"That whistling sound you hear, Mr. President, "But... but... there's oil and gas down there! The money. Dear God, the money to be made!" BP says.
Well, yeah, we allowed them to drill without taking the proper safety protocols and without presenting an oil spill plan that didn't sound like something out of Saturday Night Live and they completely Katrina'd the Gulf coast for the next generation. So what makes them think it'll happen again?
Strategic level spiritual warfare (SLSW) is the ideology behind the growth of "prayer warrior" networks across the nation. [...]
Stategic Level Spiritual Warfare
"A term that pertains to intercessory confrontations with demonic power concentrated over given cities, cultures, and peoples." - Otis
According to C. Peter Wagner, there are levels of spiritual warfare. Ground level spiritual warfare is casting out demons from individuals. Occult level spiritual warfare is confrontations with demons operating through witchcraft and esoteric philosophies (examples are Freemasonry and Tibetan Buddhism). Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare is the highest level dealing with confrontation of territorial principalities that control entire communities, ethnic groups, religions, and nations.
Go read this. I've got nothing against 'prayer warrior networks' doing a 'gang pray'. It's harmless fun and keeps 'em off the streets and outta our hair.
Take heart from the fact that all their fervent praying to de-demonize us has not the power of one good Librul Vulcan Mind Meld. We should work up a good one of those and blast those suckers back to the Dark Ages where they belong. If we do it on election day they'll think the Repugs have won and be happy as a clam.
Well, the article specifies only Julian Assange, not the Army private arrested for leaking the documents to Assange. Congressman Rogers says that Pvt. Manning aided the enemy by leaking those documents to Julian Assange.
But considering the stunning comeback of the Taliban these past few years, I don't think they needed any help from a previously obscure private. I think we ought to execute every Congressman for appropriating tens of billions more for Obama's inherited little war considering that God knows how much of it will wind up in the pockets of the Taliban and tribal warlords we're bribing for not killing us.
But that's just me...
Does anyone doubt that once a society ceases to be able to afford schools, public transit, paved roads, libraries and street lights -- or once it chooses not to be able to afford those things in pursuit of imperial priorities and the maintenance of a vast Surveillance and National Security State -- that a very serious problem has arisen, that things have gone seriously awry, that imperial collapse, by definition, is an imminent inevitability? Anyway, I just wanted to leave everyone with some light and cheerful thoughts as we head into the weekend.
Gee thanks, Glenn. You're a mensch.
"That's the third guy today who's overdosed on Red Bull."Joe Klein has a solid, heartfelt apology for his role in promoting the Iraq War. It's good as far as these things go, but it really doesn't matter; the media failure on the Iraq War was systemic not personal.
All the stars aligned in favor of the Iraq War: so-called liberal commentators were for it in order to seem tough, the think tanks were for it because their benefactors were for it, the Likud lobby was for it because they thought it would be good for Israel, the cable networks for it because they thought it would be good for ratings. Pundits who argued in favor it have seen their stars rise, pundits who argued against it have seen their stars fall. There was a massive professional incentive for media types to favor it; maybe one or two, like Klein, who realized it might not be such a great idea, could have spoken out against it more forcefully. But in the end, people will do what they think is their own interests, and supporting the war was clearly in the best interests of elite media types. And, yes, the tendency to follow one's own interests, the rest of the world be damned, is especially pronounced among careerists.
The Iraq War completely changed my view of American politics and media. Before it, I subscribed to a neo-Brooksian view of reasonably competent elites doing more or less what they thought was right; after it, I can only believe that we are ruled by incompetents and sociopaths.
This why I can't subscribe to Erki's view that establishment media types should keep jerking each other off and praising Megan McArdle.
"As far as the media's concerned, Mrs. Obama deserves this. Look at the sordid past. Look at our slave past, look at the discriminatory past. It's only fair that people of color get their taste of the wealth of America too." - Unofficial Viagra pitchman Rush Limbaugh on Friday, sneering as he said it.
Can we please, once and for all, laugh Rush Limbaugh out of the public discourse for being the embarrassing racist fuck that he is? Because he thinks any perceived advantage that African Americans, even the First Lady, get from the media or anywhere else is a result of the Affirmative Action that Limbaugh loathes for its "discrimination" toward his downtrodden Aryan brothers and sisters.
Doing the right thing
Gentle Reader, you should read both his letter to the ADL and his article in Newsweek.
There is a river bigotry in this country, that had been and is still being fueled by the Right. From the Jim Crow segregationists, the "Yellow Peril" formenters, the pre-war anti-Semites, the homophobes to the modern haters of all things Hispanic and/or Muslim, it is the same music being played for centuries. Only the lyrics (and the targets) change. When it becomes unacceptable to target one group, the haters on the Right find another one. Which is why the party of Hoover has been largely silent about the Proposition 8 decision; they've found other groups to bash.
Glenn Beck Compares Obama's America to 'Planet of the Apes'
My Twitter buddy, Tommy Christopher watched Glenn Beck, who as usual dog-whistled his racism using another pop-culture reference. He cites Joan Walsh at Salon who says:
Nope. No racism there. Beck didn't mean anything by the reference to "apes." Don't be oversensitive. How could Glenn Beck know that you can find "Planet of the Apes: A four year Obama survival guide" on the white supremacist site Stormfront.org? Or countless Google images and blog posts comparing Michelle Obama to the character "Dr. Zira"? Or the fact that, frankly, you can't swing a cat on the Internet without coming across some comparison of Obama's political rise to the apes' ascendance in, yes, "Planet of the Apes" (but some of them are careful to state upfront that race has nothing to do with the comparison!)
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What tub of lard could possibly replace junkie Limbaugh?
Karl Rove, of course. Maybe he can get his Rap Stars back together?
KARL ROVE fills in for RUSH LIMBAUGH for the first time on Monday, live from New York City. A jovial Rove joked on Fox & Friends: "Anxiety! Anxious! Feeling nervous! Feeling anxious! Please! Feeling very nervous!"
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Baby, slow, don't go too fast now.....
The party of race-baiting, homophobic, religious bigots, anti-science, anti-education, hate spewing fanatics is making sure that the Islamosocialist takeover of America is coming to a grinding halt!
After one-on-one with Obama, McConnell vows to slow White House agenda
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Tenthers, and ACORN and tea bags, oh my!
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In an attempt to demonstrate to America that the Rushthuglibot party is the party of grown ups, the RNC helps the sheeple Send the Muslim Socialist President a Birthday card.
In a reference to two very recent Democratic ethics cases in the House of Representatives, a card featuring an image of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says "What do you give the guy who has everything? How about Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters? Hugs and Kisses!"
The card featuring Vice President Joe Biden is tied to Biden's history of making verbal gaffes. "For your birthday, you won't hear a f@#&ing peep out of me."
The mock card from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid takes issue with Democrats' approach to the economy. "Sorry no gift this year. I'm going to need every dime to defend our failed economic policies."
Yup, the Republicans once again display their lack of class. We love you for your grace, charm and tact.
So in the words of one of your deities, the vampire without a pulse, GO FUCK YOURSELVES.
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Aw, that's sweet - someone made a sandcastle honoring Fred Thompson:
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If you've just awoken from a two year sleep and in need of a quick 147 word summary of what transpired in the political arena during that time, the following is as good as you'll find.
President Obama's independents have deserted him, the business and Tea Party wings of the Republican Party are alight with fervor and cash, and even season-ticket Democrats are searching for their old enthusiasm.
In part, that is because the significant accomplishments of the last two years — health care reform, the stimulus package, the resuscitation of the auto industry, financial reform — were savagely attacked by the right and aggressively misrepresented as the hoof beats of totalitarianism. Most of those efforts were actually highly diluted to draw centrist support, but they did not really get much of it, and the compromises meant that the bills were defended only halfheartedly by Democrats who should have stood up more firmly to the rage.
For all that has been written or said about Democrats, Republicans and the presidency of Barack Obama, it really all comes down to what you just read. The only other thing you might want to factor in is that all of this has been going on during the worst economic time of the last seventy years.
Republicans are not about to change their ways so if Dems do not shift gears any time soon and start playing a little hardball, they're going to lose it all.
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Baby possessed with Holy Ghost: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGOsQQ75no8&feature=player_embedded
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Orrin Hatch, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, had this to say about allowing the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% to expire in January.
"I don't know anybody who believes that's a safe or wise thing to do. And whatever it takes, we should not increase taxes."
Really? No one believes it's a wise thing to do? Not a single person?
A number of old Republican hands warning of a deficit crisis have split with the GOP leadership over extending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts.
Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), President Reagan's budget chief David Stockman and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan have each argued that extending the tax cuts — set to expire at year's end — would increase the nation's $13 trillion debt.
"It's like tax reductions, you don't need to pay for them? To me, that's nonsense," Voinovich said.
"It's crisis time, and we're ready to go over the cliff."
Voinovich is on his way out so I imagine he felt he had nothing to lose by going against the party line. Still I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and choose to believe that not every Republican is a hypocritical accomplice to the rich…just most of them.
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