Is that a shrub in your pocket...
or are you just a corporate profiteer?
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Just Say Yo! A spokesperson for the Bush campaign has a solution for everybody out there working at crappy, underpaid jobs. Either go out and get a good job, or, better yet, go on Prozac, according to Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt . Of course, their crappy jobs probably don't have prescription drug coverage. I'm not sure if that's the compassion or the conservatism talking there.posted by pjs 3:37 PM
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Be Afraid. Be Very, Very Afraid
Guess what folks? The Kerry/Edwards campaign got a huge bump in the polls with the announcement of John Edwards as John Kerry's running mate. Kennyboy Lay was (finally) indicted in the whole Enron debacle. You know what that means? That's right, it's time for a new "terror alert."
So the Bush administration trotted out Tom Ridge today to tell us that Al Qaeda plans a large-scale attack on the United States "in an effort to disrupt the democratic process" before November's elections.
It's vewy, vewy scawey.
So, we're raising the terror level to orange, right? Well, no. So there's some new information - some of that 'intelligence' we've come to know and repect, pointing to an attack, right? Well, no, none of that, either.
Well, now, just how stupid are we here? Are the people really buying this shit? Isn't just too goddamn obvious what these yo-yo's are doing? I mean, c'mon here. Is this supposed to make us think that Bush and his pals are doing a terrific job? It makes me think they're clueless, at best, and maybe even preparing us for a terrorist attack that they'll either instigate themselves or allow to happen, just to get Bush re-elected. Or maybe to declare martial law and suspend elections.
What, if "they" attack us, am I supposed to vote for Bush? I don't think so, George. They're getting desperate, and I hope to watch them squirm and curse their way out of office.
posted by pjs 3:09 PM
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
McCain Blew Off Bush in 2000
Now that the republicans have decided that the only way to attack the Kerry Edwards campaign is to insinuate that Edwards was Kerry's 2nd coice, it's intersting to see what John McCain had to say on the whole VP subject. The following is from the March 18, 2004 Today Show, where McCain is interviewed by Matt "Rat Face" Lauer:
LAUER: Senator John Kerry is now wrapping up the Democratic nomination. He has the numbers he needs. He's out shopping for a vice presidential candidate, and guess whose name has come up. John McCain, last time I checked you were a Republican. Are you changing parties? Sen. McCAIN: I'm not changing parties. I'm not running for vice president. President Bush in 2000 asked me if I was interested in being vice president. I said no then. I'm not interested in being vice president now. And I'm not... LAUER: Has anyone had a serious discussion from the campaign of John Kerry on this subject with you? Sen. McCAIN: Not a serious discussion, no. I read the same things that you do. I'm--I'm the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt. And I certainly don't want to be vice president of the United States. And I would like to see a campaign run that's beneficial to the American people. LAUER: Senator John McCAin. Thanks very much.So, not only didn't anyone form the Kerry campaign have a serious discussion with McCain, but McCain told Bush to to take a hike in 2000. So, I guess Cheney was Bush's second choice.
