Blast from the Past

So the other morning on the Jerry Springer radio show (much different than his TV show), he was playing protest/patriotic/support the troops music from different wars, and they dug out this gem, which was top 10 in 1967, but vanished soon thereafter. Gotta love it. The contempt in the performer's voice when he says "because she is a woman" is something special.

An Open Letter To My Teenage Son
Victor Lundberg lyrics

Dear son:

You ask my reaction to long hair or beards on young people
Some great men have worn long hair and beards
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln
If to you long hair or a beard is a symbol of independence
If you believe in your heart that the principles of this country
Our heritage, is worthy of this display of pride
That all men shall remain free
That free men at all times will not inflict their personal limitations
Of achievement on others,
That demands your own rights as well as the rights of others
And be willing to fight for this right, you have my blessings
You ask that I not judge you merely as a teenager
To judge you on your own personal habits, abilities and goals
This is a fair request and I promise that I will not judge any person
Only as a teenager if you will constantly remind yourself that some of my
generation judge people by their race, their belief or the color
of their skin and that this is no more right than saying all
teenagers are drunken dope addicts or glue sniffers
If you will judge every human being on his own individual potential
I will do the same.
You ask me if God is dead
This is a question each individual must answer within himself
But a warm summer day with all its brightness
All its sound, all its exhilarating breathiness just happened
God is love. Remember that God is a guide and not a storm trooper
Realize that many of the past and present generation
Because of a well intended but unjustifiable misconception
Have attempted to legislate morality
This created part of the basis
For your generations need to rebel against our society
With this knowledge perhaps your children will never ask
Is God dead?
I sometimes think much of mankind is attempting to work Him to death

You ask my opinion of draft card burners. I would answer this way
All past wars have been dirty, unfair, immoral, bloody and second-guessed
However, history has shown most of them necessary
If you doubt that our free enterprise system
In the United States is worth protecting, if you doubt the principles
Upon which this country was founded, that we remain free to choose our religion
Our individual endeavors, our method of government
If you doubt that each free individual in this great country
should reap rewards commensurate only with his own efforts
Than it is doubtful you belong here
If you doubt that people who govern us
Should be selected by their desire
To allow us to strive for any goal we feel capable of obtaining
Than its doubtful you should participate in their selection
If you are not grateful to a country
That gave your father the opportunity to work
For his family to give you the things you have and you do not feel pride
Enough to fight for your right to continue in this
Manner than I assume the blame for your failure
To recognize the true value of our birthright
And I will remind you that your mother will love
you no matter what you do, because she is a woman
And I love you too son
But I also love our country and the principles for which we stand
And if you decide to burn your draft card
hen burn your birth certificate at the same time
From that moment on, I have no son

Swearing

Now that the Supreme Court has slapped down the president's secret trial parties, I would guess that the administration would do the honorable thing and TRY TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION! Just wait.

The Supremes kicked around the administration's "unitary executive" theory, and sternly reminded the president that despite his beloved "commander-in-chief" role, that constitution thingy (Article I, Section 8) vests in Congress the power to "make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces." That whole separation of powers thing is SO annoying.

And now, a tip of the thinker cap to team member JB for this heads up. Let's play the "Can you spot the differences" between the two pictures of kids with bikes and ice cream cones, like in the Sunday paper magazine.

Here are the two pictures:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of [XXXXXXXX], and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

SO, one picture charges the party with oreserving, protecting and defending THE CONSTITUTION, while the other must defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Which one is which?

Cubs Announce New Hat Design

The Chicago Cubs announced a dramatic change to their famous blue cap with the red "C." The classic hat, shown below, is one of the most famous symbols in professional sports:

The redesigned hat is shown here:

Who's the leaker?

