The Griffin Edition

Not Lost in Translation

2005-06-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

Protests, Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton, and how the mainstream media bobbles it all

“I look at the TV, your America’s doing well. I look out the window, my America’s catching hell" - from the song Which Way to America by Living Colour.

Those who accept as absolute truth what they're told by the Bush Administration and Mainstream Media are indeed ignorant fools.

There is a saying here in Texas that says, “Don’t piss on my boots and tell me it’s rainin’!” George W. Bush has been urinating on everyone’s feet and the media has been reporting rain with more showers in the forecast.

For those pulling out their umbrellas, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I've got for sale. Make me an offer. I’ll even throw in some beachfront property in Arizona for a few dollars more. Ignorant people can be forgiven – if just a little – for believing what they are spoon fed by Bush and his mainstream media. Educated people have absolutely no excuse for 1) ignoring the many glaring facts that prove Bush to be a liar and hypocrite, and 2) being able to live with themselves knowing full well that had this been President Clinton, they would have called for impeachment.

How moral is it to excuse and ignore dishonesty, corruption, and incompetence?

While channel-surfing one evening, I stopped on the local CBS affiliate in Houston (KHOU) because they were reporting on the recent protest outside the Haliburton Shareholders’ meeting last month. I wanted to see how it was being reported on by the local mainstream media.

The event was described as “the recent violent protest…” accompanied by footage of the “violence.” The only violence I saw was that on the part of the Houston Police Department (HPD) against the protestors. The jack-booted boys-in-blue were pushing and dragging protestors who, at least from the footage I saw, were not resisting other than to question why they were being brutalized. Needless to say, I was not surprised by this "objective" journalism in the heart of Bush Country.

This isn't the first time. In 1990, during the Republican National Convention, HPD was even more brutal with protestors. Luckily for the Houston Police, there weren’t as many cameras focusing on the carnage. My wife was there as an observer for the ACLU. She witnessed the most brutality towards the GLBT contingent of protestors and was the victim of some brutality herself when she and others tried to point out that they were protesting legally. This, of course, was long before Bush Jr. implemented "free-speech zones".

In both of the above instances the media made it sound as if the protestors were in the wrong for expressing their constitutionally-given right to protest.

In another instance of the media's fawning over itself to appease Republicans, a recent AP article brazenly attempted to marginalize Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean for his recent critical comments about Republicans. Dean said the Republican Party is “not very friendly to different kinds of people, they are a pretty monolithic party ... it's pretty much a white, Christian party.”

Dean’s crime was telling it like it is. Kind of like comments made by Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder several years ago about how African-Americans’ prominence in sports was in part due to the “breeding” slave owners conducted to produce bigger and stronger laborers. As an African-American, I was hardly offended by the comment because it was true, in my opinion.

To further curry right-wing favor, the AP article about Dean all but apologized for Tom DeLay with the following excerpt:

“The one-time presidential candidate also said that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who has not been accused of any crime, ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence.”

Of course, the italicized text is accurate in that Mr. DeLay has yet to be indicted for any of the numerous crimes that many, including myself, believe him guilty of – gerrymandering being one of them. The media's partisanship towards the right-wing is only lost in translation with the sheep that keep drinking the Rove-n-Berry Kool-Aid, and some Democrats seem to be helping themselves to repeated servings.

From kudos to “oh no’s!”

In my last article, I applauded Democrats for forcing a compromise on the judicial nominees/filibuster issue with Republicans. Funny how Democratic spines seem to shrivel under the "fair and balanced" media microscope. Many prominent Dems distanced themselves from Dean’s comments about Republicans [in the House and Senate] never making an honest living in their lives. Senator Joe Biden and John Edwards let it be known that Dean doesn’t speak for them. Rep. Nancy Pelosi – at least publicly – didn’t agree with Dean about his assertions about the GOP. Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, though he believed Dean to be doing a good job, said that Dean did not speak for the Democratic Party.

Hmmm. It seems to me that if Dean were to be the spokesman for the Democratic Party and if the party were in lock step with his comments as the Republicans are with President Bush, things might be a whole lot different – read better – in ‘murica these days.

To the Democrats of the Senate and Congress, perhaps you should check with your constituents a little more often since Dean’s comments are what many, if not most of us, do think and feel.

