This from an article by Joe Conason, at Working for Change.
On the far-right Web site WorldNetDaily, a columnist who describes himself as a “Christian libertarian” recently explained why he knew that the president is wrong about mass deportations. “If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of six million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society,” he wrote, “it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.”
If memory serves me right, those Jewish citizens were not deported, unless sending them to a different astral plain counts. And conservatives say we have an anger problem.
Click here for the entire Conason article.
Also a post on this at the Talent Show. I followed the link from there to Crooks and Liars and finally to the article in question at WorldNetDaily. Mysteriously, the article has been altered and the German connection removed.
And to think that Pat McIlheran has quoted pieces from WorldNetDaily. Goes to show where his ethics lie.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
New Deportation Strategy on the Right
They Just Can't Stop Lying
Clint at Milwaukee ID10T thinks that a video supposedly showing Tony Snow “smack down” octogenarian Helen Thomas is good TV. He fails to note, as usual for conservative listeners and, especially conservative bloggers, that Tony Snow was at his disingenuous best. Click here for the Media Matters follow up to this press conference.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
I Can't Wait To Spend That $20
Quality of life tax cut for my frind Clint:
Another $70 billion tax cut was recently passed. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the average middle-income household will get a $20 tax cut. Oh boy!
Those making more than $1 million a year will get nearly $42,000.
Damn, you're right. Love that quality of life statement by conservative governance. But at least it's a plan, you'll say.
Some plan. Now if only we could win the lottery.
Who Are The Traitors to Liberty?
When conservatives tell you that you should be willing to sacrifice some freedoms "temporarily" for the sake of security in the war on terrorism, remember these:
“Those who would trade safety for freedom deserve neither.” -- Thomas Jefferson
“Those that would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security.” -- Ben Franklin
“Those who are ready to sacrifice freedom for security ultimately will lose both.” -- Abraham Lincoln
What Do You Think?
Another from Mom (in honor of Mother's Day):
It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then, just to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker. I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true.
Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's. I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it, exactly, we are doing here?"
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confess, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"
"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.
She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door. I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot, with NPR blaring on the radio, and ran up to the big glass doors ... They didn't open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night. Leaning on the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a Poster caught my eye, "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinkers Anonymous poster.Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker? I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's, this week it will be the speeches of George W. Bush." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting. I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home.
Life just seemed ... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking. I think the road to recovery is nearly complete for me. Today I made the final step: I registered to vote as a Republican.
Down on the Border
Rather than adding 6,000 National Guard members to the Border Patrol, let's just add F(at) James Sensenbrenner. His girth should be enough to cover the entire border several times over. Wouldn't have to feed him either. He could just eat the clumsy ones who fall into his pudgy grasp.
And if that is not enough, we can plant large speakers up and down the border and replay Jessica McBride radio shows.
Monday, May 15, 2006
What Conservatism Reaps ... Hatred
I read this a week or so ago in an old Time magazine. What a great idea. That conservative, homophobe bastard, Fred Phelps, deseves this kind of attention.
From The Army Times:
Bikers drown out funeral protesters
By Ryan Lenz, Associated Press
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Wearing leather chaps and vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls from one soldier’s funeral to another in hopes their respectful cheers and revving engines will drown out the insults of protesters.
The motorcycle club members calling themselves Patriot Guard Riders are trying to shield mourners from cruel jeers by adherents of a tiny fundamentalist church who picket military funerals to reflect their belief that U.S. combat deaths are a sign God is punishing the United States for harboring homosexuals. Some protesters’ signs said, “Thank God for IEDs,” the improvised explosive devices, or homemade bombs, that kill many U.S. soldiers.
“The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares,” said Don Woodrick, the biker group’s Kentucky captain. “When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement.”
Across the nation, Patriot Guard Riders number more than 5,000. They show up at soldiers’ funerals to chant patriotic slogans and wave red, white and blue flags in hopes of overshadowing backers of a Kansas clergyman named the Rev. Fred Phelps.
Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church have caused such a fuss that at least 14 states are considering laws aimed at the funeral protests. During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing funerals of AIDS victims, and they have long been tracked as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project in Montgomery, Alabama.
The project’s deputy director, Heidi Beirich, said other groups have tried to counter Phelps’ message, but none have been as organized as the Patriot Guard.
