Goodbye, old friend

Team members disagree with me on this one, but I would like to bid a fond adieu to an old friend:




Oskee-wow-wow, Chief.

In vino veritas

The president looked particularly blotchy, drinky and stumbly in his press conference this week. As the Latin phrase above says, though, "in wine, there is truth."

THE PRESIDENT: It's an interesting question. One of the problems -- not specifically on this issue, just in general -- let's put it this way, money trumps peace, sometimes.

Now add this in with this, and yes, 2 and 2 still equal 4.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government is at risk of squandering significantly more money in an Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has already wasted, overcharged or poorly tracked $10 billion in taxpayer money, federal investigators said Thursday....David M. Walker, comptroller general of the GAO, Congress' auditing arm, said his agency has been pointing out problems for years, only to be largely ignored or given lip service with little result..."There is no accountability," Walker said. "Organizations charged with overseeing contracts are not held accountable. Contractors are not held accountable. The individuals responsible are not held accountable....People should be rewarded when they do a good job. But when things don't go right, there have to be consequences," he said.

Pardon me!

Well, Scooter-palooza is just about over.

I have never been a trial lawyer, and trial strategy is not my strong suit, but this seems fairly obvious. Libby's team meekly put forth two "defenses," the "I'm too busy and I forgot" claim and the "They threw me under the bus to save Turd Blossom" angle.

The problem is, Defense #1 effectively required Scootie to take the stand and #2 needed Darth Vader under oath to make it fly. Why do you think the words "Libby," "Cheney" and "under oath" don't fit together here?

So here's the drill. The jury HAS to convict based on the evidence presented and then, lo and behold, for being the good soldier, here comes a freshly-minted pardon.

Hate and Conservatism

In the comments to the previous post, Jimbow8 quoted Tim Hardaway, easy runaway winner for Humanitarian of the Year, saying "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. ... I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

First of all, I'm glad that Tim distinguishes being the United States from being in the world, since it shows that he is not part of the reality-based community, and thus a conservative. I've heard this topic being discussed in multiple forums, and one thing that radio show hosts try to do (to avoid alienating their audience), is say things like "I don't care whether you agree with him or not, I'm not here to argue right versus wrong." Well, I don't care if I alienate people who hate like this, so I'll tell you right here - if you agree with Tim, you are a moron. Hating a whole group of people for a genetic characteristic is just dumb. Hating someone because they're gay is like hating someone because they're black. Or a woman. Or Arabic.

Wait, I'm seeing a pattern here.

I find it interesting that conservatives like to hate those who are "different". Their worldview is so narrow that opening their lives up to people with different backgrounds, body parts, etc, scares them into hatred. Of course, this is because conservatism is about selfishness and power. "I want my share to increase, I want to only deal with the things I want to deal with, and perhaps most importantly, I don't want you to have something that I otherwise could have had. Those who do not have power are a threat to me, because they could take mine away. And that scares me, so I must fear them. Then I must hate them, because they are out to hurt me."

To a conservative, it's all about distributing a finite set of resources, and making sure that they get the biggest share they can. There's no sense of working together to grow the resources, so that more people can share more things. It's about the haves and the have-nots, and convincing the have-nots that the only way they can get more is to take from others (while those with more power take it right back). It's about creating images of Us vs. Them, so that when we take from someone else, especially that damned woman, or gay guy, or furriner, we're not taking from someone as important as we are. We're not taking from someone as human as we are. We're taking from someone who is lesser than us, somehow, someone who wants what is rightfully ours. Someone we can hate with impunity. Someone we can kill, and feel no sorrow.

And that's how you start a war.

Spraying to all fields

The Straight Talk Express John McCain trainwreck spirals further out of control, as he speaks to the Discovery Institute, those intelligent design/the world is 6,000 years old folks.

May I say how annoyed I am about Iran possibly meddling in the Middle East? The nerve?

I would like to congratulate the Rev. Ted Haggard , head of the National Association of Evangelicals, for being "cured" of his homosexuality. All I can say is. "FABULOUS!"

Memo to the U.S. Senators from Illinois--STOP APOLOGIZING FOR BEING RIGHT.

How damned guilty is Scooter Libby?

Down on the corner...

We haven't visited for a while, but we must pause and reflect upon the wisdom of John E. Groskopf of Vernon Hills, Illinois, who gave us this gem:

Comparing Obama to Lincoln borders on hubris. Lincoln freed the slaves. Obama is willing to see millions of fetuses destroyed. Lincoln fought the war to win. Obama wants to withdraw in defeat. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus to save the country. Obama wants to grant it to enemy combatants determined to destroy the country. What do they have in common? Did they both smoke? Bridge the gap? Not with millions of gun owners. Not with those who see failure in the backbreaking commitment to entitlements. Not with those who do not want socialized medicine. Not with those seeking permanent tax relief for all taxpayers (not just those who pay no taxes). Can't we all just get along is not a policy.

Besides being an anti-abortion gun nut, 1) Johnny celebrates the suspension of fundamental legal rights as a virtue in a fashion rarely seen among the breathing and 2) obviously has no idea what "hubris" means.

So John...

Good to be home, Part II

Brief reflections on my trip to the nation's capital (for those of you that know me from another particular forum, hat tip to Rambler Boy!):

First of all, I was completely divorced from the news. I didn't touch a computer and saw very little TV. About all I could gather was that I am the only man in America who claims not to have fathered Anna Nicole's baby.

My kid is amazing. She basically curated the show that opened Friday night at the gallery where she's interning. My little girl's all grown up!

I am always moved and awed when I see the White House. This time, though, my thoughts turned to how much we're going to have to pay one of those disaster recovery companies that clean up after fires and floods to remove the neocon stench from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

At the National Archives, I caused a security guard to laugh out loud briefly before returning to palace guard seriousness when I said they should put a "Repealed Effective 9/12/2001" label over the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

For all of you DC area dwellers who complain about the Metro, come to Chicago! On Sunday morning, I left the hotel in Silver Spring at 8 AM. Walked to the Metro, took the train, changed lines, and by 9:10 was checked in and past security at National Airport (I will not use that other name.)

Finally, how's this for an appetite killer. I took the daughter out for dinner to a restaurant close to the White House that is a favorite of Congress creatures and the K Street crowd. I excused myself to visit the facilities, and yes, got to stand at the necessary next to former Senator Man on Dog. Just try going back to eat after standing next to Rick and his Santorum.

Good to be home!

Yes, it is deliciously true. The author of this:

is the new pastry chef here: