The closet liberal


I'm with Oliver Willis who confesses that he agrees with much of what Bush said last night regarding immigration. I think the idea of sending National Guard troops to the Mexican border is lame, and I look forward to the day when the President tells us he has no exit strategy for pulling troops out of our own country. But the guest worker program strikes a nice compromise between business interests who are addicted to Hispanics, and Pat Buchanan's posse who want to round 'em up and ship 'em out.

Bush looked like the President we thought we were getting in 2000, before the Jesus-is-Lord pod people stole his brain. He sounded compassionate. He drew a careful line between vigilante justice and the American promise. He nearly apologized for interrupting the season finale of Prison Break.

And he failed, miserably, to sway the people he needs most - rascist white guys.

Literature is rife with stories about the evil genius whose creation turned on him half way through the story. Frankenstein is the most famous example. The angry white contingent used to vote Democratic because, hey, Lincoln was a Republican and he started all this colored nonsense to begin with. Then when LBJ righted 100 years of voter discrimination, Nixon opened the doors of his party and waved the angry white guys in. The GOP has been waving ever since.

If I was a Democratic leader, I'd embrace the President's immigration reform proposal, with the simple cavaet that there be an exit strategy for our troops. I'd want an accounting of how many troops would be needed, how much it would cost, and where the money is coming from. In other words, all the questions that weren't asked four years ago about the last bungled military operation.

It's a no-brainer for the Dems. We can look reasonable, and pro-business, by agreeing with Bush. We can also play the part of fiscal hawks by demanding an accounting for Operation Desert Swarm. And we can assure that our national guard soldiers won't ever see the Rio Grande, except maybe one day as tourists.
16.5.06 21:12


Man ist was Man isst


Living in Milwaukee, a town made famous by Jeffry Dahmer, I admit to schadenfreude whenever I read about other cities' cannibals. This fellow from Rotenburg, Germany, was just sentenced to life in prison for cooking and eating a man named Bernd, which makes this story not only weird, but ironic as well. The cannibal, whose name is Kucher (ha ha, just kidding), his name is really Armin Meiwes, was first sentenced to just 8-1/2 years for manslaughter. But then he was retried and sentenced to life in prison, which the judge said was "too lenient". Since Germany abolished the death penalty about 60 years ago, I'm not sure what more can be done to this guy, other than to put him on a strict tofu diet.

Now this is where the story gets weird.

Meiwes met Bernd through an internet chat room, after placing an internet ad looking for someone to eat. Talk about annoying spam messages.
Using the pseudonym "Franky", he inserted internet advertisements which read: "If you are 18-25 you are my boy, Franky from Germany" and "come to me, I'll eat your delicious flesh".

But, clearly, not all of those who replied wanted to die. Some would have been hoaxers, others would have wanted to play out their sexual fantasies.

Only four men - other than the one who was eventually eaten - were interested enough, the court heard, to travel to Meiwes' farm in central Germany to meet him.

None of them went through with the act.

But London-based hotel worker Dirk Moller testified that he had even got as far as being chained to the bed and marked out for butchery before changing his mind. He asked to be released and Meiwes complied.
I blame gay marriage.
9.5.06 14:57


How low can he go?


Latest USA Today poll puts President Bush's approval rating at 31 percent. I used to think that a certain percentage of people will approve of Bush even if he ran over their dog. We're getting close to that number.

Actually, the new low is partly fueled by Republicans and conservative independents who are abandoning the administration. This does not necessarily translate into Democratic victory in the November mid-terms. Dems still need to come up with an agenda, their own "contract for America", to impress the electorate. A Democratic House and Senate in 2007 is very possible, but only if party leaders get their act together.

A few suggestions:

- A Democratic War on earmarks. The last President to erase the deficit was a Democrat. In that spirit, a Democratic congress will be well-positioned to do its part to return the nation to fiscal prudence. There's nothing liberal or progressive about selling our soul to Chinese bankers.

- An honest dialogue about returning to a more realistic foreign policy that deals with the world as it is, rather than how chickenhawk Ivy Leaguers think it can be.

- A pledge to clean up government, including publicly-funded campaigns, more transparency, and enforcement of the FCC rules that make the airwaves public domain, not Rupert Murdoch's plaything.
8.5.06 20:21


Does this mean we can keep and arm bears?


General Hayden, the Bush-lackey who will probably be named as the new CIA director, doesn't understand the fourth amendment. It would seem that in order to have total contempt for something, you should at the very least a basic understand that thing. But not General Hayden. From Crooks and Liars:
Knight-Ridder's Jonathan Landay questioned Gen. Michael Hayden at the National Press Club in January:

Landay: "...the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to violate an American's right against unreasonable searches and seizures..."

Gen. Hayden: "No, actually - the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "But the --"

Gen. Hayden: "That's what it says."

Landay: "The legal measure is probable cause, it says."

Gen. Hayden: "The Amendment says: unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "But does it not say 'probable cause'?"

Gen. Hayden [exasperated, scowling]: "No! The Amendment says unreasonable search and seizure."

Landay: "The legal standard is probable cause, General -- "

Gen. Hayden [indignant]: "Just to be very clear ... mmkay... and believe me, if there's any Amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. Alright? And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. The constitutional standard is 'reasonable'"
Here's what da fourth amendment sez:
'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'
Got that?
7.5.06 21:09


President Bush's Top Five Nicknames for Steve Colbert


Because top ten would have been pushing it:

The Truth Guy

Cold Beer

Executive Order No. 43,298-A

Side Dish

Laura's wet dream


I think I'm the first.
5.5.06 20:08


29.4.06 22:09


Best. Quote. Ever.


From Publius, natch:
The Crusades and colonialism are to Muslims what Sherman’s burning of Atlanta is to Southerners. And when we go marching off to war, that's the kind of stuff in the back of Muslims' mind. That's not necessarily an argument against war, but it is an argument for why you should refrain from attaching electrodes to people's balls and then taking pictures of it.
Read the whole thing.
29.4.06 05:13


[first page] [previous page]  [next page]