Way Too Lenient

Even though the wing nut response to the tire slashing incident was extreme, this liberal feels that the defendants got off way too lightly. There should have been some sort of term in jail...not as long as conservatives hoped for, but nonetheless, some sort of incarceration should have occurred.

Representative Gwen Moore said this was all political. A lot was, especially on the right. But there was politics on the left...the damage was done to vans owned by the other side. However, especially tiresome were Jeff Wagner's constant implications that Republicans never did anything illegal...where have you been, Jeff? Does the name "Duke" Cunningham ring a bell?

In any case, Gwen Moore's son and the others should count their lucky stars. It should have been worse.

Bullying Tactics

The wing nuts love to bully others. If they can't win an argument in the marketplace of ideas, or if it appears that citizens are wising up to their antics, then they resort to bullying and lies. A case in point:

D. Logan Darrow Clements (there's a mouthful), a former Republican candidate for governor in California has decided that he didn't like the eminent domain ruling handed down recently by the U.S. Supreme Court. The 5-4 ruling was split along party lines, with outgoing Justice Sanda Day O'Connor siding with the conservative wing.

All right, people are not always going to agree with Supreme Court rulings. But Clements, in a blatant act of self advertisement, has decided to go one step better by attempting to have Justice David Souter's home grabbed by the local town and turned into a money-making venture called the Lost Liberty Hotel.

Local authorities are certain the measure will lose in a landslide, some calling this act by Clements one of revenge. To this writer, Clements is just another pathetic example of wing nuts out of control. He's a bully. Let him have his day in the sun because that's what free speech is all about...then someone please yell "Fire" and have that small little man washed away.

No Apology for Wing Nuts, Part Two

Ouch, James.

In the wing nut world, it's okay to inquire why other people's children are not attending MPS while home-schooling one's own.

In the wing nut world, it's okay to indict a group of people for feeding the public trough (what the hell does that mean, anyway), while wing nut members enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of us.

Naughty naughty.

No Apology for Wing Nuts

James Wigderson at Wigderson Library & Pub has taken it upon himself to demand an apology from Bill Christofferson. Fact is, Christofferson hit it right on the money when he demanded an apology from Charlie Sykes, right-wing squawker at 620 WTMJ, who was the author of an audio that equated Governor Jim Doyle with racists of old. All because Doyle opposes lifting the cap for school choice.

Charlie Sykes has never given a damn about African Americans. It’s all politics to him and this is, as Christofferson said, an easy way for Sykes to score cheap political points.

The hilarious thing about all of this is Wigderson. His questioning whether Doyle and Christofferson would even think about putting their kids in MPS is hilarious. Hmmm, wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago that Wigderson was gleefully advertising himself after his “scared little suburbanite” piece hit the net. Where do your kids go to school, James? Before you ask, mine go to West Allis public schools.

So, just cut it out. For you (along with Sykes) to say you have any sympathy for the plight of African Americans is disingenuous. Choice is all about reducing the tax load for wealthy whites and supplicating the Christian right wing…both whom Sykes panders to, as do you apparently.

Blow it out your ear. Christofferson owes no one an apology.

As for Jessica McBride and her silly free speech piece...She can’t even come up with an original name for her blog, so it’s not worth commenting other to say that she has way too much time on her hands…1,500 words, come on.

This Is Crazy

This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be. -- New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, January 16

How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about. --Nagin, January 17

Who's the Crazy One?

James over at Wigderson Library & Pub posted this quote from Paul Hackett, Democratic candidate for senator in Ohio:

"The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world."

James believes that Hackett is certifiable (psst, as in crazy). Hmmm...let's see who is crazy.

I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag. -- Ralph Reed

I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good...Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism.

--Randall Terry, Founder of Operation Rescue

We're going to bring back God and the Bible and drive the gods of secular humanism right out of the public schools of America. -- Pat Buchanan addressing an anti-gay rally in Des Moines

I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God. -- George Bush (the uniter)

Televangelist and biblical prophecy expert (self proclaimed) Jack Van Impe, had this to say about Pat Robertson...

And right now, the National Association of Evangelicals informs us that this man has done damage, and it could actually take the lives of some of the missionaries in South America because the news media in South America is bombarding this thing across the airwaves around the clock. God forgive him.

Not only that, but Mr. Robertson, you are pro-life, and yet you wanted the members of the Supreme Court to die last year, and now the president of Venezuela. We believe this book: Thou shalt not kill; Exodus 20, verse 13. And my Bible says that this is wrong, and I want to challenge you right now to change your ways. Because we as Christians do not need an Osami [sic] Bin Laden leading us.

And last but not least, Jerry Falwell and his infamous 9/11 accusation.

The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say: you helped this happen.

And the winner in the certifiable category is...not Paul Hackett.

School Choice Audio Misleading

I clicked on the audio regarding school choice (provided over at Widgerson Library & Pub)…excuse me, but putting Jim Doyle in the company of Orval Faubus and George Wallace is pathetic and wrong. Faubus and Wallace attempted to keep schools segregated. Where is the segregation here?

The fact remains that those who gain the most under school choice are not the working poor or minority communities, but the wealthy, who gain tax credits for something they already do (send their kids to private schools), and the Christian Right, who are eager to use their vouchers to fund a religious education.

Say What?

I like to check out the Christian Coaltion website, CBN, etc. because their content is usually good for a laugh. Today is no different...this quote was found on the Christian Coaltion site.

One of the penalies of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your interiors." - Plato

Interiors?!?

Oh, and how are the divorce proceedings going, Michele (daughter of morals champion, Roberta Combs)?

You've Been Used

The sad fact is that those who have voted for Republicans because of the imaginary “culture war” have been used. The Republicans who go around with Jesus on their lips and little crosses on their lapels are by and large the least Christian among us…they’re the crooks, serial divorcers, philanderers, drug users, tax cheats, bigots, hypocrites, draft dodgers, bribe-takers, the Fred Phelps of the world.

Jimmy Carter was probably the most sincere Christian to occupy the White House in our lifetime. Look at the work he has done since leaving the presidency. What has George Sr. done…jump out of airplanes and shill for the Saudis. What has John Ashcroft done…piled up more than $265,000 being a lobbyist for the corporations that have benefited most from laws put in effect by the Patriot Act. What have Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Ralphie Reed, “Duke” Cunningham done other than line their pockets or the pockets of their K Street clients (and the Repugs in Wisconsin haven’t a thing to say about the corruption but worry their silly asses over $700 that a local casino kept…via Jeff Wagner…a fine way to use up the hot air waves). Pathetic.

Doufus in Chief Strikes Again

War is bad. Duh yup, I understands that. And, yup, this war is bad I got us into. But don't you talk bad about it 'cause the bad guys will be happier. What a load of crap...just another way the Repugs try to stifle any sort of dissent.

"It's one thing to have a philosophical difference -- and I can understand people being abhorrent about war. War is terrible. But one way people can help as we're coming down the pike in the 2006 elections, is remember the effect that rhetoric can have on our troops in harm's way, and the effect that rhetoric can have in emboldening or weakening an enemy." -- George W. Bush