Back to the kudos…

Senator Hillary Clinton seems to be getting it. She knows first hand how partisan the mainstream media is. Her husband, the president we had when America was still respected in the world and Americans had more money in their pockets, was impeached by congressional Republicans with help from the media. He lied about oral sex, which is "obviously" an impeachable high crime. If a Democratic President of the United States gets a blowjob from an intern, it deserves immersive, extensive coverage. If a Republican President of the United States plants a gay male hooker in the White House Press Corp, who also frequents the White House for no apparent reason, well, that’s okay.

The current White House resident lies about unimportant things like why we’re going to war, social security reform, tax cuts, and an everlasting list of trivial matters. It’s all good, as far as the mainstream media is concerned. Senator Clinton recently criticized the Bush Administration and the Republican Party for their “intent upon consolidating and abusing power.” She also told the media to find its spine. Careful, Hil, you’re speaking too much truth. RNC press secretary Tracey Schmitt’s response was, “It's too bad that New York's senator is now taking her cues from someone who thinks personal attacks are a substitute for an agenda.”

My question for Schmitt would be, “What about the election last year? Does the term ‘flip-flopper’ ring a bell? What about Max Cleland? What about the entire Republican National Convention?”

What Howard Dean said about the GOP is true. It is a white-Christian party. The few African-Americans that call themselves Republicans are sellouts – not only to their ethnicity but to America as well. Pardon the bluntness here, but the “house nigger” is still nothing more than a slave. What Senator Clinton said about the GOP consolidating power and the media needing to find its spine is also true.

But Senator Clinton’s critique of the mainstream press should also be aimed at her Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate. Get a freakin’ spine!

No translation is needed.

Happy Mother's Day!

2005-05-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

U.S. deaths in Iraq surpass 1,600...

Thanks to President Bush, more than 1,600 mothers can mourn the loss of their loved one in the Desert Debacle known as Operation: Iraqi Freedom...

Resistance is NOT Futile!

2005-03-29T13:22:00.000-08:00

You're tired. I know. I'm tired too. You watched helplessly as John Kerry conceded the presidency the day after "Black Tuesday". You, like so many others, including myself, believed that with such a ridiculously inept incumbent, "How could he (Kerry) lose?" Only to find out that the deck appears to have been stacked against, not only Kerry, but also democracy itself via voter fraud, voter intimidation, and electronic tampering. The Rethuglican juggernaut was rolling on, unabated.

Many liberals and progressives around the country probably began to believe and feel that, to quote the BORG of Star Trek fame, "Resistance is futile." I certainly have felt that way at times.

Recent events that escaped the radar of the Republican Media Machine - formerly known as the Liberal media - have given me hope, however. In fact, I feel downright energized.

Last week at Georgetown University, twenty-two students ended a nine-day hunger strike that successfully persuaded the heads of that prestigious university to give its contracted service employees a living wage. With support from the AFL-CIO and other students around the country participating in "solidarity fasts", the students raised awareness about the low wages paid to service employees of Georgetown University and that those wages are less than one tenth of what the university's president makes. According to WTOP Radio, "The university sent an all-student e-mail last night (March 23) detailing plans to increase wages and the students accepted the plan." The workers currently earn $11.33/hour (to some that may seem high enough already, but the cost of living in Washington, D.C. is higher than in many American cities). The plan will give the workers a raise to $13/hour by July 1, 2005 and up to $14 by July 2007. The plan also includes additional benefits such as use of the school's library and shuttle service.

This was a group of students who were simply looking out for people less fortunate than themselves. They were willing to and did make sacrifices for the benefit of others. And in the end, it will benefit the students that follow them to that university. I only wish that more progressives - and I have to include myself - were willing to do the same.

Resistance is not futile. Small victories do add up.

Do you know what a pogrom is? Are you aware that until recently, a notorious proponent of this genocidal practice was about to be welcomed to the United States with open arms and lavish banquets? Like most Americans, I was unaware of the pogroms that have occurred and continue to occur in India until a friend opened my eyes. For the uninitiated, a pogrom (pronounced: poe-grum) is "an organized, often officially encouraged massacre or persecution of a minority group..." according to dictionary.com. Mr. Narendra Modi is the chief minister - an elected official similar to governors in the U.S. - of India's Gujarat, a state located on its uppermost northwest coast. Modi reportedly idolizes Hitler. Mr. Modi is also a reported architect of this officially-sanctioned genocide that occurred in 2002. Over 2,000 Muslims were killed in Gujarat; justified by the state government as a knee-jerk reaction against the horrific mass murder of 56 Hindu men, women, and children committed reportedly by several Muslim extremists. There is a growing number of Indians who feel the mass murders that sparked the pogroms may have have been manufactured by Mr. Modi.

Those on the right side of the aisle (that's "right" as in directional, not "right" as in correct) are probably saying, "So what?" The answer to that is: "There but for the grace of God, go we." Right after the events of 9/11, Muslims in America were persecuted, certainly not to this degree, but still persecuted. One of our supposed reasons for toppling Saddam's government - after the WMD angle fell through - was because of his pogroms on the Kurds as well as his own people. There is another reason Saddam may have been chosen to fall... he looks like them, which appeased deep seeded prejudices. Most tend to forget that Saddam was our boy for most of his reign of terror. There are countless violators of human rights all over the world. The United States has played patty-cake with most and hardball with only a few, and only after they have fallen out of our good graces. We turn a blind eye when there is money to be made. We only invade when there is much more money to be made. Sorry for the digression.

The Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), scored another small victory for human rights and against big business when American Express withdrew its sponsorship of the Asian American Hotel Owner Association of America (AAHOA) convention held in Florida. CAG's contention was not of the conference itself, but rather its honoring of Mr. Modi, "the Indian politician who has been internationally condemned for his human rights abuses and for direct responsibility in the 2002 pogrom against minorities in Gujarat, India."

According to CAG's website, "American Express representative Ms. Elliott stated, 'A conference that was intended to help promote travel and tourism has become the object of partisan political contention. Therefore, we have chosen to withdraw from the conference.'" This only occurred after numerous phone calls and letters to American Express from CAG and the coalition's supporters. In addition, Mr. Modi's VISA was denied and Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL 17th) cancelled a dinner reception as well due to a "scheduling conflict."

What strikes me about American Express is that even when they do the right thing, they can't even own up to it because of political pressure from their colleagues and the rest of big business. Terri Schiavo was made "the object of partisan political contention" - by Republicans. Standing up to officially sanctioned genocide should not be considered partisan but rather everyone's political contention. Sorry, pro-lifers, Mrs. Schiavo does not qualify.

The same can be said for those brave Georgetown University students' hunger strike. Paying people a living wage should not be a partisan issue. Those kids resolved to make a difference in many others' lives, not because it was a partisan issue, but because it was the right thing to do. They put their money where their mouths were and acted to improve the quality of life for those less fortunate. Where are their Medals of Freedom, Mr. President?

Pro-lifers hold their little marches and hold their signs, and blow up an abortion clinic here and there, but when it comes to real activism, they suck, just like most of us. I would have a lot more respect for pro-lifers if they volunteered their time and energy to the actual care of those they claim to be protecting. Adopt some of those unwanted babies you keep insisting be born. Go change the bedding, diapers, and colostomy bags for those terminally ill who have absolutely no one marching in their names. You're not going to do any of that and you know it. Yet you get all up in arms when someone wants to prevent or end their suffering. Typical. To further point out your ridiculousness, stem-cell research might be the one way to truly find a cure for Terri Schiavo. Culture of life, indeed.

What CAG and the Georgetown 22 have in common is organization, persistence and resolve. True, these were small victories in the grand scheme of things, but when you string together enough small victories, true change will begin to take hold.

If you're tired of the way things are being done in this country, if you don't want a Christian-styled American Taliban to destroy this land of the free, then I implore you to get active - while it is still free. Find your voice, find your venue, and get busy!

Me? I'm just getting started.

Dissecting the Ten Commandments

2005-03-08T06:57:00.000-08:00

Doug Griffin

With the debate raging over the display of the Ten Commandments at America’s courthouses and other government buildings, I wanted to analyze each commandment with something called logic.

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

First of all, what does this commandment have to do with law? In my opinion, nothing says control like “obey me and only me.” This is the most blatant attempt by the authors of the Christian Bible to control you. You are not allowed to question this, only accept it. I’d question anything that says, “this is the only way and all others are false.” These are the edicts of an insecure god, not powerful one. Also, if God is all-knowing and all-powerful, there is no need for the middleman (Moses of old, Benny Hinn in modern times) to deliver the message to the masses. Throughout history there have always been hucksters – and I'm sorry but, theoretically, Moses might qualify – saying that they are delivering the message of God. I heard D. L. Hughley say once, “everybody that says they work for God, isn't necessarily being truthful.” Or something to that effect.

