Category Archives: politics

hotsoup?

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Keith Olbermann mentioned this site on his show tonight. He said it was founded after Bush v Gore, as a forum for neutrality.

It’s a new site to me. It looks cool, but I don’t have the presense and patience to figure it out right now. It’s not a blog. It’s not a site for essays, exactly. It’s some sort of community opinion site, based on “loops.” I don’t get it, but I’m pretty into intuitive, accessible content. I couldn’t find the article that Olbermann referred to, which discussed the fact that Bush has lost the important commodity of public trust.

If you figure out hotsoup.com, let me know.

violating common sense

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Want to watch Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General, deny that the Constitution grants habeus corpus, and get his watch set by Arlen Specter?

“You may be treading on your interdiction and violating common sense, Mr. Attorney General.”


It’s good Tube, kids!

unacceptable

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The latest from the indominable Rep. Jack Murtha. I love this guy.

Unacceptable. A rapid escalation of troops is just simply unacceptable. About five months ago, we put more troops in Baghdad and unfortunately, attacks increased and a record number of Americans and Iraqis were killed. President Bush’s “new strategy” just demonstrates his plans to once again ignore the will of the people, the advice of his commanders, the Baker-Hamilton commission, and even some in his own party.

If you want to read the whole thing and sign his petition, e-mail me and I’ll forward it to you.

sage advice

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[a joke I received by e-mail today]

It is the night after the state of the union speech. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has passed a resolution amounting to no confidence in the war plans of the president. George W. Bush is tossing restlessly in his White House bed, where suddenly he sees the ghost of George Washington appear.

Bush says to him, “George, I need some help, I feel so hopeless and everyone hates me. What’s the best thing I can do to help the country?”

“Don’t be led by dishonest people. Set a strong, honest and honorable example, just as I did, There is always hope for change,” Washington advises, and then fades away.

An hour later, Bush is astir again, and sees the ghost of Thomas Jefferson moving through the darkened bedroom. Bush calls out, “Tom, please! What is the best thing I can do to help the country?”

“Show respect for the constitution. There is always hope, ” Jefferson advises, and fades from sight.

Sleep is still not possible for Bush. He awakens to see the ghost of FDR hovering over his bed. Bush whispers, “Franklin, What is the best thing I can do to help the country?”

“Forget your rich friends and start helping the less fortunate, just as I did. There is always hope.” FDR then fades into a mist.

Bush still isn’t sleeping well, worrying about his dropping numbers, when he sees a fourth figure moving in the shadows. It is the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Bush pleads, “Abe, what is the best thing I can do right now to help the people of the United States?”

Lincoln replies, “Go see a play.”

we’re not convinced

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Sorry, Mr. Bush, but it appears that your pleading may have fallen on deaf ears last night.

Oh pawleeze let me keep my little war. It’s not a big big war, but it’s so important and it’s the only one I’ve got, mostly. I’ll cure aids and fix Darfur and give health insurance, sort of, to the tattered remnants of the middle class. Just please please please don’t cancel my war.

But in the cold light of day, the applause has faded, and the Senate is considering doing just that.

Aw shucks, y’all are just no fun anymore.

party?

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In a couple of weeks, I’m going to roll over 1500 posts on this blog since about the time the war started in 2003. Are you guys going to throw me a party? Wait, I don’t want to know. Let it be a surprise!

Speaking of the war, I’m aware that I didn’t mention it in my cursory assessment of the SOTU speech. I didn’t forget, I’m just leaving it to the bloggers more qualified to untangle that twisted morass. I keep getting the earbuds of my iPod in a knot. A man’s gotta know his limitations.

orange you

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glad you opened this blog? . And I’ve just been sitting here sitting about the philosophy of shared moral intuitions – normative ethics – and I just might decide to impart my thoughts. Or not. I don’t feel like I necessarily ought to. You know what I mean?

I picked an orange from the tree in my parents’ back yard this afternoon, and just a little while ago I ate it. It was good.

You never know about an orange. You bite into it, it might be sweet or bitter. But I peeled this one, broke it open and stuffed a big chunk in my mouth, because I trust an orange to be the best it can be; to be sincere, without deception. An orange does not have a nefarious hidden agenda. It might make up pucker up, but it won’t get you killed for no good reason. I trusted that orange more than I trust the good intentions of President Bush tonight.



Yeah, I watched the speech. Couldn’t help myself. And he said some good things. He wants to make things better for the people. But I don’t trust him. He’ll mandate progressive programs, maybe, but he won’t fund them. And that tax break for health insurance thing is a sick joke. What about the millions of people who can’t take advantage of a tax break because they don’t make enough to pay taxes in the first place, let alone pay for insurance. What about the poor and the working poor? No, I don’t trust him. And more’s the pity.

Tzu-kung asked, What is leadership?
The Master said: “Food enough, troops enough, and a trusting people.”
Tzu-kung said: “Were there no help for it, which could best be spared of the three?’
“Troops,” said the Master.
“And were there no help for it, which could better be spared of the other two?”
“Food,” said the Master. “From of old all men die, but without trust a people cannot stand.”

countdown to duh day

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Just half an hour now until President Bush climbs the steps to the podium and — since he always takes all the rope he needs, he will hang himself again. Metaphorically speaking. It’s been the season for such, hasn’t it? The unstrung puppets of power, slowly and squeakily twisting in the wind. It’s appalling, embarrassing. I’ll read about it later, but I shall not watch. I know where the forks are kept here, and I fear that if I watched, I’d soon be driven to jab one in my eyes to save my sanity.