Welcome to the home of the very worst of the meretricious poetasters!
number 80 for 11-10-05:
It's Not Torture, it's Freedom Motivation!
How would you react if I looked you straight in the eye and said, "I'm not fucking your kid, I just want to take him out into a shed in the woods without supervision. Trust me. I have a history of good behavior."
Thus spake President Bush. "We don't torture. We have no history of torture. But why institute a ban on it?"
Meanwhile, Dick Cheney tries to STOP torture from being banned for the CIA. Because, you know, if the CIA does it, it really isn't torture now, is it?
And the public is just sitting there and taking this?
Tony Blair made a good point, believe it or not, even though his version of the PATRIOT ACT was defeated. He said (paraphrased) that he doesn't understand why we put the civil liberties of a few terrorists ahead of the safety of the general population.
And that's true. We shouldn't care about the terrorists or their civil liberties. It's weak, it's dangerous, it's…oh, I don't know.
Oh yeah! Civilized! That's right!
Because our base, non-civil instinct is to take a man accused of murder and string his ass up. And you know what? 99.99999 percent of the time, who you generally assume to have committed a murder did and needs punishment.
Blair is, in fact, correct. In Britain, you are guilty until proven innocent.
Here, however, we hold ourselves to a higher standard. We give even the most vile son of a bitch the chance to defend himself, and he's innocent until proven guilty. And we DON'T TORTURE.
Why? Because if we torture before trial, we're making it guilty until proven innocent, and if we torture after trial, we're torturing someone who we've already judged.
Not cops.
Not judges.
Not secret tribunals.
And NOT the fucking CIA.
If we DO NOT TORTURE, there should be NO OPPOSITION AT ALL to legislation forbidding it.
So the hawk turns to me and says, "Well, what if it's a suspect that you know has knowledge of a forthcoming attack, and torturing them would make them talk? What if torturing one man would prevent millions of deaths?"
That's ends justify the means doctorine.
If we dropped a nuke in every major middle eastern state right now, and killed every last member of the century wars, we would likely have world peace MUCH MUCH faster than we will now. In fact, it would mean fewer people would die in the end.
But you know what? IT ALSO MEANS WE'D BE FUCKING NUKING SONS OF BITCHES.
Does that mean I want millions of people to die in lieu of one asshole being tortured? No. But I also know that it's not just one asshole being tortured. It's hundreds of assholes, with a few assholes thrown in there that didn't do a GODDAMN thing. And THAT is a miscarriage of justice.
I also know that though allowing terrorists to carry out a plot just because we don't want to torture one dude is folly, torturing just ONE guy turns us into the very thing we strive to destroy. And what's worse? Killing ten people in a suicide bombing, or 150,000-200,000 people in Iraq so far?
It's also not transparent. They're lying about who they're torturing, where, and how, so for all we know, the CIA could have fucking concentration camps.
Neal, you're out of your fucking mind.
Well, in case you forgot, it's happened before in times of war. We had Japanese concentration camps on the OFF chance one of them might be a spy. There is a precedent.
We do not torture? My ASS. It's obvious we do. The question is why the hell our president can sanction it and not be removed from office by his constituents with disgust.
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We should just trust the president, I guess. Because, you know, he's just so straight with us about everything.
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I mean, I guess I'm just overreacting to the phrase:
"American agents are holding prisoners in a worldwide network of secret facilities."
Call me quirky like that.
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"A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens."
So says Sandra Day O'Conner. Why the fuck is she the one leaving?
The Supreme Court is hearing challenges to the military tribunals, but it is unlikely much will change. Bush is coming into question, but thusfar, no actions are being taken to stop our cessation of due process and our flaunting of the Geneva Conventions.
Said the press to Bush: "Explain the torture and the secret camps!"
Quote the Bush: "There's an enemy that lurks and plots and plans and wants to hurt America again."
Scare them, and they forget the fact that you're fucking up. Way to go, monster. Nice transparency there.
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In response, John McCain COMPLETELY redeems himself in my eyes by promising to add a torture ban to ALL major senate legislation.
Bitch, you are TOTALLY forgiven for Wedding Crashers.
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Barton Gellman wrote the following about what are called "national security letters", edicts which allow the FBI to scan the books you're reading, tap your phones, and spy on you without consequence:
"Issued by FBI field supervisors, national security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress. The executive branch maintains only statistics, which are incomplete and confined to classified reports. The Bush administration defeated legislation and a lawsuit to require a public accounting, and has offered no example in which the use of a national security letter helped disrupt a terrorist plot."
If you read the article, and I suggest you do, you will learn that the number of national security letters has increased from the typical 300 to THIRTY THOUSAND annually.
But hey, enjoy that TV instead of looking into this shit.
Just make sure you watch the right shows, or they'll be watching your ass.
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They called in a metric butt-ton of oil execs and said, "Hey, bastards, why are you price gouging the public when you find out there's an increased demand?"
They merely pointed to a schematic of economic normative standards and sighed. "Because, you dumb fucks. That's what businesses do. They take advantage of people. It sucks, but it's also requisite to a free market economy."
"Well, why don't you stop?" Says congress.
The oil men frown. "Well why the FUCK don't you do your damned congressional duty and explore alternate means of technology and fuel to save our ass from the impending energy crisis?"
No, wait. I said that. Oil men would NEVER say that. They're LOVING the fact that their shit costs a lot of money.