Jesus is quoted as saying:
If those who lead you say to you, “See, the Kingdom is in the sky,” then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, “It is in the sea,” then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.

This is one of those quotes that you won’t hear that often in your church because the statement basically cuts out the middleman – your pastor(s). If you claim you are a Christian, then it stands to reason that you would follow the words of Christ – and not necessarily the Old Testament which Jesus supposedly made null and void. For all you fire-and-brimstone conservatives out there, that means you’ve got to let go of a lot of your beliefs. That is, if you are truly a Christian. But that requires change – possibly your biggest fear.

II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Again, nothing to do with the law. And again, here is another control mechanism. Do you realize that only the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – they are all related) require you not to question their respective validity? From a logical standpoint, does it make any sense that an all-knowing, all-powerful entity needs:
A) hucksters and charletans to spread the message? B) your total, unquestioning obedience to soothe God’s ego? And last, but not least, C) your money?

I think if one can think logically for just a few minutes, the answer to these questions is “No.” But logic has no place in organized religions, otherwise, most wouldn’t exist.

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Again with the vanity. And, again, not a law. Why anyone with higher than a third grade education – around the time I started questioning religion – buys into the absurdity that any omnipotent figure would be this petty, is beyond me.

IV. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Almost halfway through and still no laws, yet. The true Sabboth is Saturday. If you look up the origins of the word Saturday, you’ll find that out. Here’s a clue, in Spanish, Saturday is Sabado. Christianity can’t even get their own days right, in this respect, so they go to church on Sunday. Obviously it is okay to question or even change some rules to suit your needs. This too should be a reason to question. But most Christians wish to continue the status quo and be slaves to their beliefs rather than think for themselves as Jesus Christ – again, the namesake of the religion – directed.

V. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Here we are up to five commandments and so far nothing that resembles any laws we have on the books. Maybe this one should be a law considering that we treat elderly people like shit in this country.

VI. Thou shalt not kill.

Finally, a law! The problem is, people, specifically Christians, kill all the time. From the orginal Crusades to the modern day Crusades of President Bush – a devout Christian, and everyday across America. The man accused of being the “BTK” serial killer is reportedly a devout Christian and active member in his church – probably a registered Republican too. Go figure. I doubt that “BTK” is the only serial killer – alledged or otherwise – who is also a self-described devout Christian. Additonally, abortion clinics have been bombed by Christians – ironically called pro-lifers. Those bombings took the lives of innocents as well – some of the victims have been pregnant women, who would no more think of abortion than the most avowed pro-lifer, but whose only mistake was working in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out! Huh? Can I get an Amen? So killing is another gray area with Christians. By the way, pro-lifers need to get a life and stop meddling in other people’s lives. What am I saying, that wouldn’t be Christian.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Another no brainer, but not a law. If it were, the sanctity of marriage might actually mean something, rather than the ridciulous and un-constitutional notion of banning gays from marriage. If you would not want your spouse to cheat on you, why then would you cheat on him or her? Why does one need a commandment to uphold their marriage vows? If you follow one of the most basic of Christian doctrines – Do unto others… – you need only think to yourself before you break that vow. Ask yourself, “How would I feel if my spouse were to do what I am about to do?” I think if you are the least bit honest with yourself, you wouldn’t like it. It might even make you want to kill someone.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

Hey, another law. That’s two. We’re cooking with gas now!

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

This one is only a law if you are under oath. This also falls under the do unto others… category.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Again, do unto others… but not a law.

So, only two of the ten commandments are actual laws on our books. Why then must the commandments be displayed on government property.

Jesus reportedly summed up the Ten Commandments with two:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.
And
Love your neighbor as yourself.

Buddhism simply says, “Cause no harm.”

That sums up everything that Commandments 5 through 10 discuss in one simple sentence. In my opinion, it sums up life in general. Is what you are doing at this moment causing harm to anyone – including yourself? That’s the only question you need to ask yourself before you do anything – lie, cheat, steal, kill, abuse – to any person or animal.

Commandments 1 through 4 basically feed the alleged vanity of God. Again, I ask, why would an omnipotent being be vain and need ego-stroking?

