Screw This Pooch

How did this country become so colossally retarded?: James Dobson and the other anti-Christs of the right "should be strapped to a gurney in a sanitarium with a Lithium I.V."

..."Nor is it the place of a news organization to stick him on TV as an authority, simply because morons listen to what he says."

"This intellectual shitkicker may have puffed himself up enough to think he's got enough moral highground to evaluate the authenticity of the candidates..."

"In the best of all possible worlds, candidates and news organizations wouldn't pander to the dumb vote. The moron vote. The ignorant vote. Instead they would say: screw 'em."

Obama On The Mount

He takes the breath away: "'If we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice. Imagine Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address without reference to 'the judgments of the Lord.' Or King's I Have a Dream speech without references to 'all of God's children.' Their summoning of a higher truth helped inspire what had seemed impossible, and move the nation to embrace a common destiny'"...

..."Indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their "personal morality" into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition"

We're back !!!!

In Praise of the Cat

The Most Beautiful Creatures In The World: "Cats are known to have traveled hundreds of miles to find their owners in new homes to which they themselves have never been. Scientists have not been able to find a physiological or psychological explanation for this ability."

Poor People Turn Off Advertisers

"Our culture is directed towards making things worse" - from Ben Cohen's interview with Matt Taibbi.

"Poverty certainly is something you don't get a whole lot of information about, for the simple reason that poor people turn off advertisers."

"I knew one guy who was doing a story and it involved a murder in a small town in Georgia, and there were a lot of poor people involved who were characters in this story, and they were talking a lot on camera in his version of the story. When he took it to his editors they told him to re-cut the story, and take the poor people out and have him do stand ups instead so that he would be on camera more and the poor inarticulate people would be on camera less. This is something that goes on all the time in the media, and it's not because they have a political bias against the idea that there are lots of poor people in this country, it is just that it is a fact of economic life that when people see wealth on TV, they are inclined to buy more and when they see depressing images, they are inclined to buy less. That's why golf, for instance, is such a popular sport on television because it is a sport where you tend to see lots of upper class people in upper class settings in country clubs, and you'll notice that corresponding advertisements for golf are always luxury cars and luxury perfumes and colognes and those sorts of things. And you can't sell those things when you have a lot of people without teeth on TV, it's just a fact of life. That's why you have that, it's strictly an economic thing."...

The Coast of the Auburn Mane

"This guy's not a documentary, he's an opera. Somebody should write it." - Peggy Noonan speaking of Bill Clinton:
Peggy Noonan can hear the native tongues of home, and sing to us a glimpse of its "far-flinging Gods."

There's another kingdom out among the 3 visible, acknowledged worlds of America; beyond the East Coast of the famous families, the Left Coast of brazen and wanton tugging at the leash, and the venerated blessedness of the Heartland. Less visible, harder to reach, but more real by a long stroke, is that home within us where life flows as a song - pouring forth with words thrilled to be spoken, describing gloriful affirmation and protective confirmation.

It's another Coast altogether, and from it's edge - as with all coasts, the past and the future go both ways.

It's All In The Game

What If Obama Isn't A Game Changer?: "University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. There are four elements needed for a major political shift, Sabato argues:
'(1) A crisis of confidence that causes Americans to reconsider their voting patterns; (2) new voters brought into the electorate that change the composition of the voting public; (3) a successful Presidency that confirms the gamble voters take in the first election breaking with past practice; and (4) successor Presidencies from the new coalition that continue and build upon the successes of the breakthrough President.'"

A tall order; very sobering. A lot has to happen, and a lot of that has to happen in sync with a whole lot of other things.

The Instant Messenger

Crushing the Stones of Mercury: It's as if one can feel a deep resonation in the earth - an old tremor of an older presence - out there, behind and around us, an aging Mercury stirring in suprise and unpreparedness to face attack amid the gathering momentum of yet greater hordes of attackers.