“I’m not sure anybody has gone to this length to stand in solidarity,” she said. “It’s nice that these veterans and their supporters are trying to do something. I can’t imagine anything worse, your loved one is killed in Iraq and you’ve got to deal with Fred Phelps.”
At a recent memorial service at Fort Campbell, church protesters and sang vulgar songs condemning homosexuals and soldiers. The Patriot Guard was also there, cheering to support mourning families across the street as community members came in a freezing rain to chant “U-S-A, U-S-A” alongside the bikers.
“This is just the right thing to do. This is something America didn’t do in the ’70s,” said Kurt Mayer, the Patriot Guard’s national spokesman, referring to the era when protests against the Vietnam war were common. “Whether we agree with why we’re over there, these soldiers are dying to protect our freedoms.”
Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of Fred Phelps and an attorney for the Topeka, Kansas-based church, said neither state laws nor the Patriot Guard can silence their message that God killed the soldiers because they fought for a country that embraces homosexuals.
“The scriptures are crystal clear that when God sets out to punish a nation, it is with the sword. An IED is just a broken-up sword,” Phelps-Roper said. “Since that is his weapon of choice, our forum of choice has got to be a dead soldier’s funeral.”
The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps’ extended family. A small group of them appeared last month in West Virginia outside a memorial for the 12 men killed in the Sago Mine disaster. They held signs reading “Thank God for Dead Miners” and “Miners in Hell.”
Kentucky, home to sprawling Fort Campbell, was among the first states to attempt to deal with Phelps legislatively. Its House and Senate have each passed bills that would limit people from protesting within 300 feet of a funeral or memorial service. The Senate version would also keep protesters from being within earshot of grieving friends and family members.
The Indiana Senate has passed a bill intended to prohibit protests within 500 feet (150 meters) of funerals. The House is considering the measure.
The bills were written to protect families of soldiers such as Pvt. Jonathan R. Pfender, 22, of Evansville, Indiana, a soldier from Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division who was killed in January by a roadside bomb in Beiji, Iraq.
Westboro church members protested at Pfender’s funeral, screaming profanities at mourners as they passed. Family members were shielded from the insults by the rumble of Patriot Guard motorcycles.
“We were glad that the Patriot Guard Riders were there,” said Jackie Pfender, the soldier’s stepmother. “This group of protesters wanted to put something negative on Jonathan’s funeral. In actuality, it became a positive thing because of the support we had.”
Patriot Guard members only show up at funerals if invited by family. Richard Wilbur, a retired police detective, said his Indiana Patriot Guard group came to the Pfender funeral at the family’s request after protesters announced they planned to attend.
“No one deserves this,” Wilbur said. “If I were burying my loved one and they were out there yelling anything close to what they yell to the families of these soldiers, I know my temperament. I probably would not handle it very well.”
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Hanky Time
Another boo hoo piece from a conservative blogger. Once again it's the liberals' fault for all their woes. I'll let him speak for himself.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Thursday Jokes
Not in the mood for jousting. These are from a friend. I think I'll make this a regular post. Anyone have a good joke, send it to me and I'll publish it.
One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie.
"Tie me up," she purred, "and you can do anything you want."
So he tied her up and went golfing.
A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into thehouse. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Honey,pack your bags. I won the damn lottery!"
The husband said, "Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountainstuff?"
"Doesn't matter," she said. "Just get the hell out."
Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.
A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license. First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters: 'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.' "Can you read this?" the optician asked.
"Read it?" the Polish guy replied, "I know the guy."
Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them,"I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent."
"Thank God," said an elderly nun at the back. "I'm so tired of chardonnay."
A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.
"Careful," he said, "CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my GOD! You re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my GOD! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful ... CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!"
The wife stared at him. "What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?"
The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like whenI'm driving."
Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army. On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb. That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair. On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush. That afternoon theArmy dentist yanked seven of his teeth. On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap. The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
It's So Graphic
No blogging today (well, until now). The video driver went on the blink and I 've spent the greater part of the day trying to get the system to hold together long enough so I could change some settings, which allowed the system to function while I downloaded a new driver and repaired the problem.
Finally did only to discover that it's probably the card itself that isn't working. Oh well. I can work at minimum accelaeration for now. A new graphics card is not a priority.