posted by pjs 2:07 PM
Thursday, July 01, 2004
The Eagle Sores I guess most folks have heard that Fahrenheit 9/11 is doing well in places like Fayetteville N.C. and other areas where there are military bases. It's also doing quite well in the 'red' states, much to the chagrin of Konservatives. Part of the reason, I think, is that military families are starting to hear from their loved ones overseas about how things are over there in Iraq, and how discouraged they are with everything. If you've been looking forward to getting the hell out of there only to have your tour extended, that has to be pretty maddening. Plus, many folks are getting redeployed way too soon, and now they're dragging old retired guys into this mess. Now, the U.S. army's first study of the mental health of troops who fought in Iraq found that about one in eight suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and nearly one in five suffer from some serious mental health problem, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. And guess what? If Bush (heaven help us all) gets re-elected, his 2006 budget will cut funds for Veterans Affairs by $1 billion (that's billion). Now there's support for the troops. The worst part is, all of it appears to be for nothing. There are no WMD's (no, a shell doesn't count). There didn't use to be a terrorist haven in Iraq. Saddam was an asshole, but the Iraqis are none too thrilled with what we're doing. We've actually made things worse over there. I'm sure that a lot of people seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 are stunned to see and hear things that just aren't getting reported by our news media. I guess that would be what the Konservatives are calling bias - showing another side of the story, for a change. Maybe they're too ingrained in their way of thinking to believe their government would actually go to war for no good reason, and then bungle the whole thing to boot. But if this flick at least plants a few doubts in people's minds, and gets them to start asking a few questions (and looking for answers beyond Fox News), that's a start. At least Moore isn't trying to convince anyone that he's 'fair and balanced.' You understand what his point of view is, and you can make your own judgement on the evidence he presents while taking that into consideration. It's far more sinister to have an organization pretend to be unbiased while mouthing the party propaganda. There are way too many people who get their 'news' from the Rupert Murdoch owned media conglomerates (or General Electric owned NBC, or Disney owned ABC, right-wing "Wal-Mart" of the airwaves ClearChannel or, well, pretty much everything in the mainstream in the US). It's no wonder they find any evidence to the contrary to be 'biased.' Watching the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members try to raise an objection to the sham election of 2000 was hard to watch, especially becuase it was yet another spectacle kept hidden in plain sight by our 'liberal' media. If you don't know about it, the CBC couldn't get even one Senator to sign on to an objection that would have brought to the floor a debate on the many voting irregularities - in particular, the disenfranchisement of black voters in Florida - that occurred (not for the first time) during the election of 2000, and is happening again this year. I've always really liked Maxine Waters, and she was great. "It's not signed by a Senator, and I don't care that it's not signed by a Senator." However, I've heard that Al Gore didn't want to be put in the position of casting the tie-breaking vote (the Senate was split 50-50 at the time) on having a debate, and told the (then) Majority leader to try and get a deal for shared committee chairmanships by promising not to air the CBC's objections. I don't know that I agree with it, but I also understand how things work. And Gore would have been dragged around in the mud that much more. I'm far more disturbed by those who voted not just to authorize the Iraq invasion, but to give Bush blanket authorization to do anything he wanted to do, whenever and whereever he felt like doing it (and John Kerry was one of them). That was terrible, and I was very disappointed in my Senators - Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton - especially (I wasn't surprised by my congressman, of course, who is a puppet lapdog rethuglickin' schmuck). I made a point of watching their speeches during the 'debate' prior to the vote, and I couldn't believe it. Hillary listed every reason why she should vote against it, and then voted for it anyway. Senator Robert Byrd was about the only one who stood up and showed a little integrity (pretty tough when you have to rely on an ex-Klansman for integrity). By the way, if you want to read a good speech, Byrd's May 2003 speech, "Truth Will Emerge" is a good one. At any rate, we can worry about Kerry once we get rid of Bush. This administration has been so bad for the earth in so many ways, it's astonishing. It would be nice if the Democrats could take back the Senate, too. They may not be perfect, but if we want to get a few relatively sane judicial appointments through, we need to get the Republicans out of control (especially that cat-killer, Frist; I think we were better off with Senator Brillcream). If the poll numbers look bad, I wouldn't put it past them to stage a terrorist attack and then declare martial law and suspend the election (temporarily, of course), while Fox News flies the flag and beats the war drums for our brave war President. Oh well, I guess we'll see what the big Iraq "turnover" (interesting how we've done such a great job over there that we couldn't even have the 'ceremony' in public on the day we scheduled it, but had to do it in secret ahead of schedule to try and keep everybody from gettin' blown the fuck up) does for Bush, and now the Saddam show trial. I really hope it doesn't become as ubiquitous as the whole OJ thing. I wonder if CNN and CourtTV will sign a deal to have the proceedings conducted in English? Well, enjoy the holiday weekend (it's a loooooong way to Labor Day). I think I'll make a point of seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 (again) on the 4th.posted by pjs 9:54 AM