The government "has established a foreign terrorist asset tracking center at the Department of the Treasury to identify and investigate the financial infrastructure of the international terrorist networks. It will bring together representatives of the intelligence, law enforcement and financial regulatory agencies to accomplish two goals,  to follow the money as a trail to the terrorists, to follow their money...and to freeze the money to disrupt their actions." The administration is "also working with the friends and allies throughout the world to share information...working closely with the United Nations, the EU and through the G-7/G-8 structure to limit the ability of terrorist organizations to take advantage of the international financial systems."

Insert your own caption

Some people are into generosity

And some aren't. Take the Pastor J. Grant Swank, Jr., for example.

The Warren Buffet donation of billions to Bill Gates means killing womb babies agencies will get more money to kill womb babies.

Gates and wife have been at the forefront of murdering children in females’ wombs. Now the Buffet donation will enhance all the more the abortuaries. In other words, more humans without self-defense will be discarded, their souls making their ways into the loving arms of Jesus.

It is sad but true that many think that the richest man in the world — Bill Gates — is a benevolent philanthropist. It is fact that some of his moneys go to commendable causes. But all that is cancelled out when realizing that Gates’ so-called material success endorses outright murder multiplied many times over.
...
It is imperative that the world knows this theological liberalism behind the Gates philanthropy.

Womb babies?

Stupid hosts, stupid callers

Of course, I listen to right-wing radio so you don't have to.... Hannity has a guest host (rumors are he was suspended for his ridiculous "we found the WMDs" nonsense) and the unknown sub got a call from a real genius on the flag burning comedy:

"If I threw paint on Mt. Rushmore, I'd get arrested, if I sledgehammered the Liberty Bell I would be in jail."

Yes, you would, MORON. YOU don't own the Liberty Bell or Mount Rushmore. The freedom to burn a flag PRESUMES that YOU OWN (or otherwise have permission to incinerate) said flag.

Heaven help us.

Happy Anniversary!

I would like to wish everyone a happy 2nd anniversary of the transfer of "sovereignty" to the Iraqi "government!"

Serious props for a seriously funny post on 'blogofasicsm'

You're welcome to have a liquid in your mouth as you keep reading this, but I'd strongly caution against it.

Dennis Byrne is an IDIOT (tell me something I didn't know)

Addressing the vocal Cirque de Soleil that is White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, resident Chicago tribune idiot Dennis Byrne wrote:

Losing a job for exercising a constitutionally protected right is a sanction that Guillen, and even [obnoxious Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay] Mariotti, should not suffer.

Memo to Denny:

There is NO constitutionally-protected right to speak enforceable against YOUR PRIVATE EMPLOYER. Free speech guarantees at the constitutional level apply against THE GOVERNMENT, there, Denny--not a baseball team.

Let's see the conservatives match this one

So, Warren Buffett has just pledged to donate over $37 billion dollars to charities. Most of the money will go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has received $26 billion from the Gates'. That money will be spent on things like fighting AIDS in Africa and trying to improve American high schools.

The Walton's kicking in that kind of money any time soon?

Buffett: "I still believe in the philosophy - FORTUNE quoted me saying this 20 years ago - that a very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing."

Take that, estate tax.

Stupid is as stupid does

Sean Hannity is one of the dumbest people on radio/TV and Rick Santorum is without doubt the stupidest sitting senator (he MAY be the dumbest of all time, but Al D'Amato is in the team photo there). So how rich was it that these two geniuses "found" the "missing" and ever so dreaded "weapons of mass destruction?" (Here is Newshounds' take on it) It was simply train-wreck funny stuff, dim-witted Hannity and the desparate Santorum (18+ points behind at last glance) making total fools of themselves trumpeting the "find" and demanding apologies from presidential critics.

Now of course, the story had previously been debunked by FOX NEWS! As we all know now, "these were pre-1991 weapons that could not have been fired as designed because they’d already been degraded." The "find" involved some shells buried during the Iraq-Iran war that had long been forgotten, not any indication of current capacity. Priceless.

We need to make a couple of basic points here. First of all, should ANYONE be surprised about finding this stuff? We knew Hussein had chemical weapons BECAUSE WE GAVE THEM TO HIM! And also, please remember that the dreaded "WMD" is not a magic incantation that summons demons and brings the mummy back to life. The U.N. RESOLUTION barred Hussein from having such weapons and its enfircement WAS A U.N. MATTER. War would ONLY have been justified if Iraq was an IMMEDIATE and IMMINENT threat to the United States.

Rotsa ruck on that one.


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I've been one poor correspondent...

I have been rather inattentive here, with my mother's passing and a previously-planned family trip. We are saying our final goofbyes to her tomorrow at a memorial service, and then we will return you to your regularly-scheduled snarkiness.

One day's worth

From one day's morning paper:

1) U.S. mercenaries, oh excuse me,  contractors, have been withholding the passports of laborers "hired" at subsistence wages in Iraq, a technique often utilized by human traffickers. Lovely.

2) The military KNEW for nine months that Iraqi "security forces" killed two National Guard members but blamed "insurgents." The father of one of those soldiers, as well as Sen. Barbara Boxer, accused the military of suppressing the truth to shore up public support for the war.

3) Murder charges filed against 8 U.S. service personnel

4) Heavy firefight near the Green Zone: Iraq's government clamped a state of emergency on Baghdad and ordered everyone off the streets Friday after U.S. and Iraqi forces battled insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and rifles near the heavily fortified Green Zone. The military also announced the deaths of five more U.S. troops in a particularly violent week for American forces that included the discovery of the brutalized bodies of two soldiers. Twelve U.S. servicemembers have died or been found dead this week.

But--we're makin' progress. Turning points, you know. 

Dead and Buried

We are gathered here to finally lay to rest the idea of "American Exceptionalism." Christened in 1831 in an Alexis de Tocqueville quote, American Exceptionalism was a belief that the United States and its people were qualitatively different from and of course superior to other nations. AE had been in very ill health throughout much of his life, but finally succumbed to gross international lawlessness, torture, military adventurism, corporate greed, racism and many other causes.

No services are planned.

Word for the Day

Mistrial: A trial that becomes invalid because of basic prejudicial error in procedure; a trial that terminates without a verdict because of error, necessity, prejudicial misconduct, or a hung jury.

Lawyer Khamis al-Obeidi, a Sunni Arab who represented Saddam and his half brother Barzan Ibrahim, was abducted from his home Wednesday morning by men wearing police uniforms, his colleagues said. His body was found riddled with bullets on a street near the Shiite slum of Sadr City. Police provided a photo of al-Obeidi’s face, head and shoulders drenched in blood.

Moron of the Month

The award for June goes to "Al" for this brilliant comment in the online Chicago Tribune:

"So, let me get this straight: our involvement in the middle east is intended to DE-stabilize an unstable part of the world? That is beyond idiotic. Unless democracy spreads in the middle east, the 13th century will continue to flourish, eventually appearing on our very streetcorners and killing with impugnity anything that doesn't bow to Allah. Saying `this war is all about making money for Mr. Bush's corporate cronies' is ridiculous as well, since there's a very large hole in the ground in New York City that proves otherwise."

Amazing.

The Word for the Day

The word for today is:

OCCUPATION: The invasion, conquest, and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces.

Boys and girls, THAT is what is happening in Iraq. It isn't a "war," a contest with a foreseeable outcome and, more importantly, a winner and a loser. It is merely an occupation, a bloody, ugly occupation, that will someday come to a bitter and forgettable end.

BTW, thanks to all for the kind words--P

Someone help me here

One thing I've never understood is on what grounds our country (or others, for that matter) say to other countries, like, say, North Korea - "We can have all the ICBM's that we want, but you can't have any." I know Kim Jong Il is nuttier than a bucket of nuts, but as a sovereign nation (which, again, sovereignty means being sovereign), don't they get to decide if they want the same military capabilities that we have? Who are we, their dad?

Kudos

Kudos to I Drew This: