Take a Little Shine off the Golden Boy

Barrack's response to Larry King when asked about whether his campaign was responsible for the Vote Different video:

"Frankly, given what it looks like, we don't have the technical capacity to create something like this... "It's pretty extraordinary."

Of course, this is either total, mendacious bullshit, or even more alarmingly, lack of imagination and total detachment from 21st century digital technology. (The video was created in one afternoon on a personal computer) I suspect the former because the man is not a dunce. If the latter, then one must ask "Is this the man we want as leader of the most technically advanced country in the world, with all the inherent issues therein, global warming, etc. And do we want a technical illiterate as commander in chief of the most technologically advanced military in the history of the world?"

And while we're dealing in bad answers, let's go back a couple of weeks to Obama's first two responses to General Pace's statement that homosexuality is immoral:

1: "I think traditionally the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman has restricted his public comments to military matters. That's probably a good tradition to follow."
2: "I think the question here is whether somebody is willing to sacrifice for their country, should they be able to if they're doing all the things that should be done."

Of course, Hillary's immediate response was no better, which is not saying much:

"Well, I'm going to leave that to others to conclude."

This blog will be tracking these two leading presidential contenders for stupid, dishonest or unprincipled statements and deeds. I expect the Hill to provide plenty enough grist for this mill. But from the O man... I am a bit disappointed.

My Hero

Sure, it took a senseless and costly war, thousands of suffering Gulf Coast refugees, a national deficit from which we may never recover, the violation of civil rights and the Geneva Conventions, the attempted shredding of the Constitution and installation of a monarchial presidency, loss of precious, hard-earned prestige around the world... well, the list goes on and on. But according to this Pew Research Center report, Karl Rove, with the help of Dick Cheney, working through their mutual sock puppet George W., have succeeded, in just a matter of six short years (although it seems much longer), in creating a dominant liberal, Democratic majority that may last for a generation and beyond.

That is quite an accomplishment. Thank you Karl.

Big Sister

The official Obama campaign did not create, sponsor, or otherwise have anything to do with this video. But that's not really the salient fact. Obama does not control the message. Hillary does not control the message. None of the candidates control the message any longer.

Hillary has been thrust on the mesmerized, distracted, consumerist, American Idol-watching proletariat by the big monied interests that drive the DLC wing of the Democratic party, the Republican party, and big mainstream media. Call it The Establishment... The System... the Military/Industrial/Congressional Complex.

Or call it Big Brother.

Workers of the world, unite! Progressive Democrats, break through!

Worse Than a Hypocrite

Newt Gingrich openly confessed to James Dobson that he had been engaged in an extra-marital affair during the Lewinsky scandal. But he did not confess to being a hypocrite:

“The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge. I drew a line in my mind that said, ‘Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials.”

On a very narrow point, I do agree with Newt. The President of the United States must be held to the rule of law. Despite the questionable nature of the underlying case, perjury and obstruction of justice, especially by a high ranking public official, undermines the basis of the legal system. Does this argument strike a familiar bell in the wake of the Libby verdict?

Bill Clinton did commit perjury before a grand jury and deserved his impeachment. The entire episode was a sorry and unfortunate spectacle, and amid all the moral finger-wagging of the Republicans, it exposed most of them as priggish and self-righteous - and for those who had their own dirty laundry hiding in the closet, as hypocrites. That does not change the fact that Bill should have first kept his dick in his pants and then told the truth under oath. Had he had more character and followed those two simple rules, we most certainly would have had a President Albert A. Gore and not a President George W. Bush.

But although Gingrich drove the Clinton impeachment, the driving force behind him and the Republican party was the Christian Right. It's one thing to preach and espouse your own deeply held morals and principles. It's quite another to espouse the principles of others that you do not hold so dear yourself or even practice in your personal life. That what makes Newt even worse than a hypocrite.

Hillary Is A Phony

This is appalling and idiotic. I am embarrassed for her. Granted, in the first part of the audio, she is quoting a traditional black hymn -- rather broadly and stereotypically I might add. And there is no more reason to do so than there is to use a flowery British accent when quoting Shakespeare. And as for the latter phrases, she is not quoting anybody or anything, but is simply affecting a southern accent for her black audience.

She is a phony, a panderer, a terrible public speaker, a bad Kingfish mimic, a clown and, ultimately, an example of the worst kind of politician.

FAQ on Iraq

It has always struck me that the press and the public have for the most part settled for Bush's simplistic "They hate us for our freedoms" explanation for the causes of Islamic terrorism. If it's not Bush giving the answers, then it's other Republicans, Democrats or American white men in general. In other words, just about the least qualified people on Earth to answer the question. If you really want an accurate answer, ask some Islamic terrorists. (The same goes for asking partisan hacks why people hate Bush)

So it's about time that somebody put forth the basic facts about what is really going on regarding the nature of the insurgency in Iraq. The title says it best -- The Iraq Insurgency for Beginners. Read it and be educated beyond and above the filter of the uninformed, biased and mendacious politicians, military and government officials.