The question has to be asked, again, why display something at our courthouses that really has nothing to do with our laws?

It is the ego of Christianity – not of God – which compells Christians to insist the Ten Commandments be displayed. Everyone does not worship the Christian God and it does not make those people wrong because they do not. Nor should it diminish the power of the Christian God simply because the commandments are not displayed. Give God a little more credit!

To me, one of the biggest problems with Christianity, indeed Judaism and Islam as well, is the arrogance that each have in saying that theirs is the only way. If you notice, the further west you go on the globe, the more arrogant the practitioners of the religion in the region. And you just don't get any further west or more arrogant than the United States of America. Do ya?

I am not an atheist. I grew up in the Baptist church. I started questioning the contradictions in the Bible – and there are many – a long time ago. However, I do still believe in a higher power. I just don’t believe that I am as detatched from that power as the messengers of Christianity would have us believe. I believe that we are all God. I don’t need a filter nor need to be told how to connect because I am already connected to God.

It has been my experience that getting to heaven is the sole motivation for Christians to do the right thing.

In that respect, I ask two final questions:
Is it best to do what is right because you have a perceived reward waiting for you in the hereafter?

Or, is it best to do what is right simply for the sake of doing what is right?

Cause no harm.

Trying to make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Shit

2005-03-01T06:28:00.000-08:00

An exercise in futility with the Bush Administration

chicken shit:
1. Contemptibly petty or insignificant. For example, He has spent his life making up chicken shit rules that nobody follows anyway. This expression gained currency during World War II, when it was often applied to the enforcement of petty and disagreeable military regulations. [Vulgar slang; c. 1930]
2. Cowardly, as in You're not too chicken shit to come along, are you? [Vulgar slang; mid-1940s]

George W. Bush is, by definition, a cowardly chicken shit. Ditto for the entire Bush Administration. I have two words for those offended by those two statements: Champagne Unit. Two more words: Draft Dodgers. Most bullies I’ve met in my life have been total chicken shits. Lots of machismo and bravado with very little substance behind it. True, the Bush Administration has no qualms about using military force to back up the bravado – in some cases, anyway. Let’s face it, Bush wants everyone to believe he’s a badass cowboy when in actuality, he’s afraid to mount a horse.

The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, no matter how you sugar coat it, was/is illegal and immoral. Does everyone deserve freedom and democracy? Yes. Is everyone going to stand up and fight for it? No. And democracy and freedom via the barrel of someone else’s gun, isn’t exactly the best way to plant the seeds of democracy. America and the world can only reap the benefits if the seeds of democracy are sown from within and nurtured rather than forced from the outside. Otherwise, you tend to get what we have today in Iraq. And by the way, Afghanistan is only slightly less tenuous.

On the February 25th episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher explained that even though he knows the WMD hunt was bullshit, he likes the current “script” Team Bush is reading from now – the “spreading the seeds of democracy” script. My question for Maher – whom I have considerable respect for – is: Huh?

After some consideration, I concluded that perhaps Maher was simply trying to make chicken salad out of the chicken shit policies of the Bush Administration.

By chicken shit policies, I mean Iraq had no WMD and no formidable military. We marched right into Baghdad virtually unscathed. President Bush landed on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, complete with Halloween costume, to declare that the mission had been accomplished. “Mission Accomplished” – at least in my mind – means that the war is over, the stockpiles of forbidden weapons have been found, and our troops will be coming home soon. Obviously, that’s not what happened. Like a lot of guys President Bush’s age, he couldn’t hold his wad any longer, and prematurely shot off his “at-a-boy” for himself. Of course, the futile search for WMD had yet to even begin at that point and the fighting, we would soon learn, was far from over. This was definitely, in Senator John Kerry’s words, “the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

Weapons of mass destruction. Gathering threat. Mushroom cloud. 9/11. These are all lines from the script that the Bush Administration used to read from and the mainstream media used to parrot, prior to the invasion of Iraq.

Now, it’s “we’re spreading democracy” and “freedom is on the march” and other catch phrases to help you forget the original lie.

Excuse me, Bill, if I don’t jump on that “spreading democracy” bullshit bandwagon! If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were drinking from the same pitcher of Rovenberry Kool Aid that your buddy Dennis Miller has been drinking from since Heir Bush was selected four years ago.

