I want a man who means what he says he means.

This dud(ette)'s got a good thing going. She quotes portions of Bush's "sound and fury" speeches, then parses them out to explain what our revered leader is really saying (and shows her work, too). Nice job.

Right-Wing Humor: A Cautionary Tale

I was procrastinating and cruising Wonkette the other day when a link to Volpac's "Bill Frist Birthday Card" caught my wandering eye. I followed the link, grimaced at the sycophantic comments, and was about to move on to more interesting fare when I noticed an entry by one Kathryn Shivley. In the context of "keeping a sense of humor," she posted the following joke:

"Media Interpretation:
The Pope is visiting DC and President Bush takes him out for an afternoon cruise on the Potomac sailing on the presidential yacht, the Sequoia. They are admiring the sights when all of a sudden the Pope's hat (Zucchetto) blows off his head and out into the water. Immediately the Secret service men start to launch a boat but President Bush waves them off saying, "Wait, wait I'll take care of this. Don't worry." The President then steps off the yacht, onto the surface of the water and walks out to the Holy Father's little hat, bends over picks it up and then walks back across the water to the yacht and climbs aboard. He hands the hat to the Pope amid the stunned silence. The next morning the topic of conversation among Democrats on the Hill, CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, the New York & L.A. Times is...
'Bush Can't Swim.'"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! OH my god! HA! Man, those Republicans, they really know how to tell a....
But wait a minute. I wonder if anyone else found this little pleasantry somewhat... disturbing. Anyone? Anyone notice the main theme of the joke? The lead-up to the anti-Dem "punchline," if you will? BUSH IS GOD. Yup. Bush walked on fucking WATER. This woman obviously found nothing disturbing, and was even amused at the idea of portraying Bush as JESUS.

Jesus Christ.

Still, this joke, never mind Ms. Shivley's questionable taste in posting it, is indicative of the thought process of a certain percentage of this country's population- you know, the 39% that support our C- in-C come hell or high water (quite literally). In the face of corruption, lies, dangerous cronyism, unmitigated ego and unprecedented power-grabbing, a relatively significant portion of our fellow countrypeople support this dude still. Logic is defied by this unless you place such faith in an obviously fallable man in the broader context of their faith in general. These people think that Bush is durn close to God, if not the big deity himself. As such, he is omnipotent (or should be, despite the whinings of the co-equal branches), omniscient (despite his famously low SAT scores), and can do no wrong. Can walk on water, some might say.

It would be funny if it weren't so unnerving.

SHAME.

From the NY Times:

"Arguing that many of the interrogation and detention practices constituted abuses amounting to torture, the [U.N. Human Rights Commission] report stated, 'The United States government should close the Guantánamo Bay detention facilities without further delay.' ...

The report says that the use of excessive force during transportation, force-feeding through nasal tubes during hunger strikes and shackling, chaining and hooding of prisoners, placing them in solitary confinement, subjecting them naked to severe temperatures and threatening them with dogs amounted to torture.

It also expresses 'utmost concern' at 'attempts by the United States administration to redefine 'torture' in the framework of the struggle against terrorism in order to allow certain interrogation techniques that would not be permitted under the internationally accepted definition of torture.'"


It will take the work of a generation to undo the damage this Administration has done in 5 years.

Blank Check #3947324895938

Come the FUCK on.

From WaPo:
"Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday."

I have a lot of griping to do about this, and of course am slammed at work today. I wanted to quickly throw this up here, though, to point up my frustration at the unprecedented hubris of this Administration, and at weenie Republicans like Olympia Snowe who came out strong against police state-esque NSA wiretapping when it seemed politically expedient but then caved like whiny babies at the first sniff of White House pressure to lay off. Screw you, Olympia Snowe. With the Congress, White House and Supreme Court controlled by fringe sects of that organization you are pleased to call your political party, moderate Republicans like you, Arlen Specter et al are our last-ditch protections against unfettered executive overreaching. Grow a (figurative) pair, Snowe. It's in your political best interest to do so, believe me.

This Just In! (24 hours after the fact...)

CREDIBLE INFORMATION

AP, 2/13/06, Austin Texas--Vice President Cheney blamed inaccurate intelligence information for his accidental shooting of his hunting partner yesterday. "The CIA radioed me credible information that there were several quail right behind me, so I made a pre-emptive strike. Quail will fly off at the slightest provocation so it's important to act quickly if you want to get them. A certain level of collateral damage must be accepted." Donald Rumsfeld also held a news briefing on the incident. "Yes, we would like to have better means of tracking quail, but you go hunting with the equipment that you have. With the bird flu breathing down our necks, it's important that we all be pro-active when it comes to killing birds."

Kit-Kat

As the untold masses of souls who read my blog have no doubt noticed, I'm not posting much lately. Truth to tell, I need an itty-bitty little break. No soul-searching a la blog entries past- just mad busy. I'll try to post some scintillating, effervescent, timely and insightful prose by this weekend, but I ain't making no promises.

Much love and eternal adoration,

Noisette

PS:
Re: Muslim Riots- Ridiculous. I know we've in large part created this powder keg, but the idea that press freedom must bend to the religious sensitivities of a fringe sector of a particular religion has no place in democratic Europe, or anywhere. Thoughts?

PPS: Andrew Sullivan on what the Dems should be and aren't doing right now:

"I'm not a Democrat and don't think I ever could be, but here's what I'd say if I were in opposition right now. These guys are corrupt and incompetent. They have screwed up the Iraq war, turned FEMA into a joke and landed the next generation with a mountain of debt. We're for making the homeland safer, winning back our allies, and taking on the Iranian dictatorship. We're for energy independence, universal healthcare and balancing the budget again. Now, let Rove do his worst. Hey, we need Democrats who relish the fight, not timid ones who cower at the prospect. Bring back the happy warriors. Please."

Hear, hear. PLEASE.

I feel like doing another one of these things.

This one is from dooce.com.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Line Worker at Christopher Layne Foods, a gourmet-vinegar-making factory
2. Tea Server at A Tire d'Ailes Poetry Bookshop and Tea Salon (now defunct) on the Ile St. Louis, Paris.
3. Research Assistant for a CRAZY-ASS law prof on women's legal protections and rights in different African countries
4. Assistant d'Anglais, Ecole Primaire Jean Moulin, Couzeix, France.

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. La Veuve de St. Pierre
2. Triplettes de Belleville
3. Life is Beautiful
4. A Room with a View

Four places I have lived:
1. Chagrin Falls, Ohio
2. Brooklyn, NY
3. Nantes, France
4. Dakar, Senegal

Four TV shows I love
1. The Daily Show
2. Lost
3. Family Guy
4. I am beginning to love Boondocks

Four places I’ve vacationed
1. Amsterdam
2. Bangkok
3. Mali
4. Belize (not happy about this last)

Four of my favorite dishes
1. Pho
2. Spaghetti marinara
3. Pad Thai
4. Other noodly yumminess

Four sites I visit daily
1. Wonkette
2. Andrew Sullivan
3. Dooce
4. NY Times

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Eating bread with hazlenut spread at Le Pain Quotedien on Melrose near Robertson
2. Paris
3. Hanoi
4. Bed

Five people I am tagging:
Oh, I don't want to do that. I tag everyone.

Well, that was uninteresting.