the “President” (their boast on blocking social security reform)
4. And whenever you are on the phone, throw into the conversation “Al-Qaeda” lets wreak havoc on the NSA phone line monitoring computers.
al-qaeda al-qaeda al-qaeda al-qaeda al-qaeda al-qaeda
P-
Holy shit, Speck -- you were just Bill O'Reilly for a second. Have you been watching Fox News since I've been gone? What gives?
No I havent watched Fox News.
I've thought this about her since the day she popped up on the radar.
It's all bullshit attention whore tactics.
I will not support that. And if she is dumb enough to try and run for cali senate I 'm hope gets embarrassed to the point of suicide.
She is becoming someones puppet me-thinks.
Sheesh, Crane. I agree with Harwell. Sammies would be a better subject. I like pimento cheese. Tuna's good, too.
You just took a sharp left turn on me, and I can't get behind that. I love ya, you do a hell of a Sean Connery, but posting an anti-Bush screed? Does the internet really need another one of those?
You know me, fellas. I'm not exactly a religious right poster boy, but I'm down with George Bush. He has many traits I admire: his boldness, his decisiveness, and his sheer hatred for Sea World. Plus, I'm all for knocking off a large number of Arctic Caribou if it means cheaper gas for my Mustang, just eff ANWR right in the A. So the guy can't talk, who cares? Give the leader of the free world a break.
You may wonder, how did Johnny Blaze end up voting Republican? He seemed so forward-thinking in college, so progressive. The answer is simple, friends: guns. I have them, and I want to keep them. I want more of them. And yes, I'd even like to shoot someone one day. That's just what I'm into.
As far as the abortion issue, and the threat of it being completely illegal in a handful of states... would that be the end of the world? So someone might have to take a little road trip to get an abortion. Big deal, I used to have to drive to Virginia for lottery tickets and all the way to South Carolina if I wanted firecrackers. A daytrip for some good old fashion baby abortin' is not at all unreasonable.
Just one man's opinion. But I eat at McDonald's and shop at Wal-Mart, so what do I know?
So...who is Johnny Blaze. Just curious.
Hello, Nathan Hines and David Speck. John Carcieri here.
Glad you guys are still full of spit and vinegar. Nathan, I don't agree with a word you wrote, but like always, your opinions are fascinating. Liberals actually do go out and vote, there just aren't as many of them as you'd like to think. A lot of people voted in '04, but apparently not enough "liberals" to elect Kerry. You guys are loud, but few. Silent majority, indeed.
Speck, I concur about Cindy Sheehan. An opportunist of the worst sort. Seeing as how her son volunteered for the armed forces, then re-enlisted, something tells me he and Mom probably never saw eye-to-eye politically.
But let's get off politics. I'd rather talk about the Young Guns pictures or how frickin' hot The Ice Princess is.
By the way, Nathan... that bit about Crane doin' your wife kinda turned me on.
Is that normal?
Don't be fooled.
Bush is not a true conservative by any stretch of the imagination but a "neo-conservative" which has its roots in the philosophy of Leo Strauss, A German-Jewish intellectual with roots in the Imperial Weimer Republic, along with a arch-Zionist perspective. They are for the expansion of the government when it comes to support for the elite (corporate class and mlitary) and the complete dismantling of social programs for the poor and weaker classes and the end to our basic checks and balances within our government. It's purpose is to perpetuate the rigid class system, prepare the country for mutliple military campaigns to expand the economic base and geo-political presence to preserve power and to criminalize all dissent.
Basically, its the creation of a one-party state with the elite dominating all aspects of domestic life and using a hyper executive power to maintain an authoritative grip on all things. This is very similar to China and to Russia of today which are all following the same path and agenda under the rubric of the "war on terror."
The Project for the New American Century which is a manifesto co-authored by such luminaries as William Kristol, Robert Kagan and Richard Perle (all former 60's leftist radicals) call for the complete domination of the United States militarily and economically over the entire globe. This consists of increasing military spending and bases ten fold throughout central asia, the balkans and the middle east while using this leverage to push for the complete free market liberalization of weaker countries, who may possess a resource which is needed by our corporate class.
Pax Americana, which if you read things like the Foreign Policy Review you will start to understand that a new and accepted American Imperialism is being pondered and considered for the sake of saving the Anglo-American model of capitalism from the triblization of the world and the continuing of the "unsustainable American way" of life in the face of global competition for resources.
Bush is but a front for this constituency. And, unfortunately, the Democrats nor the left really offer a viable, realistic alternative. Why? Because historically, the far left has discredited itself by following lockstep with such nasty regimes as the Soviet Union, Cuba and Maoist China which were typically imperialistic in their own right - killing and imprisoning millions and where never even truly communist.
Couple this with the anti-intellectualism of the American populace, the dumbing down effect of the media spectacle by the organs of the govt'/corporate controlled media, the apathy of the common citizen into mindless consumer which have caused the Democrats to move farther to the right, paid off and bought by the same corrupt lobbyists and corporate interests as the Repubs.
If ever there was a time for a corporatist dictatorship, it is now. Our experiment with democracy is but a dim memory. People want absolutes. They don't want to work creatively for solution, to be involved in the affiars of the state. They want someone to handle things for them, to give them solutions, to be "bold, and decisive", ad nauseam...
Not to mention, there are many more complex issues at work, but I really don't have the room nor time to get into it.
Cindy Sheehan has every right to do what she is doing, regardless if she is wrong or right. To criticize her is one thing, but to wish ill feelings toward another human is the sign of a violently sick facist mind.
And, from what I am gathering here from a few of the comments, I can see some people feeling quite comfortable in a blackshirt.
Hey, God bless the 4th amendment, because I'll most likely own a gun for my own fucking protection.
Dumbed down? What are you blathering about?
You still haven't told me what you think of the Young Guns pictures...
I like how someone is criticizing me for my thoughts about the horrid wench Sheehan...yet leaves their note completely anonymous.
I'll say it again. I wish the illest of ill wish against her.
This blatant disrespect she has shown her FAMILY above all else is sickening. She is a Benedict Arnold in my book, and should be treated as such.
but I digress F*ck Bush.
And I still say Kerry in office wouldn't have been any better.
We were screwed the next four years post election no matter what...
oh and sup Carcieri....long time dude.
Hey, anyone seen or heard from Heath lately? He usually comments more it seems like.
":woooot:"
"her sons death"
"the instance she walked in the building"
"She is becoming someones puppet me-thinks."
"So...who is Johnny Blaze."
"but I digress F*ck Bush."
"oh and sup Carcieri....long time dude."
Speck, you will never be taken seriously as a violently sick fascist without some extensive spelling and grammar reforms.
Shawn...my thoughts and feelings are not sexist in nature...had this been a father I would still be saying the same things.
You don't have a child in the military, and not realize there are risks. Its foolish.
Can she grieve, yes. Can she be angry, yes. Should we have been there to begin with, no.
But she had her meeting with the President.
There are other ways to protest that would garner a lot more positive attention.
But I think her greiving ended a long long time ago.
I think she is an opportunist, and saw this as a chance to get attention. Look at who she having public meetings with...Chavez??? A man who said our State Dept should be hit with a nuclear bomb among other things.
She is fighting for the immediate pull out of the Army, which at this point would do more harm then good.
Her own husband filed for divorce shortly after rampage started, and she has now penned a book.
You can't tell me this woman doesn't have ulterior motives, and the death of son was a catalyst/excuse to start the ball rolling.
I'm all for going against the change, ask anyone who know me.
But this woman saw a warm spotlight to jump in, and has been trying to stay there as long as she can for whatever her own shelfish personal reasons maybe.
People can grieve, protest, and anything they want. But she has taken five steps backwards in the idea of things.
And I just don't feel she is an angry parent with honorable intentions anymore.
I really wish there was an edit button...
going against the change...going against the grain. ask anyone who knows me...
shelfish....sigh
guess i start proofreading...
Sorry about that-
The poster would be me - PA-PA-PAPADEAS!
Chavez has potential. His downfall is that he is a Maoist.
And the Maoists have given us:
Khmer Rouge
Maoist Nepal Liberation movement
Shining Path
All brutal authoritarian movements.
Look, the left is excited about Chavez, but watching cautiously.
full flavor johnny blaze said...
Hey, anyone seen or heard from Heath lately? He usually comments more it seems like.
So, I get an email from Harwell saying "I know you're posing as Johnny Blaze", and to be honest... I'm not. It's not the real John, that's for sure, but it's not me either. Soon, though, John will be here to debunk the whole thing. I've got an email out to him via his gf right now.
Who is this posing as John? Well, let's look at who is on the blog. There's me (and obvious choice), Nathan, Crane, Shawn, Peter, BOC, Peggy, Speck, Moran and Crane's family. I think it's safe to eliminate Crane's family. And, I think it's also safe to eliminate Speck, Moran, Shawn and Nathan. That leaves us with me (the obvious choice), Peter and BOC. By me pointing this out, I hope we can all agree that it ain't me. So, that leaves us with Peter and BOC.
We could flip a coin here. But, I'm not sure it's Peter, to be honest. It sounds like something he would do, but the writing isn't him. Could it be BOC? Hmmm... the writing sounds like him. Plus, BOC calls John 'Johnny Blaze' all the time... and I could imagine BOC doing this and thinking it funny knowing that I will eventually take the fall for this stunt.
I think it's BOC. Anyone else?
Oh, typical Heath. Does a long rant about how it's not him, with some smoke and mirrors on who the real culprit could be, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Have never called Carceri "Johnny Blaze" once in my life.
I actually clicked on the name coz I didn't know who it was and got sent to some site called "JJ and Bird".
Sorry fellas, but it ain't me. I don't have the time or patience to pull off pranks anymore.
BOC out.
it's me
Is it BOC? Dunno. Maybe it is... maybe it ain't. But one thing's for sure, BOC has and does call John Carcieri "Johnny Blaze". I'm just saying... I'm just saying...
Or maybe it was Jim Babel?
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