I’m Subjectively Objective

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Barack Obama, Bush, Congress, Democrats, eavesdropping, energy, environment, FISA, flood, fundamentalism, Gonzales, Iowa, Iraq, Israel, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Justice Dept., Limericks, Media, Middle East, Muslims, Neo-cons, Palestine, terrorism, Tim Russert

This hysterical piece is done by Julie Blackmon in 2008 and is called “American Gothic.” I thought it rather aptly represented the state of the American family today, slightly off kilter, slightly dysfunctional, but still normal enough to recognize.

Well the new weed eater is making a hit with the Contrarian. He says that he can almost smile now while working away. It starts with the first pull and runs nice and strong. Apparently the balance is much better too, so it’s much better to work with. I’ve finished my housework, so it’s time to catch up on the news of the world and hereabouts the old US of A.

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Where better to start than with dear old bumblebutt himself, Johnny McCain, who thrills us over and over with tales of his prowess as a Navy man. It seems some are playing fast and loose with his somewhat less than illustrious life as a admiral in the making career. Read this report from Afternet and decide for yourself whether the Big Mac was headed for the Admiralty or whether he in fact got out while the getting was good.

Remember when all those US attorneys were fired for alleged incompetence. And then it turned out they were actually fired for failing to go after Democrats on phony trumped up charges of wrongdoing? And then Alberto Gonzales, man of “i don’t remember much, even where I live” fame resigned and was heard of no more? Well one of the replacement attorneys is now facing possible indictment for lying to Congress about his attempts to do as he was told and run his piece of the Justice Department like a political enforcement bureau. Blue Girl, Red State, from Missouri where all this naughty stuff happened has the story. I saw reference to this on the Daily Show a couple of nights ago alluded to by one of the famous “fired” honorable dudes.

In a bright spot on the horizon, it seems that there is some good hope that Hamas and Israel will reach agreement to stop killing each other for a bit. Britannica Blog reports that of course nobody trusts anybody here, and it seems that a truce is the last best option at the moment. Sadly, nobody expects it to last long which is sure an unfortunate way to go into the thing I would think. Perhaps they might forget the killing if they get used to peace for a while. I mean no attempt to trivialize such a complicated mess, but one can but hope can’t one?

Some bean brain volunteer denied a couple of Muslim women, wearing the traditional head scarves seating within picture taking view of the candidate the other day. And frankly, I think Ezra Kleinis right. Obama, must simply address this issue forthrightly and quickly. Those folks who are claiming they still believe Obama is a Muslim as a reason not to support him are simply lying. They aren’t supporting him because his is Black and they are racist. Oh that is my opinion. If you are interested go down the post “Friday the 13th Thoughts” and read the comments, and my answers, left by a member of the Muslim’s against Sharia organization.

We here in the US don’t hear much about displaced Iraqis. It’s not good politically you see and so Bush and the Honking Horror Show that is his administration, does it best to keep such news from the American TV screen. Given that the media is mostly owned by wealthy Repubs who have a stake in Republidopes remaining in office and giving them ever bigger slices of the media pie, we get little from them in real news either. Inside Iraq in a short plaintive essay, makes it all too clear what life is like on the mean streets of Baghdad. Oh and folks–read the comments. The first is a bit disjointed, but continue. It’s another weeper for me.

I’ve been noted to rant now and then. Well, actually I rant a good deal. I’m sick of the injustice and the lying and the cheating and the rape of the American ideals that I see going on in every administration but brought to dizzying new heights in this magnificent example of excess that is called Bush. I think today, I have been outdone by none other than our new friend Inside-Out the Beltway. He waxes in anger at Democrats in Congress and wow, is he on point, as we say in the legal world. Enough is enough as they say, call a spade a spade, or a radish a  radish. Chris does just that and you should do yourself a favor and read what he said.

Flood relief funds may top 4 billion in Iowawe are told by Sen. Tom Harkin. An amazing figure, four times what I recently heard. But then the damage seems much more than expected. When I heard that Mercy Hospital escaped with what I thought was a low level of damage, I thought things might not be as bad as they appeared. Alas, I’m now told the Science Center is nearly a total loss. Czech Village is probably also a total loss. It’s a sad time for Iowa. I am not in any hurry to go there and see the city. It was I have to admit nice to travel to Independence and conduct normal business in a normal atmosphere. You can see where the water rose from the Wapsi, but they escaped pretty much any damage. Iowa Independent has the story for you.

Sister Joan Chittister gives a fitting tribute to TIm Russert. As I have said, as the mainstream media goes, he did a far better job than most in actually pushing his guests to answer real questions. More than all the laudatory remarks we have heard over the past several days, Sister Joan probes a little deeper, and applauds the essence of this man, who was so many things, and did them all so very well. On balance, Mr. Russert was a man we can all emulate and feel that we are taking a step upward on the ladder of being a human being. Read her remarks at NCR.

Mad Kane has at it again. This time she zeroes in on the ageism crisis of McCain. Republicans are crying foul, and claiming Dems are using code words to make their dottering old fool appear too old to be the prez. Read her commentary, and her latest limerick. You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve been wondering where old Rummy was hiding himself. In a continuing fit of pique, it seems the wrong-headed Neo-con is pouting and refusing, so far at least, to endorse the McShamester. That may have a lot to do with the fact that the Straight-Walker, saw a way to get out from under his support of the war in the run up, by blaming it all on Rummy. Course, he’s not all wrong there, but there were OTHERS who were just as culpable. I don’t know as there is any research on McCain on the issue of what he said about available plans for the invasion. Did he complain that the plans were inadequate? I don’t know, but something tells me, his objections came much later. MyDD has a  whole list of GOP’ers who have so far nixed endorsement of the feeble one. Go take a look.

Well Maureen Dowd has outdone herself again. She presents a witty, and humorous take on Georgie’s recent trip abroad, focusing on how totally miserable Mr. Brown must have been to have to welcome and entertain the man all Europe simply loathes. Enjoy her take on Bush’s tiptoeing through the facts on his self-perceived road to greatness. She had me chuckling along with every paragraph, and no doubt the Brits are glad he’s gone.

Don’t you just love about face? In comedies, a bunch of new recruits, subjected to continuous about facing becomes comical as they invariably end up running into each other and with groups separating and heading in different directions. In Washington, it’s sometimes called “flip flopping.” And, it seems, Republiconartists are as good at it as they claim Dems are. Dubya is now arguing for off shore drilling off Florida, and McBush of course is agreeing. Pandering to consumers now getting fairly desperate at the idea of $5 a gallon gas, this idiotic idea has very little if any real expectation of helping us short-term for sure. But it sure will help the oil companies, and of course, well, need we say more? More on the Mac’s, sudden change of mind. Only three weeks ago, it seems, he said no to drilling off Florida. Amazing how quickly he can change to accommodate what he sees as a political advantage, regardless of the fact that it offers no material help whatsoever. Think Progress brings you the details.

Frequent readers here know that I ridicule Foxy News relentlessly. Fact is fact, ma’am as they say. Do they say that? THE book is now out about the “genius” behind the throne so to speak, Roger Ailes.Make that “dark” genius.  Ailes, is of course, not a news person at all. Think Madison Avenue, makeover expert. Read an interview with author Kerwin Swint about his new book, “Dark Genius:The Influential Career of Legendary Political Operative and Fox News Founder, Roger Ailes.”

Okay, I vote that Dems in Congress get ready to fall on their swords. They are despicable, and they are from MY DAMN PARTY. They are unbelievably giving Bush what he wants on the FISA bill, with immunity for telecoms who give him all he asks for without warrants. This is simply so horrific that I can’t wait to see how my Congress folks came down, and fire off the appropriate emails. Do these people think they are invincible or what? They better watch their backs, they have no hold on these offices. We can and will vote em out. Much thanks to Glenn Greenwald for his excellent work on this issue. For more on the issue, visit The Art of the Possible, here.

A new installment to Susan Posner‘s the Fundamentalistis posted today. Her targets include Huckabee, Obama’smeetings with evangelicals, and the Southern Baptist Convention. As always, her work is excellent.

Speaking of old Rummy, as we were a bit above, the issue of torture and what he did to start us down that ugly path is coming to light in greater detail than ever before. Not only did he personally approve the techniques that were used, it seems he had a fight on his hands in doing so. The resisters were the military he so stupidly ran. It seems military legal minds were ignored when they objected to the legality of the proposed methods. American Prospect has the story.

For those four or five people in America who didn’t think that the Iraq war was all about oil, NEWSFLASH–it was all about oil. It’s still all about oil. Read it and weep as the Huffington Post lays out the seamy details as our favorite Oil folksies get back in charge of the oil in Iraq. Oh, and the other story is how the media as usual ignores the obvious. Hey, under exactly what theory is the media liberally biased again? I keep forgetting that as I see them continually suck at the teat of Republican Big Business.

The Nation today offers a truly noteworthy expose’ on McCain and how the mainstream media (MSM) has protected the old fart and loved every minute of it.They ignore his flip flops on virtually EVERY issue. They give him a pass time and again. Some of the columnists I feature here are as guilty as those you might suspect from the start. It points out why you as a thinking intelligent person must be very careful to get your information from a wide wide group of sources. That’s why some of us blog frankly. We are interested in actual truth, having seen that the MSM isn’t any longer about that commodity, being owned as they are by huge Big Business conglomerates who have other issues of more importance. We (the lowly citizen) simply no longer count in the big picture. We are but the backs that bend to the yoke that furnishes the power to their machine of fostering a world that works for them.  So read this story not so much for what it says about McCain, which we already now know, but what it says about the media and how much you can trust them. Think about that as you sit watching the Nightly News tonight.

Since we’ve bandied about the improbable chance that Joey Lieberman might be tapped as heir apparent in a McShame administration, I thought it only fair to do a piece on him. I’m still trying to figure out what I thought was so nice about the man back in 2000 and why I thought Gore had made a brilliant pick. It makes me shudder I tell ya, near as bad as thinking that that miserable SOB Bush is actually sullying Iowa soil today in a “oh you poor folks, “_______” you’re doing a hellava job” visit. I digress. In a well thought out piece, Jonathan Chait, editor at The New Republic, calls it the Zell Millerization of Joe Lieberman, and it’s worth your time.

They’re baaaaack. Those Neo-cons so very responsible for all the hell we’ve endured these past 5+ years in Iraq with their failed policies. So says the Washington Independent. That would be Rummy (seems to be his day here), Wolfowitz, and Douglas Feith. Word is it that Rummy is writing his book, and Feith already has had his out for some months. Them boys are ready to fight back and are tired of taking all the heat for the wrongheadedness of their policies. Read James Risen, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and his wonderfully detailed post. Oh WI, seems off line at the moment, so I can’t provide the link, but I’m sure you can find it when they are back up. The title of the post is “The Return of the Neo-Cons.” (Update–they are back up.)

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“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” Thomas A. Edison

“You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.” James Thurber

“On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time.” George Orwell

“I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time.” Charles M. Schultz

“Anyone who uses the phrase ‘easy as taking candy from a baby’ has never tried taking candy from a baby.” Unknown

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In a recent interview, President Bush said that he might not be the last President Bush if his brother Jeb decides to run. Yeah, when he heard this, Jeb said, “Please stop reminding everyone we’re related.” Conan O’Brien

A couple of days ago, NASA’s Mars Lander has found traces of ice and salt on Mars. Wait a minute. There’s more. Right now, it’s searching for tequila, which will come in handy because the Lander also found an old blender. David Letterman

And Barack Obama says that he will visit Iraq, or as John McCain still calls it, Mesopotamia. Jay Leno

Tiger Woods said he is done for the season. Fellow golfers sent him a nice bouquet of flowers, with a note suggesting he rest and really recuperate the knee right this time. Five or six years should do it.

Of course, the television networks have an opposite view. At the moment their biggest challenge is to see if the rest of the P.G.A. tour can reach the U.S. rating heights of hockey. – Janice Hough, Palo Alto, Calif.

Gay marriage now legal here in California. In fact, you hear who got married today in San Francisco? Rice and Roni. Yeah, finally got married.

It’s already having a ripple effect, this gay marriage thing. In fact, since it was instituted yesterday, marriage proposals to Liza Minnelli have dropped 65 percent. Jay Leno

McCain is Bush’s Older Ego. – Eugene Cappuccio

Yesterday, Barack Obama said that if becomes President he’d replace the White House bowling alley because it’s something he would never use. Apparently, this is the same reason President Bush got rid of the White House library. Conan O’Brien