(to the tune of the Brady Bunch theme)
…Till the one day when this girl killed her attacker
We knew it was much more than a hunch.
That her attacker just seemed to want her baby,
That’s your fate when you screw with the Brady Bunch.
The Brady Bunch.
The Bra-dy Bunch.
“Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! Stop trying to take my baby!”
In his Feb. 9th article, Pat Buchanan said something that struck me as profound coming from a conservative:
…al-Qaida was no more attacking our “freedom” when it drove those planes into the World Trade Center than were Iroquois, Sioux and Apache attacking our freedom when they massacred settlers on the frontier. Like Islamists, the Indians saw us as defiling their sacred soil, dispossessing them, imposing a hated hegemony. They cared not about our Constitution – they wanted us off their land.
This seems to strengthen Ward Churchill’s incendiary remarks from an essay he wrote that basically states Newton’s Third Law of Motion that states “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Our country’s policies towards the Middle East may have caused 9/11. Plain and simple. Hell, bin Laden basically said as much in his Oct. 2004 video (and before anyone accuses me of “hating America” let me say that I despise the attacks of 9/11. They were committed by cowards and I do NOT approve of bin Laden, nor of al-Qaeda and their tactics):
Before I begin, I say to you that security is an indispensable pillar of human life and that free men do not forfeit their security, contrary to Bush’s claim that we hate freedom.
If so, then let him explain to us why we don’t strike for example - Sweden? And we know that freedom-haters don’t possess defiant spirits like those of the 19 - may Allah have mercy on them.
No, we fight because we are free men who don’t sleep under oppression. We want to restore freedom to our nation, just as you lay waste to our nation. So shall we lay waste to yours.
(from HERE). Pat Buchanan may not be my favorite person, but he has a point here:
The president says we must fight them over there, so we do not have to fight them over here. But, before we invaded Iraq, not one American had been killed by an Iraqi in a dozen years. Since we invaded, 1,500 Americans have died and the number of insurgents has multiplied from 5,000 to 20,000. By Don Rumsfeld’s own metric, our intervention is creating more terrorists than we are killing. We are fighting a guerrilla army that our own invasion called into being.
I just wish that someone within the Bush Administration might show some common sense about Iraq and, if nothing else, at least admit that our own actions may be the cause of all of the American lives lost in Iraq to date. The problem seems to be that “Texans” don’t like to lose face.
On Friday, a vegetable truck rigged with explosives blew up outside a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad, and gunmen sprayed automatic fire into a bakery in a Shiite district of the capital in sectarian violence that killed at least 23 people.
Iraqis in Baghdad are now enjoying a traditional Mexican dish: Salsa! Thanks to the efforts of car bomber Muhammed al-Quedoba, Iraqis now have salsa to dip their “holy(holey) bread” into. Meanwhile, efforts to describe the dead are ongoing. One citizen is quoted as saying “Mmmm… Toasty!” but efforts to confirm this have been unsuccessful.
Yes, I know I am a sick individual. No need to tell me, thanks.
AP Wire | 02/12/2005 | Car Bomb Kills 17 Outside Iraqi Hospital
Ha ha ha ha! Good One! Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says it’s now time to “unite” with our allies to DEFEAT TERRORISM! Uhh, hate to tell you this, Rummy, but you’re late. A couple of years late.
See, if you and Karl and George and Dick had done this about 2 years ago, we may not have the number of US military deaths that we have now. See, if we would have listened to the rest of the civilized world, there might have been a peaceful resolution to this whole Iraq mess. But I digress. There is now freedom and democracy over there, right? Disregard those daily car-bombings. Nothing to see here. Move along people.
It’s really kind of funny how Rumsfeld plays off his previous speech:
Referring to his earlier critical description of European nations that opposed the Iraq war as “old Europe,” he said, “That was old Rumsfeld,” drawing laughs from the assembled officials.
Nevermind that “old Europe” thing, I was just kidding. I didn’t mean that. Can we still be friends?
Where was this resolve to use diplomacy 2 years ago? Once again, Bush and Co. show the world that diplomacy is to be used when it’s convenient for them. Bahh. A pox on the whole damn lot of them.
This is what happens when you cross the Milwaukee Police: 
.
Although witness accounts differ from the “official” version of things, one thing is clear: Frank Jude Jr. got the ass-beating of his life. The only question left unanswered is Why? Four Milwaukee police officers are suspected in the Oct. 24, 2004 beating after a house party. Why none of them has actually been charged in the beating is a question only Police Chief Nan Hegerty can answer.
The short account of what happened is this: Oct. 24, in a Milwaukee suburb, the 4 accused officers and the beatee were at a house party. Supposedly, Mr. Jude attempted to take one of the off-duty police officer’s badges. That is when all hell broke loose. Frank Jude was beaten within inches of his life, stripped naked, and even threatened with a knife. The officers state that they were trying to “subdue” the suspect. Here is my problem(you knew it was coming, didn’t you?):
To me, this statement by the District Attorney, shows, once again, the blue wall of silence:
The investigation has been slowed by some officers who aren’t fully cooperating, the district attorney said.
“There’s no question crimes were committed,” McCann said last week. “This is not the usual type of case. Instead of police cooperating with you, you have a number of police who are intent on obstructing the inquiry.”
Unfortunately, some community leaders are making things worse with some of their protests by calling the D.A. a racist, saying the officers were “faggots”(their words), and so on. That is not the way to effectively protest the lack of charges. Personally, I hope that the officers ARE charged and hopefully lose their jobs. With cops like that on the street, why worry about the real criminals.
The rest of the article is Here for your viewing pleasure.
I’m creating a new category today. It will be called You, sir, are guilty of Asshattery!. I want to try and do one post a week about some of the absolutely stupid shit people do. So, on to the definitons:
asshat (ăs hăt) n. A supremely foolish person; an extremely useless idiot. e.g. You’re about as useful as a hat on my ass; You are an asshat!!
asshattery (ăs hăt `
rē) n. The act or practice of excessive stupidity as performed by an asshat. e.g. You, sir, are guilty of Asshattery!
I don’t know if I should be happy or pissed. The very fact that I got my first (numerous) pieces of comment spam means that someone other than family and the few blogs I visit have noticed me. But it also pisses me off since I could give a damn about texas hold’em poker. I learned a long time ago not to gamble. Well, since I’m so conflicted, how about this:
Yippee! I got my first comment spams!
Dammit! I got my first comment spams!
Once again, my senator, Russ Feingold, is taking the lead in reigning in the Federal Election Commission concerning campaign fundraising.
This past election saw some of the worst political ads attacking candidates on both sides, but primarily Sen. Kerry (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth). Many 527 organizations skirted the law by claiming to be a “Get Out the Vote”-type organization when, in reality, they were really working on behalf of one candidate or another.
Take the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. These were very thought-provoking ads that made John Kerry seem to be a traitor, a dishonor to veterans, and a flat-out liar. They succeeded. It’s quite unfortunate that they did. From their own site (Swift Vets - About Us):
Swift Vets and POWs for Truth is a tax exempt non-partisan public advocacy “527″ organization that consists of and is limited to former military officers and enlisted men who served in Vietnam on U.S. Navy “Swift Boats” or in affiliated commands, as well as former prisoners of war and their families.
Now I’m not saying that Swift Boat Vets was the only organization that abused 527 laws. Far from it. But they had the loudest voice. Above, in their About Us text, they say that they are a NON-PARTISAN organization, but I doubt anyone that saw those ads can agree with that statement, at least not without their fingers crossed.
Anyway, on to the meat of this post. Sen. Feingold, in a press release February 2nd, had this to say:
…And now we are here to announce the introduction of legislation that will make absolutely clear that the federal election laws apply to 527 organizations. Let me emphasize one thing. We believe that current federal election law requires these groups to register as political committees and stop raising and spending soft money. But the FEC has failed to enforce the law so we must act in the Congress.
Since the Federal Election Commission would not step-up to limit the abuses these organizations committed, Sens. Feingold, McCain, Lott, and Congressmen Shays and Meehan joined together once again to introduce legislation aimed at further clarifying what, exactly, a 527 group can and cannot do with their donations. I, for one, applaud this bill. It’s about time we send a message to organizations such as Swift Vets that their unlimited soft-money days are over.
Read the rest of Sen. Feingold’s Statement on the 527 Reform Act.
I’m sick. Not just any kind of sick, mind you. I mean, your head feels about 25lbs and filled with nastiness. Sneezing fits that propel gooey strings of mucus across the room. My stomach has to be involved in gymnastics considering how many jumps and flips and flops it’s done this week. This is not good when you have to work 7 days a week. So I did what any sane, rational person would do. Ah, who am I kidding? I’m not really sane and rational! (OK, maybe I am, but only concerning my politics!) I skipped out on work on Tuesday, went on Wednesday(see gooey strings of mucus above), went on Thursday(decided to self-medicate; see head feels about 25lbs above), and finally called in sick to the main job on Friday. The worst part is, I’ve now passed this fun onto my little girl. Being sick sucks!
So I ask you: Do you feel bad for me yet?
Sen. Feingold has once again introduced his bill to ban the Federal Death Penalty. Called the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2005, it highlights some disturbing information, such as this:
That our modern society relies on killing as punishment is disturbing enough. Even more disturbing, however, is that our States’ and Federal Government’s use of the death penalty is often not consistent with principles of due process, fairness, and justice. These principles are the foundation of our criminal justice system. It is clearer than ever before that we have put innocent people on death row. In addition, statistics show that those States that have the death penalty are more likely to put people to death for killing white victims than for killing black victims.
Upon seeing this, and assuming his research is correct, I am starting to doubt my own thoughts on the Death Penalty as punishment for a capital crime. I have, for a very long time, been in support of the death penalty, mostly due to my religious values (you know, an eye for an eye and all that).
There seems to be quite a bit of information available against the use of the death penalty. Senator Feingold’s bill is the least among them. The former governor of Illinois, Gov. George Ryan, in 2000, had placed a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty until proper research could be done concerning inmates already on Death Row. That research resulted in a “blanket commutation” of those inmates’ sentences to life in prison. While I still feel that the “punishment should fit the crime”, I think that a lot more research should go into whether the death penalty should be considered as punishment for homocide, or some other heinous crime.
I don’t know if there should be some kind of litmus test for whether it should be considered,but I do know this: those accused of homocide need to be afforded fully qualified legal counsel who will stop at nothing to uncover any and all information relating to the crime they are accused of. Too often, young legal defenders are appointed and expected, among their heavy caseload, to do as good a job at defending an accused killer as Johnny Cochran did for O.J. Simpson. It just doesn’t happen that way! So will I change my support for the death penalty? Yes, but only if states refuse to offer good defense counsel to those who can’t afford it, as stated in the Miranda Law.
Here is the rest of Sen. Feingold’s letter: t r u t h o u t . o r g