Welcome to the home of the very worst of the meretricious poetasters!
number 82 for 11-21-05:
"It is What it is", Hadley Said with a Smile
Last CTF, I reported on Bush's tact of trying to make democrats look like idiots because they relied on the same intelligence he did. This kind of suggests that because Bush went to war on what it bum evidence, it's okay.
I'll say that again. This suggests that because Bush went to war on evidence, it's okay. It's the CIA's fault. The CIA pushed for this war.
He also called it irresponsible to say that Bush distorted evidence, because they voted to go to war, and they're sending mixed messages to troops.
The irony in this is that they have NOT sent a mixed message. What they did do (foolishly) was sign a resolution NOT saying we need to go to war, but that they trust GEORGE BUSH to make the decision whether or not we need to go to war in Iraq. George Bush made that decision, he is responsible for it. The democrats are responsible for TRUSTING his ass, a critical error, but they did NOT vote to go to war. They voted on a resolution allowing the president to decide to go to war. You think that's splitting hairs? It isn't, because I despise them both for doing so. But when it comes down to it, what we have here isn't an issue of who's at fault, but in actuality an issue of a president who has NEVER taken responsibility for ANY of his many and varied corrupted failures.
And by the way, they DID distort evidence. Yeah, they did it through the backward crony way, but they did it.
Remember Cheney and his statements connecting Iraq and 9-11? His statement that we would be greeted as liberators? His statement that we "KNOW" they have WMDs?
We knew SHIT. We trusted SOURCES. If you're a cop, and someone came up to you and said, "Hey, man, there's a dude selling Nike shoes down the street for fifteen bucks.", would you call in the SWAT team to raid the place because he's likely telling the truth, or would you take a minute to check that shit out and THEN bring down the hell?
The headline says it all: "Bush escalates Iraq debate". He knows how to create conflict, but he doesn't know how to create compromise, or work with anyone that doesn't agree with him.
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Then, a few days later "Bush Lowers the Temperature" by saying Americans should be able to debate the point.
How does that change the fact that he called calling him on his bullshit IRRESPONSIBLE?
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Immediately thereafter, Dick Cheney goes out and starts calling the people questioning the administration "dishonest and reprehensible".
So, get this. For the Iraq war, Bush didn't lie, but Cheney went around issuing statements that led people to believe lies. Now, after the war, they're calling them on that, so Bush is playing good cop and Cheney's playing bad cop again.
Something's telling me we really HAVEN'T tried to see through this shit yet, honestly.
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In congress, they're not doing any better. They just defeated a measure to outline a troop withdrawal schedule (Good, because we can't have one. Really. It's incredibly stupid.). They replaced it with a demand for reports from the president on progress in the war once QUARTERLY.
I'd think weekly would make more sense, but THIS IS WHAT FUCKING HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE A PRESIDENT AN OPEN-ENDED CONTRACT FOR WAR. He's not held culpable, he's not held to task, and over time, the public turns on your ass. Hello, Gulf of Tonkin. Party of 2005?
A good thing is that it will potentially make the torture illegal (har har, that'll help), and allow appeals for military tribunal suspects (Jesus and wow, what a great little concession towards due process. Once you're anally fucked, we'll give you a towel.).
Republicans are calling the request to pull out a "cut and run" strategy.
Cut and run implies you have met the enemy on a fair battlefield and are giving up in loss.
What we are doing is abandoning a colony. And you mark my ass, you MARK my ass, here is how this will end. Republicans, desperate to cling to their power, will begin to withdraw from Iraq, as they did in Vietnam. When public opinion drops, say, 20 more points. And it will. We'll pour all kinds of money into Iraq, but we will take our troops out. Bush will say, "They were not standing up. They were not taking responsibility".
And then we'll be gone.
What we should do is clean up our fucking mess. I doubt that's what's going to happen. Why? Because we authorized war FOUR FUCKING YEARS AGO, and it's taken that long for our congress to even demand QUARTERLY REPORTS.