"Tom Brokaw calls this moment in the news media “the second big bang.” “We are creating a new universe, and it has all kinds of new laws and science and physics coming into play as well, in this information world,” he told me. “And you’ve got planets out there colliding with each other, new life forms taking shape; others have drifted too close to the sun, and they’ve burned up. And we don’t know how it’s all going to settle down. And it has, now and forevermore, a radiant effect.”"

The Messenger is dying; long live Instant Mercury...!

Whack a McMole

Democrats pound McCain for Dismissive Crack: "“If it's working Senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?”

McCain replied: “No, but that's not too important."

"Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency. From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals. McCain's sense of entitlement to privileged treatment bears an eerie resemblance to George W. Bush's.

Despite graduating in the bottom 1 percent of his Annapolis class, McCain was offered the most sought-after Navy assignment -- to become an aircraft carrier pilot. According to military historian John Karaagac, "'the Airdales,' the air wing of the Navy, acted and still do, as if unrivaled atop the naval pyramid. They acted as if they owned, not only the Navy, but the entire swath of blue water on the earth's surface." The most accomplished midshipmen compete furiously for the few carrier pilot openings. After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance, no one with a record resembling McCain's would have been offered such a prized career path. The justification for this and subsequent plum assignments should be documented in McCain's naval file."

Enough is enough !!

Uh uh.

They cleaned John Kerry's files like a fish, so now "they" get a massive two-fisted Politconoscopy Examination in Gitmo.

That might be enough.

Rural Whites Are Bitter - "They're mad!"

Here Come The Scots-Irish Again - Staggering Across Our Foreheads With More Late-Roman Tales Of Blood and Booze and Losing: "'He was right,' Webb tells me of Barack Obama's infamous comment that rural whites are 'bitter.' 'They're mad.'"

On the the white working class: "No other group has been so denigrated, attacked, and even feared by America's ever more interconnected ruling elites. Had I not gone to law school, I never would have fully comprehended ... the ingrained condescension of the nation's elites towards my culture."

They're crazy mother-fuckers to be sure and to be sure they are part of America - deep into it; America wouldn't smell the same or act the same without them.

"There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is – deceit."

"He has no character. He is a fake": "Ted Sampley, who fought with US Special Forces in Vietnam and is now a leading campaigner for veterans’ rights, said: ‘I have been following John McCain’s career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is – deceit.'"...

..."This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake."

Ross Perot... "McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory. After he came home, Carol [first wife] walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history."

I don't want this prick anywhere near something of value.

The Guy in the Next Stall...

...Just Made His Dick Move: Oh gad !! It's time to flush and leave, because it's Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and he's in high snit because Democrats won't let Republican clowns stuff more rightie judges into the judicial system.

"The thing is, McConnell's maneuverings didn't really punish the Democrats. The person who ended up getting punished was the poor Senate clerk, who McConnell forced to read 'the entire 500 page global warming bill' out loud. McConnell's actions can thus be rightly considered to be 'a total dick move.'"

Hopefully, some stall-worthy character can help him make his dick stop moving - Larry Craig?

Checking In With Chubby

Tucker Carlson Hasn't Learned The Faberge Balloon Lesson: "So the best thing Tucker said to me, after he said, 'I eat at least one steak a day...I don't eat bread.' He followed that quote with this, 'There are three things I love. Cookies, alcohol, and Marlboro Reds.'"

A Blunderer of Historic Proportions

When Did You Get Your First Clue, General ?: "Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who is scathing in his assessment that the Bush administration 'led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions.'"

Yes, General, and you followed him. There is a whole universe of thought that tries to understand the moral dimension of your choice. No verdict yet, so you can continue to lead men into battle with some degree of impunity.

"During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a 'confused' pep talk:

'Kick ass!' he quotes the president as saying. 'If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can't send that message. It's an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal.

There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!'

A White House spokesman had no comment."

Your president is a mad man! Say it out loud. It's OK.

Evidentally we can accept that horrible fact - just as we accept the reality of 80 year-old blue-haired matrons cruising down the freeway at 70 miles per hour.