But where's my answer, congress?
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Think things are going better in Iraq?
Hmmm.
Curious.
Because they're sending more troops in. Go figure.
It's been THREE YEARS with the sum total progress of ONE ELECTION.
Tell me this isn't a fucking failure. Categorically. Go on.
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This report made the rounds once, and I didn't believe it. Once you start seeing it in major news outlets, you start to think maybe there's something to it.
The general gist is that Saddam accepted exile a month before the war started, and that the Arab League stopped it. This would have prevented the war, and this would have insured elections six months later, not three years.
Why does no one give a shit about this, and why aren't the Arab League folk being pointed towards the Hague if this is true?
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DeLay managed to have the judge he didn't like removed from his case, the same one I wrote about earlier who was a "democrat" because he once contributed to moveon.org.
I didn't know it was a right in this country to be judged by a member of your own political party. Judges are supposed to be assumed impartial despite their voting histories. This is not a good ruling, it is, in fact, a media ruling.
If I'm charged with a crime, and my judge is a Republican, you think I'll get to switch him out because I'm not? Fuck no. That's not how it works.
Unless you're a rich fucking senator.
Bullshit.
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A formerly Amish woman is suing under her civil rights protection because an Amish store won't sell to her, because to do so might mean excommunication from the church.
The essential issue is that she's saying this is religious discrimination. However, given that she's not being turned down because she's Amish, but rather because she isn't, and given that to sell to her would violate the store owner's first amendment rights, it comes down to a more basic discussion. Which has more precedence, the first amendment rights of the owner, or the civil rights of the woman.
This comes down to common sense, and the intent of the law.
Are there other stores this woman can shop at? Yes.
Is this violating her in any real way in terms of discrimination? No. Not really. She just can't shop at one store. The law is designed to stop whites only water fountains, not to let people be pissants.
I side with the store owner.
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On the other hand, the Amish are colossal fuckups.
If you read this story, you will understand that they've caused the first outbreak of polio since 1979 by their purposeful ignorance.
I will also point out that if any mother in the rest of the US decided not to get their kids immunized, the child would be removed from the home if they contracted polio. In the Amish community, it's just accepted. There's respect for religious belief, and then there's sanctioning willful inbreeding and child abuse.
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Not much of a commentary for this one. Just that Jack Thompson is a douche.
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I find it incredible that more people, statistically, care about the Rove leak than the Lewinsky affair, and yet there's no real punishment going on.
Guess it's that liberal media, huh?
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32 years ago, a man shoots another man. The man goes to jail for three years for the shooting.
32 years later, the man dies of an infection caused by the gunshot wound.
They try the man who shot him for murder.
Doesn't make much damned sense to me.
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Here's a nice list of people put out of their livelihoods for trying to bring transparency to the Bush administration:
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It's looking more and more like a filibuster of Alito will not happen. I'm not surprised. Roll over, play dead, Democrats. You're shooting yourself in the foot.
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This mayor suggests cutting off the thumbs of graffiti artists. I likes the cut of his jib!
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A dozen troops sign up for another tour of duty for an extra 15,000 dollars. The troops sign a contract promising them the money in exchange for the tour.
The pentagon pulls the 15,000 back because it is apparently not allowed.
But hey, they still have to do the tour. That makes sense.
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A thirteen-year-old has been blocked from having an abortion because the state deems that she's too young to make that decision. As for the fucking, well, you know, that's something completely different.
Jesus, what was she thinking, assuming that her decisions were her own, and not the states. Sweet Stalin!
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A group wanted to protest at the capital, and was denied, because they wanted to do so naked. Apparently, that's not part of the freedom of expression.
Strange, because I thought it was.
See, breasts may be fucking offensive to YOU, but ignorant fucking Christians bouncing about saying that people like me are going to hell might be EXTREMELY offensive to me, but I'd have to see THEM if I went to the capital.
This is BULLSHIT in a free society. Just more evidence that we don't have one.
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Here's a damned good solution to the tasering debate.
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ENDLESS HORROR WITH CHILDREN (FOR GOD)
A US Army Chaplain forcibly raped three young men. Thanks, God! You allowed this fucker to be created. Good going, you!
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Thanks, God, for making this man a daddy. You made him so happy, he shook his baby near to death in religious fervor.
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Apparently, this guy's girlfriend was keeping a secret, so the guy killed her for it. The secret? She was 11 years old. Good job on that one, God!
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Thanks, God, for letting three pit bulls maul three people, including a ten-year-old kid. Must be part of the plan! Rejoice!
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NO SHIT STORY OF THE WEEK
Get this...if confirmed, Samuel Alito, BUSH's Supreme Court nominee, would likely vote to strike Roe V. Wade.
I tell you, I was absolutely floored by this. BIG fucking surprise. Who could have seen that coming ten miles away?
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People are questioning KARL ROVE's future after he was involved in the CIA agent leak? You're kidding me.
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PATENT BULLSHIT (we shouldn't care, but we do)
Apparently 50 Cent disapproves of Kanye West's "George Bush doesn't care about black people." comment.
When any old idiot says it, it's nothing. When this idiot says it, apparently, it's news. They also point out 50's wisdom in saying that God meant for the hurricane to happen, so it's all right.
Smart man. I can't see how he possibly ended up a drug dealer.
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I can't get published. But people give a shit what Joey Buttafuoco is doing right now.
Ah, poetry.
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