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On top of this marvelous legislation, they just passed a bill to pay over 450 billion dollars in pension shortfalls over the next half century.
Where will the money come from? Who cares?
Because, you know, we're Republicans. No taxes, lots of spending. Brilliance.
Also of note, all of the damned Democrats voted for it as well. What the hell, we can't tax to make what we spend back, let's just spend it anyway!
ALL are to blame for this recklessness which will cripple our economy.
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Another article on the president, where he says that it's good for people to question whether we should have gone to war or not, just not what he said about us going to war. Uh, yeah.
The article also errs, stating, "But the president has maintained that lawmakers who voted in favor of using force to oust Saddam..."
Problem? They didn't vote to use force to oust Saddam. They voted to give George Bush the power to use force to oust Saddam. They made it the ADMINISTRATION'S decision. This is IMPORTANT.
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Headline news: people who are oppressed will gladly become oppressors.
Seems like common sense to me, but apparently, we haven't been monitoring Iraqi jails for torture, and it's been going on. More torture on our heads.
Goody. God Bless America.
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Bob Woodward is famous because he exposed Nixon, for the most part. Since then, he's done a lot of safe journalism. I read his book on the 9-11 Bush experience, and it was very positive, very reporting, but had absolutely no grain of questioning to it. It's as if he asked an intern to take notes as he talked positively with everyone around, then knit it into a book.
Well, now he's withheld information in the Plame case, and he said he did it out of fear of prosecution, but that's bullshit, as the special prosecutor hadn't even been appointed when he knew this information, and furthermore, he volunteered to go to jail in his colleague's place, so pleading fear of jail is right out.
I think Woodward's just become a news shill, that's all. Call a spade a spade, the fucker has lost the rebellion that helped him take down Nixon. I'm sure if we had the Woodward of 77, Bush wouldn't have lasted a fucking year.
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Rumsfield leapt right up and said, "I'm not Woodward's source!"
I don't know why. I mean, if that were a big deal, they'd have an article for every official. Which tells me it's someone CLOSE to Rumsfield so he can set up a pattern of denial.
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But no. It turns out to be Condi Rice's right hand man, Stephen Hadley. This is when Rice was Secretary of Intelligence, note. The Intelligence that was NOT fabricated that somehow led to Iraq, which is, of course, no one's fault. Sigh.
His response to the charge is notable:
"I've also seen press reports from White House officials saying that I am not one of his sources," Hadley said with a smile. Asked if this was a yes or no he replied: "It is what it is."
Prick.
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I reported on a man who refused to submit to testing after he cured himself of HIV somehow. He says, apparently, that he will submit to testing, though the hospital still says he refuses.
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One report of torture can be dismissed. So can many. But when I'm just dropping them casually, and I find them every week, I ask you, can they ALL be smear-jobs of the "liberal" media that is dominated by Fox News?
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White phosphorous is a chemical that causes heavy burns, and if consumed, your jaw to rot and fall off. It also besets your body with slow healing.
It is NOT considered a chemical weapon.
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It is, however, considered especially nasty by a lot of people, so when people heard we were using it in the Iraq war, news agencies lied and said it WAS a chemical weapon. The military denied using it.
Now, they've reversed position, and said they're using it.
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I don't really care. I think the important issue here is not what we're using to fight war (war is fucking hell) but rather why we're fighting the war, and why, if we're brave enough to use such weapons, we're cowardly enough to lie about it.
And hey, whenever you're down about Iraq, just think, we could have been pouring all of our resources and energy into stopping REAL fucking dictators like Kim, who is lining up Christians in the street and shooting them.
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A woman writes a book about how men prefer dumber women that they can control, based on anecdotal evidence.
Another woman columnist gets pissed off that men behave this way, and writes a column that suggests that women only refer to men in monosyllabic words, and that they're pretty fucking dumb because they don't want "smart" women, statistically speaking.
You want to know why? Because smarter women are typically fatter women. It's an adaptive capability. If you can't attract men, you have to come up with something else to offer. The next thing is intelligence. After intelligence and looks are out of the picture, you offer sex. That's how it works.
With guys, it's money first, then looks, and then subservience.
But I urge you very strongly to read this article and consider what the reaction would be if a man wrote it in reverse, and realize how fucking sexist this society REALLY is.
Are Men Really Necessary? is the title of the reference book, by the way. The woman who is making money on this book is making it on the strong back of a corporation founded by cutthroat men who probably have trophy wives. You think she put that in the acknowledgements?
Doubtful.
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Oh, Neal! You're just a chauvanist! I mean, you men have ALL kinds of anti-women stuff.
Yeah, like GQ, which hates women so much and is so un-PC that they just named a GIRL the fucking man of the year. Jesus Christ.
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The House of Reps put together a bill that called for immediate Iraq withdrawal to make the democrats look bad. They're making them all vote to say they would NOT call for immediate withdrawal so they can later use that as a talking point.
I'm so fucking glad they're caught up in petty bickering rather than governance. Aren't you?
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But at least they're doing something that at least promotes debate.
Unlike the CIA, who, fresh from being blamed for Iraq's failure of intelligence are seeking to renew their image by recruiting DR. PHIL for interrogation techniques.
Not joking. Really.
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A woman is marrying the man who kidnapped her and held her hostage in a garage after shooting her in the groin.
She should be mentally evaluated. I can't believe we allow this shit in society.
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ENDLESS HORROR WITH CHILDREN (FOR GOD)
In Jesus' name, we thank you, oh Lord, for the mother who injected her three children, aged 4, 2, and 1, with her own diseased blood, that she might receive more attention from hospital workers.
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Thank you, God of Hosts, for creating this 37-year-old woman who has married a 15-year-old boy. Ah, eternal love.
Now, please God, if I may ask just one thing, tell me what would happen if a 37-year-old man married a 15-year-old girl. Please?
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NO SHIT STORY OF THE WEEK
Bush gives a speech and says (everybody with me now):
We shouldn't pull out of Iraq.
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It's just like "Saddam is a bad man!" or "Democrats voted for the war!" or "9-11!"
Actually, it's more like six degrees of Kevin Bacon. If you can find any Bush speech in this presidency post-9/11 without a mention of one of the above, you're shrewd.
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PATENT BULLSHIT (we shouldn't care, but we do)
Ah, nothing like a shill getting paid to write masturbatory fantasies about a child's book series while people who write about important things starve.
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I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE!
A thirteen-year-old boy jumped out a window after playing too much Warcraft. I know that feeling. But the parents are suing Blizzard for making an addictive game.
Why don't we sue their fucking ass for having a kid and not watching him while he played enough Warcraft to go insane and leap to his fucking death.
Because it's not THEIR fault, by God!
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CENSORSHIP
In Italy, a member of a crowd at a play complained that one of the characters smoked. They stopped the play, re-wrote it, and started it again.
THIS is the shit that scares the Republicans about people who want total inclusion and political correctness, and it's a damned good reason.
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Goodnight Moon was and is a great children's story. On the author pic, the author had a cigarette. They digitally removed the cigarette and are now printing a censored version.
People objected. I object.
Yeah, kids shouldn't see people they admire smoking, but what's better:
A) Seeing someone you admire smoking and having parents that tell you smoking is bad.
or
B) Removing smoking from all idol figures possible and just adapting for the parents who don't tell their kids how awful smoking is.
If it's gotta be a debate (which it shouldn't be in a country with free speech) just offer two versions, archival and "safe". It works with DVD.
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We send the troops movies to watch, but here's the kick. They ALL have to meet TV/FCC standards.
So when they played Swordfish and the troops didn't see Halle's tits flop, the troops got pissed.
They rushed out a report saying "Nah, we don't censor. We only make movies safe for tv!"
Please explain to me the difference between censoring and removing parts of movies that might be potentially offensive, Sgt. 1st Class Gary L. Qualls Jr., since you're the one quoted making that asinine statement.
Guess we can trust them to kill people, just not to safely regard tits, huh?
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