Monday, May 08, 2006
This Land is Our Land
My friend, Elliot/Michael posted a comment to a post entitled, “Those Treasonous Dogs.” I began responding to him (I like his thinking and he is always reasonable), and then decided to make my response a separate post.
Which rights do Liberals still love, Tim? They long ago stopped being
defenders of the First Amendment (which is why I stopped being a liberal).
They never believed in the Second.I don't think Conservatives are all that
great, either. But I think Liberals lost the high ground a long time ago.
First thing to keep in mind, my friend … it was liberal thought that brought forth the constitution.Look it up. Imagine where we would be without those great liberal thinkers, Jefferson, Adams and Adams, Payne, etc.
I think you gave up being a liberal too soon, my friend. This liberal believes in the 2nd amendment, i.e. the right for the people to bear arms, though I have strong reservations about sub-machine guns and bazookas.
I’ve been a hunter, and enjoyed it when I was younger. I have experienced the thrill of the hunt. Truthfully, though, I think the only real hunters are those who use bows. I'm older now. I no longer crave mowing down defenseless creatures for food. There is always the alternative grocery store on every other block.
And as far as the 1st amendment, I think from my writings you'll see I am not a PC liberal. Have we gone too far? Absolutely. But our society tends to do that. It ebbs and it flows. Do you remember the roaring 20s? How about the 60s? My point is look out, the roaring, lost your minds 2010s are just around the corner.
Anyway, having said that, I am proud to be a flaming liberal. While taxes may be a wee high, I am not sorry to pay my fair share and help ensure government functions, roads are smooth and people in need are given a helping hand. In regards to a helping hand: Pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is a favorite conservative phrase these days. Apply it to Halliburton and its greedy brethren and I’ll listen. A number of conservative bloggers have used this phrase to describe their own lives … how they had to work, blah blah blah. You know what? Boo hoo. Whining is not a liberal state of mind and certainly not mine. It is, however, what I think some conservatives are best at.
I don't believe in TABOR or any of its offspring. To amend the constitution is a whack job. Conservatives are saying they don't trust politicians. Fair enough, there are many to be disgusted with. The answer to that is to get people who truly care about the amity of the people to run for office. We the People! We're not so dumb.
I believe in marriage ... for all! And I don’t believe in wedge issues designed to create attendance on election day, at the expense of innocent citizens who will be affected by mean-spirited resolutions.
I believe in the right of a woman to choose without men interfering in their lives. We disagree sharply here, I know. But liberals have always been able to discuss things amongst themselves ... not so sure of narrow-minded conservatives, though I know a few who seem to have evolved. I know that both liberals and conservatives yearn for the day that abortion occurs so minimally that it doesn’t warrant pitched battles. Can’t we agree on exceptions for rape and incest and then educate our people to think of the consequences before conceiving? I’ve got to believe that some day we’ll succeed.
Believe! That’s what liberals do best. Rather than go backwards using faulty and aging memory cells to those glorious days of old, liberals believe in the present and the future. Liberals believe in people … all of them, regardless of faith, lack of faith, color, race, handicap. We are not a “white mans” club only, allowing only the token more brilliant or outspoken of others to have associate membership.
And one more thing. For all the denigration of the 60s, it was the 60s, the people, who hastened the end of that bastard Vietnam conflict. That there were excesses, no doubt. That the troops who were drafted to fight were treated poorly there and on their return, no doubt. But if the people had not risen and protested as was their RIGHT that conflict would probably have continued being the centerpiece of what it was: the playground of big power politics. It would not have been Nixon and his children, or any of the other supporters of that conflict and their children who would have suffered. It would have been my kids and yours.
Just like today.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Gobbledygook
Calling their arguments “gobbledygook,” a U.S. appeals panel handed the Bush administration their lunch regarding wiretapping of Internet phone calls.
“Your argument makes no sense,” U.S. Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards told the lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission, Jacob Lewis.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing the familiar refrain about activist judges from the same old suspects in the very near future. This will include a misleading sub-header to an anything but fair and balanced Fox News story.
But who cares. This administration is kaput. Even their so-called true conservatives (the John Birch remnants) are bailing. It would really be quite humorous if the stakes were not so high … like constitutional rights, presidential overreaching of power, abuse of power, etc.
You know they will not go down without a fight and while they fritter away the time, thousands more will die for their misguided whims.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Islam Bad, Us Better ... Ug
At 12:08 in the morning, Jessica McBride must have been just a wee bit tired. Or she just got back from a barfing session. You know, the kind that happens to her when she reads her own writing back to herself.
This time she has come up with a doozy. I knew she was a flaming racist and intolerant prig before, but …well, check out her post on the JournalSentinel editorial about the open house being held at the Islamic Center of Milwaukee. I thought she was shallow before, but this takes the cake.
Let’s see, she’s not going to go because she already knows everything she needs to know about Islam; in some parts of their society women are treated differently than here. Gasp. Yes, that’s true, Jessica. But it’s not the case universally and I doubt it’s the only place where women are considered second-class citizens. How about evangelical Christians and their “woman must submit to man” doctrine. Ya know, hubby knows best.
And a McBride piece wouldn’t be a McBride piece without a nyah nyah section. She says, “Would the JS editorial board ever encourage Muslims to go to a Christian church for a "special opportunity" to get to know us and our ideals?” What?!?
Leaving aside the childishness of that statement, I have a news flash, Jessie-pooh, not all Muslims hate us. And last time I looked, yes, we did attack them, unless those armored units in Baghdad are just an illusion. Many of them don’t like us over there, regardless if you think it was the right thing to do. I’m sure there were many Germans who thought the Fuhrer was right on to invade Poland.
Considering that a real clash of cultures is underway, for the JournalSentinel to suggest and recommend that the “majority” population get to know a little about the people we are supposedly freeing from tyranny doesn’t seem such a bad idea.
I for one will go. I would like to ask why women remain subjugated in parts of Islamic society and I will LISTEN to the answer rather than assume I know all the answers.
Oh, I’ve wanted to comment on Jessie's quote from Winston Churchill, which she uses as an excuse for her banality.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. -- Winston Churchill
I have one for Jessica …
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." -- Thomas Jefferson
Those Treasonous Dogs
Click on image to expand view.
Those damn treasonous liberal dogs, what with their misguided love for rights, the constitution and all things mocca. They'll be the death of our greedy lobbying initiatives and land-oil grab. Ooooh, I know ... bring up the defense of marriage farce and let's change the subject again, hee hee hee.
It's raining potatoes. Oh, not really. Jessica McBride is barfing again.
Can You Hum a Few Bars?
While I'm in full agreement that people who come to America should learn and sing our national anthem in English, Jacob Weisberg at Slate Magazine has a funny piece on the difficulty that even native born Americans have with our anthem's archaic and convoluted lyrics.
Here is a link to the piece.
Weisberg also shares info on some of the other unofficial and alternative national anthems floating around. My favorite is Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land."
There are a number of unofficial and alternative national anthems that would
present less of a challenge to Latino immigrants rallying around "Nuestro Himno" a cloying, Latin-pop interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (and no improvement, incidentally, on the patriotically minded Spanish translation "La Bandera De Las Estrellas," scored by Walter Damrosch and published in 1919). The perennial top candidates are the 1913 version of "America the Beautiful," which was written by a Wellesley English professor named Katharine Lee Bates; Irving Berlin's 1938 version of "God Bless America" which became patriotic theme music in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001; and Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," which was written in 1940 as a kind of hobo's answer to "God Bless America."
One thing: I have read of all the outrage over the flying of the Mexican flag (I'm guessing it was, there is no Hispanic flag that I know of). This really seems like racist drivel to me. Come on, I've seen the German, Italien, Polish and Greek flags, all being flown at Summerfest. I've seen them flown above restaurants, inside restaurants. I've seen them at churches, outside homes ... everywhere. Aren't these people Americans and how dare they fly the flag of another country?
This country is large enough (I 'm not referring to land mass) to accept these people and figure out an equitable solution to this issue without resorting to racist tactics (Right, Charlie?).
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Ha Ha Ha Sensenbrenner for President
This was (ha ha ha) too funny. I can hardly stop laughing (ha ha ha). This guy recommends F. James Sensenbrenner for president (ha ha ha, too much).
Stop it. It hurts.
Actually, Clint and I have had a few conversations (see posts below). While Clint has difficulty staying on topic, his comments are reasonably well done. But Sensenbrenner for prez?
Whoop whoop!
