October 26, 2004

Politics: Kerry's The One

by Scott McConnel, from American Conservative Magazine

"Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation’s children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliché about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy. Add to this his nation-breaking immigration proposal—Bush has laid out a mad scheme to import immigrants to fill any job where the wage is so low that an American can’t be found to do it—and you have a presidency that combines imperialist Right and open-borders Left in a uniquely noxious cocktail."

read the entire article

October 24, 2004

Poetry:The Girl With The Gag In Her Smile

by James Heard with apologies to Charles Bukowski

Suppose it'suppose'd to be funny
with her trying to smile like that
mouth too wide an
all that painful pity cornering up
in her dimples
her tits is all rbuised 'like
an that guy still trying to look
lik hes gentally whispering on her

i imagine that hot breath
tastes a lot like beer
look at his gut does this guy
even know how stupid this shit looks
like hes got a mask on fer shitsake
but hes got her cowed down
on all fours so hes in
control

smile
for you'rdaddybabygirl
tgrowing up sure is differen
than when i was a
Kid

October 18, 2004

Unstoppable: Religion and Murder

The other day my father and I were talking, as we are likely to do, about politics and religion. Hey, don't knock it. Talking with your parents about religion and politics is about the only safe discussion forum you can venture into for discussion with someone almost guaranteed to hold a completely different viewpoint than your own and not get attack for it. My father and I don't have complete separate views on much, but we do on religion.

You see, my father who was fairly non-religious as I was growing up has steadily become more so as he has grown older. Stances regarding religion that he would have never taken when I was ten years old are now commonplace, as is the starry-eyed, heaven-upwards, position of adoration that he has started to get when talking about religion in the first place. Now, I'm truly not condemning such a theocratic bent in my father's daily life. He's not ever pressured me to go to a church or to have a viewpoint similar to his own other than "I wish you would" ever. However, since we were talking about religion and politics somehow we got turned to the nature of Islam versus the nature of Christianity, and the actual practices of religion versus the held tenets of a religion.

This was where it became strange.You see, as if a vast shroud had been lifted from my father's eyes he finally faced the facts that I wasn't agnostic but an atheist.

"You don't believe in God at all do you?" he accused.
"I don't not believe in God, but on the face of the facts I think he's unlikely. Or rather, if he's there then his interaction is so limited and vague that it's not worth worrying about."
"So you're an atheist, not an agnostic."
"I don't deny that a god is possible, I just don't care, dad. I do think though, if this is where you put your kids and this is your idea of mercy then you'd not be a particularly good parent. We have matches and we're burning down the house."
"Stop being sacrilegeous," he said as I raised an eyebrow because this wasn't very much like him. "Well then, you're not qualified to talk about religion then."
"Why?" I said, honestly confused.
"Because you have to be religious to know what it's like," and with that he walked away and ended the discussion for the moment.

So, I've been thinking about that and why that's wrong. I certainly don't feel like I have to be a Nazi to know what Nazis are like, or black else be blinded by what being black is like. I don't know if I adequately understand those issues of "what it's like to be someone else that is counter to my normal existence" sometimes, mostly because I've not cared to listen to someone try to tell me what it's like or simply not been exposed to someone willing to tell me what it's like. However, since I live in the Southeast and I'm surrounded by millions of people perfectly willing to shove their personal idea of what religion is and I've actively gone out of my way to expose myself to varying ideas on religion, I'm not convinced that I can't forumalte a perfectly good opinion on religion based on observation and evidence presented.

I know that religion provides comfort to people. That's a good thing about religion, and I agree with it. Religion is also used to justify war and murder though, and those are more dangerous things for me to flirt with personally than any peace I might find. What bothers me the most about the widely disparate versions of religion we have in the world though is the certainty.

Certainty, or faith, is probably a really good thing for some people to grab a hold of when they're floundering. The problem is that they don't let go of it. Bush, as a recovering alchoholic, almost certainly found a sort of calm in omnipotence that you just don't get naturally when you're puking with your head in the john in the morning after you've shit yourself. When you're going through DTs and your body is shivering and burning and you ache all over, it might be nice to be able to say that "It's going to be alright, I've got someone to take care of me through this situation that no one earthly could possibly hold my hand through." That's a good thing. However, too often the faith is not in that you'll be protected from yourself through personal turmoil but that you'll be able to find solace through any failure or circumstance. That's the virgins at the end of the fireball faith, the exercising your political agenda in the face of established standards of ethics faith, the faith of Allah and the Abortion Clinic bombers. I fear that sort of faith, because that sort of faith is insidious toward reason.

I could break out the broad and popular lists here, the inquisitions and witch trials and what not. The fact of the matter is though, that even though these things are fact I don't consider religion the reason behind them. Personally, people are filthy malicious things. If there is a fallacy in that sort of critical and dangerous faith it is assume that the mantle of the divine somehow removes the taint from what is essentially a human gesture. Violence is as much as part of our genetics as breathing and our opposable thumb. Killing infidels is no different than killing your neighbors and enemies for other reasons, beside the fact that it makes you feel better. The same feel-good translation occurs when you murder for your country or your family as well, as if one act of violence were more justified than the other and so begin you on that same path of seeking a justification. Fear not, as long as we live among each other, we shall have enough reasons to kill one another.

October 17, 2004

Humor: Things Not To Say To Cops

When a police officer says "Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?" you probably shouldn't respond with,"Your eyes look glazed, have you been eating donuts?"

"Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in."

Humor: Dave Chappelle

Chappelle told the crowd he knew why they liked his sketch-comedy show: "Because it's good. You know why my show is good? Because the network officials say you're not smart enough to get what I'm doing, and every day I fight for you. I tell them how smart you are. Turns out, I was wrong.

"You people are stupid."

Much of Chappelle's act - with its jokes about genitals, and sex talk, tales of strip-club escapades and frequent use of the n-word - is unprintable in a family newspaper. But that's not the best part, anyway. Chappelle is most effective when he ventures into social commentary - race, poverty, the cult of personality.

One of his better rants had to do with children and at what age they might be responsible for their own lives. Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old Utah girl who was kidnapped from her home, figured prominently in the commentary. He contrasted her case - she was discovered about nine months after her abduction only a few miles from her home - with that of 7-year-old Erica Pratt, who gnawed through her duct tape bindings to free herself from kidnappers in Philadelphia and was responsible for the arrest of the two men who had taken her. Pratt is African American, and her story received much less attention than did Smart's.

Then Chappelle placed Smart's case in opposition to that of Lionel Tate of Florida, who was convicted of murder in the death of a 6-year-old neighbor. Smart, at 15, was considered a child. But at 14, two years after the crime, Tate was sentenced as an adult to life in prison without parole. (A previously rejected plea bargain was later accepted, and he is now free.)

"When is a 15-year-old a kid and a 12-year-old an adult?" he asked, indicating it might be because one was white and one was not.

Chappelle said race relations are at such a low point in America that, "You can't say anything real when it comes to race. That's why Bill Cosby's in such trouble for saying black folks have got to take responsibility for their own lives.

"I spoke at my high school last week," he said, "and I told them, 'You've got to focus. Stop blaming white people for your problems.' "

He then added, sarcastically, " 'Learn to play basketball, tell jokes or sell crack. That's the only way I've seen people get out.' "

Read the entire article

October 14, 2004

Politics: Walmart - Champion of the People?

"Wal-mart wants every CD you buy to cost less than ten bucks. And the nation's largest retailer -- which moved a quarter of a trillion dollars' worth of goods last year -- usually gets its way. Suppliers who don't accede to Wal-Mart's "everyday low price" mantra often find their products bounced from the chain's stores, excluded from being sold to the 138 million people who shop at a Wal-Mart store every week.

In the past decade, Wal-Mart has quietly emerged as the nation's biggest record store. Wal-Mart now sells an estimated one out of every five major-label albums. It has so much power, industry insiders say, that what it chooses to stock can basically determine what becomes a hit. "If you don't have a Wal-Mart account, you probably won't have a major pop artist," says one label executive."

October 13, 2004

Politics: Bush, Nazis, and America

"The questions raised by the known facts about the Bush family's connections to the Nazi war machine should really be a matter of some national moment, because they raise serious issues about the relationship between America and Nazism and its atrocities, and the ramifications of those ties in today's world.

These are not only serious but deeply disturbing issues, which may be why there has been relatively little mainstream effort to address them. Unfortunately, the highly partisan way that they have been framed to date has done little to make the debate a serious or thoughtful one. And conservatives' attempts to pretend that the questions should not even be taken seriously are a sort of historical revisionism -- falsifying history by pretending it didn't even happen."

This is a six part article by David Neiwart and worth reading for even the most rabid (ok, well maybe not the most rabid - you know who you are) Republicans. It examines the connections with Nazi Germany and George W Bush's grandfather, debunking and clarifying along the way, and sets the record straight. After you've read it you'll probably feel as better informed as I do on the issue now, all without a sound bite to swallow.

Politics: What Exactly Are Small Businesses?

A Bush-Cheney '04 ad claims Kerry would raise taxes on 900,000 small businesses and "hurt jobs." But it counts every high-salaried person who has even $1 of outside business income as a "small business owner" -- a definition so broad that even Bush and Cheney have qualified while in office. In fact, hundreds of thousands of those "small businesses" have no jobs to offer.

Furthermore, by the Bush definition 32 million "small businesses" would see no tax increase. The ad doesn't mention that, of course. Nor does it mention Kerry's proposals for some tax cuts specifically targeted for small businesses.

October 12, 2004

Flash: Deduction

This is just a neat little memory sort of game of the kind that I really get ridiculously into. Now you shall all have to go off and try it and mutter to yourselves about what a creepy bastard I must be to get into crap like this. Go ahead, you know you want to.

Flash: Strangers On My Flight

Strangers on my flight,
turbans they're packin'.
Wonderin' if they might,
plan a hijacking.
They could pull a stunt,
before this flight is through.

Weird: Stairway To Satan

Oh here's to my sweet Satan. The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan. He'll give you 666. There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.

Catchy, isn't it?

October 10, 2004

Weird: King Bush - Man of Leisure taken down by Museum

[T]he show, including the Bush painting, was abruptly shut down after some of the artists' themes were considered unsuitable.

Myra Peabody Gossens, a public relations consultant for the museum, said the exhibit was not what had been expected.

"The museum is not an art museum," she explained. "It gets mostly groups of children, with teachers trying to tell them something about history."

Click Here

Politics: Voting Conservative in 2004

Voting for president used to be so easy, at least for a conservative. There was the Republican candidate. You knew he generally stood for lower taxes, less government spending, giving fewer powers to the government, lower deficits and a zealous regard for individual privacy.

Then, there was the Democrat. You knew he generally stood for higher taxes, more government and deficit spending, and a zealous regard for civil liberties.

Throughout my own presidential voting history, the choices have rarely, if ever, been agonizing. Nixon vs. McGovern? Carter vs. Reagan? Reagan-Mondale? Dukakis, a Massachusetts liberal? Clinton? Al Gore? Ah, the good ol' days. Each of those races presented clear choices, easily resolved.

Now we have the election of 2004. For the first time in my voting life, the choice in the race for president isn't so clear And, among true conservatives, I'm not alone.

What's making the contest so difficult? It's certainly not that both candidates are so conservative that we have a choice of riches. It's not even that John Kerry is sort of right wing compared to George W. Bush. The incumbent clearly is the more "conservative" of the two.

But the concerns for many conservative voters -- concerns that may cause them not to vote for Mr. Bush on Nov. 2 -- fall generally into three categories: fiscal, physical (as in the physical security of our nation) and freedom (as in protecting our civil liberties).

When Bush became president Jan. 20, 2001, he inherited an enviable fiscal situation. Congress, then controlled by his own party, had -- through discipline and tough votes -- whittled down decades of deficit spending under presidents of both parties, so that annual deficits of hundreds of billions of dollars had been transformed to a series of real and projected surpluses. The heavy lifting had been done. All Bush had to do was resist the urge to spend, and he had to exert some pressure on Congress to resist its natural impulses to do the same. Had he done that, he might have gone down in history as the most fiscally conservative president in modern times.

by Bob Barr

October 08, 2004

Politics: Why We Cannot Win

by Al Lorentz reprinted without permission from Lew Rockwell.com

Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically idealistic and naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally, I am not just a soldier with a muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil Affairs and as such, it is my job to be aware of all the events occurring in this country and specifically in my region.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of reasons. Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality.

When we were preparing to deploy, I told my young soldiers to beware of the "political solution." Just when you think you have the situation on the ground in hand, someone will come along with a political directive that throws you off the tracks.

I believe that we could have won this un-Constitutional invasion of Iraq and possibly pulled off the even more un-Constitutional occupation and subjugation of this sovereign nation. It might have even been possible to foist democracy on these people who seem to have no desire, understanding or respect for such an institution. True the possibility of pulling all this off was a long shot and would have required several hundred billion dollars and even more casualties than we’ve seen to date but again it would have been possible, not realistic or necessary but possible.

Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.

First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because of politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label the increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as "terrorists, criminals and dead-enders."

This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill X number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished, everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at our disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting the guerillas.

The idea behind fighting a guerilla army is not to destroy its every man (an impossibility since he hides himself by day amongst the populace). Rather the idea in guerilla warfare is to erode or destroy his base of support.

So long as there is support for the guerilla, for every one you kill two more rise up to take his place. More importantly, when your tools for killing him are precision guided munitions, raids and other acts that create casualties among the innocent populace, you raise the support for the guerillas and undermine the support for yourself. (A 500-pound precision bomb has a casualty-producing radius of 400 meters minimum; do the math.)

Second, our assessment of what motivates the average Iraqi was skewed, again by politically motivated "experts." We came here with some fantasy idea that the natives were all ignorant, mud-hut dwelling camel riders who would line the streets and pelt us with rose petals, lay palm fronds in the street and be eternally grateful. While at one time there may have actually been support and respect from the locals, months of occupation by our regular military forces have turned the formerly friendly into the recently hostile.

Attempts to correct the thinking in this regard are in vain; it is not politically correct to point out the fact that the locals are not only disliking us more and more, they are growing increasingly upset and often overtly hostile. Instead of addressing the reasons why the locals are becoming angry and discontented, we allow politicians in Washington DC to give us pat and convenient reasons that are devoid of any semblance of reality.

We are told that the locals are not upset because we have a hostile, aggressive and angry Army occupying their nation. We are told that they are not upset at the police state we have created, or at the manner of picking their representatives for them. Rather we are told, they are upset because of a handful of terrorists, criminals and dead enders in their midst have made them upset, that and of course the ever convenient straw man of "left wing media bias."

Third, the guerillas are filling their losses faster than we can create them. This is almost always the case in guerilla warfare, especially when your tactics for battling the guerillas are aimed at killing guerillas instead of eroding their support. For every guerilla we kill with a "smart bomb" we kill many more innocent civilians and create rage and anger in the Iraqi community. This rage and anger translates into more recruits for the terrorists and less support for us.

We have fallen victim to the body count mentality all over again. We have shown a willingness to inflict civilian casualties as a necessity of war without realizing that these same casualties create waves of hatred against us. These angry Iraqi citizens translate not only into more recruits for the guerilla army but also into more support of the guerilla army.

Fourth, their lines of supply and communication are much shorter than ours and much less vulnerable. We must import everything we need into this place; this costs money and is dangerous. Whether we fly the supplies in or bring them by truck, they are vulnerable to attack, most especially those brought by truck. This not only increases the likelihood of the supplies being interrupted. Every bean, every bullet and every bandage becomes infinitely more expensive.

Conversely, the guerillas live on top of their supplies and are showing every indication of developing a very sophisticated network for obtaining them. Further, they have the advantage of the close support of family and friends and traditional religious networks.

Fifth, we consistently underestimate the enemy and his capabilities. Many military commanders have prepared to fight exactly the wrong war here.

Our tactics have not adjusted to the battlefield and we are falling behind.

Meanwhile the enemy updates his tactics and has shown a remarkable resiliency and adaptability.

Because the current administration is more concerned with its image than it is with reality, it prefers symbolism to substance: soldiers are dying here and being maimed and crippled for life. It is tragic, indeed criminal that our elected public servants would so willingly sacrifice our nation's prestige and honor as well as the blood and treasure to pursue an agenda that is ahistoric and un-Constitutional.

It is all the more ironic that this un-Constitutional mission is being performed by citizen soldiers such as myself who swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, the same oath that the commander in chief himself has sworn.

October 07, 2004

Weird: 14 Traits of a Serial Killer

Could you be raising a criminal? Acts of violence don't come out of nowhere, and every parent should be aware of the clues along the way. For the most violent of criminals, there are warning signs that often start in childhood. Below is a list of the 14 most common traits of serial killers.

1. Over 90 percent of serial killers are male.

2. They tend to be intelligent, with IQ's in the "bright normal" range.

3. They do poorly in school, have trouble holding down jobs, and often work as unskilled laborers.

4. They tend to come from markedly unstable families.

5. As children, they are abandoned by their fathers and raised by domineering mothers.

6. Their families often have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories.

7. They hate their fathers and mothers.

8. They are commonly abused as children — psychologically, physically and sexually. Often the abuse is by a family member.

9. Many serial killers spend time in institutions as children and have records of early psychiatric problems.

10. They have high rates of suicide attempts.

11. From an early age, many are intensely interested in voyeurism, fetishism, and sado-masochistic pornography.

12. More than 60 percent of serial killers wet their beds beyond the age of 12.

13. Many serial killers are fascinated with fire starting.

from Dr. Phil.com

I wonder how many serial killers are fat bastards with funny moustaches?

Humor: Uncanny Insight

A woman was shopping at her local supermarket where she
selected:

a half-gallon of 2% milk,
a carton of eggs,
a quart of orange juice,
a head of romaine lettuce,
a 2 lb. can of coffee,
and a 1 lb. package of bacon.

As she was unloading her items on the conveyor belt to
check out, a Drunk standing behind her watched as she placed the
items in front of the cashier.

While the cashier was ringing up her purchases, the
drunk calmly stated, "You must be single."

The woman was a bit startled by this proclamation, but
she was Intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since she was indeed
single.

She looked at her six items on the belt and saw nothing
particularly unusual about her selections that could have tipped off
the drunk to her marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she said "Well,
you know what, you're absolutely correct. But how on earth did you know that?"

The drunk replied, " 'Cause you're ugly."

stolen from Mookie

October 05, 2004

Poetry: Ode To Jack Chick

- from the Internet Infidels forums

Ev'ry gay's a peadophile and they've got H I V
Teenagers will sell their souls if they play D and D.
Masons worship satan and they all are bound for hell
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Evolution is a lie and ev'ry scientist knows
Satan runs the Catholic church so please stay on your toes.
I'll keep on making tracts for all this crap I have to tell
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Rock will make you turn to drugs and death will follow too.
Ev'ry time you pray in school your teacher plans to sue.
It's lies in print and I don't care I've hundreds more to sell
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

God's word's in the KJV and nowhere else it's found.
Reading from the NIV will spin your soul around.
I'll distort facts and tell you lies, the truth I'll have to quell
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Don't go buying Tarot cards, or new-age crystal crap,
Alternative religions are just Satan's wily trap;
And even acupunct'rists are the Devil's personnel.
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

The Buddhists worship idols, and the Muslims and the Jews,
The Cathy-licks, non-Baptists, Sikhs, agnostics and Hindus;
The world's been damned forever, since the moment we first fell.
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

If you want to get to heaven, you must do just as I say.
Stop being independent, atheistic, smart or gay.
And don't you get distracted by that bovine fecal smell;
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Don't listen to rock 'n' roll, it's Satan's evil tongue.
Parents, warn your children cause he gets 'em when they're young.
They'll become a vampire and suffer flames of hell.
I'm Jack Chick, I'm psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

The pope is really lucifer dressed up in a white frock.
He tries his best to damn your souls, he works around the clock.
He may look awful feeble but he's cursed and I can tell.
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Use my tracts to witness and they'll all fall at your feet
Give them out at high schools to give all the kids a treat
Children love cartoons: they'll think the storylines are swell
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Don't care if you're a mission'ry you're still in satans hive.
You wasted your whole life keeping those starving kids alive.
Had you just given them my tracts they'd all be doing well.
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

AIDS is punishment from God, and so's Ebola too
My tracts and the Holy Bible are both completely true
Illnesses and sickness are God's punishments as well
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

Keep the women in the home, don't let them cut their hair;
Dresses, skirts and such are all the clothing they can wear;
Criticize them long enough and they won't even yell;
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho, and I'm paranoid as well!

Birth control and IUDs, abortion on demand;
Not for you, my little wife, because I am the man!
I'll write a tract on how all these will damn you straight to Hell;
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho, and I'm paranoid as well!

Converting dirty arabs is an easy thing to do.
Just show them this here photo of an old moon god statue,
They'll instantly renounce their faith, and then our ranks will swell.
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho, and I'm paranoid as well!

Jews, Catholics and homos, our morals they attack
(and just for good measure, let's throw in all the blacks)
Yeah, this stuff is pure bullshit, but the paycheques sure are swell
I'm Jack Chick, I'm a psycho and I'm paranoid as well.

October 04, 2004

Politics: Bush - A Character Analysis in What If?

Bush had a war hero and a busy politician as a father. His dad was the US Ambassador to the United Nations, the envoy to communist China, Director of the CIA, chairman of the Republican National Committee, a man experienced in war and in international politics. George W Bush on the other hand, was a governor, failed businessman, owner of a sports team, reputed cokehead, drunk, AWOL National Guardsman, and overall layabout for most of his entire life.

His drinking problem and his tendency to shirk danger and responsibility show a clear rebellious "phase" that he's not even really out of, if you saw that look he gave Kerry on the "What about what your father said in his book about Iraq" moment. I'm pretty convinced that always being right is part of his character, part of the flawed response to not being able to reason a response and not clearly understanding his father or his father's work. I'm not sure if he ever was allowed to hit rock bottom with his drinking, instead he probably got shipped off to some fancy rehab clinic where they locked the booze away and and gave him another focus.

He probably has lots of friends, but no real friends. Who could stand this rich guy with the spoon tenting the seat of his pants, drunk all the time, right all the time, aggressive to a fault, full of bluster but very little personal bravery? That's not someone you hang out with, that's the guy you and your friends toss out of the bar and beat the crap out of and pee on him laughing because he's such a loser. And maybe none of that happened because he's rich and his father was really important and he had people looking out for just those things- but I don't think he's so stupid that he doesn't realize that without those things and people surrounding him that maybe he'd just be mopping floors and going home to beat his wife after a couple of six packs each night.

That's who I see when I look at him. Just a loser with a chip on his shoulder because he's afraid that everyone might find out that he's that loser, willing to send other people to die for him because otherwise he might feel weak and small.

October 01, 2004

Politics: Favorite Nonquote From The Debate

Bush: "Those combat guys are not going to follow somebody who says, "This is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time." They're going to follow me to the wrong war at the wrong time, and, for the record, I actually know where the wrong place is."

From He Forgot To Say Poland, a review on the debate from Salon.com by Joyce McGreevy

Politics: Faith vs. Reason

"Skepticism, pragmatism and empiricism are his enemies. Absolute faith prevails over open-ended reason, subjectivity over fact. Those who do not pray at his altar of certainty are betrayers of the faith, not to mention the troops. Belief in belief is the ultimate sacrament of his political legitimacy.

In the frame of the split TV screen, Bush's face was a transparent mirror of his emotions. His grimaces exposed his irritation, frustration and anger at being challenged. Lacking intellectual stamina and repeating his talking points as though on a feedback loop, he tried to close argument by blind assertion. With no one interrupting him, he protested, "Let me finish" -- a phrase he occasionally deploys to great effect before the cowed White House press corps. "

From Salon.com Faith vs. Reason by Sidney Blumenthal (free registration day pass required)