There are plenty of places that were and are still in far worse shape – democratically speaking and with regard to human rights – than Iraq. Liberia, Rwanda, Sudan, and other hotspots on the African continent, as well as other places around the globe where human rights atrocities continue to mount up but tend to get ignored because they either haven’t been oppressed for long enough or they don’t have any WMD – real or otherwise – to mask our reasons for going in to secure their oil… er… freedom, most of them don’t have oil.

But going back to the administration’s original premise for war, WMD, there were and still are legitimate targets to attack – Libya (were category), Iran, and North Korea come to mind. True to bully form, the Bushies went for the easy target. The one without the WMD or formidable fighting force, but with a much more alluring target: the second largest oil reserve on the planet. Meanwhile, Iran has ratcheted up its nuclear, that’s n-u-c-l-e-a-r, ambitions and North Korea’s Kim Jong Il is all but saying, “I’ve got nuclear weapons, what are you gonna do about it, you little punk-ass bi-atch?”

Obviously, little-to-nothing since Kim Jong Il has a million-man standing army, no oil, and that little deterrent called a nuclear arsenal – albeit a small one. Iran has obviously been taking notes.

But with George W. Bush, it’s always about the punk move. Support the Viet Nam War but don’t fight in it. Claim to serve in the National Guard, yet have gaps in your service that would qualify most as AWOL. Claim to defend democracy abroad, yet subvert it in the United States. Claim to be a cowboy while simultaneously being afraid of horses. Take out the weakest, most insignificant country on your own Axis-of-Evil list to show how tough you are, but allow other, less-weak members on the list to strengthen their own arsenals. These actions, and many others, are those of a straight-up chicken shit and, again, typical of most bullies. Add to that the overtly Potemkin campaign rallies and press conferences and having protesters shielded from his view – even in foreign countries he’s trying to pursuade to assist us in his dessert folly – only further exemplifies his chicken shit behavior.

With the Bush Administration, there is entirely too much chicken shit to even attempt to make chicken salad. The chicken coup is in desparate need of a good powerwashing. While the invasion of Iraq is representative of Bush wanting to prove to us and the world – and especially his daddy – that he is that badass cowboy. In the process, Bush has done more than just shield himself from the protestors and nay-sayers, he’s shielded himself from the truth. And the truth has proven to be the horse Bush is afraid to mount.

No More Whining, Jimmy-Jeff!

2005-02-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

James D. Guckert/Jeff Gannon (again, hereafter referred to as Jimmy-Jeff), you have only yourself to blame. Same goes for Republicans crying foul at Jimmy-Jeff’s “outing” by activist John Aravosis of Americablog.org and the Kossacks at DailyKos.com as well as others from Left, Blogsylvania. And now to add more gasoline to the flame (pun intended), Jimmy-Jeff is threatening litigation against said bloggers – for among other things, political assassination.

I’m shocked, Jimmy-Jeff, completely dumbfounded by your audacity. First of all, I wasn’t aware that you were a politician – which is sort of a pre-requisite for someone to “politically assassinate” someone else. Remember, Jimmy-Jeff, you are/were a male prostitute – neither a politician nor a reporter/journalist, although nowadays it’s tough to know the players without a program. You are/were the “top” that doesn’t/didn’t “leave marks, just impressions.” Remember? Second of all, you’re a Bush insider. Boy, if that phrase doesn’t have a new meaning! You should be the last person to threaten a frivolous lawsuit – given the Administration’s stand on tort reform, and all. But then again, this is the most hypocritical of administrations.

The real story behind all of this, of course, is those Left-wing bloggers picking on a gay man who has seen the Right-of-day, and simply wanted to pursue a dream of being a responsible journalist, only to be outed, by said bloggers, for his past transgressions. Past – as in the websites that advertised his non-journalistic services only became “history” a short while ago. Meaning it seems he was still peddling those non-journalistic services even while pursuing his journalistic aspirations. Kind of gives new meaning to the “hardest working man in journalism” phrase, huh?

The lapdogs in the White House Press Corp behave like my own dogs waiting for treat when it comes to the Bush Administration. They pant and wag their tails, gleefully awaiting a little morsel of Bush Administration BS. They are complicit even when Bush spits in their collective faces by planting Jimmy-Jeff amongst them and giving him exclusives they could only dream of getting.

We do owe the White House Press Corp and the mainstream media a bit of an apology, though. Jimmy-Jeff isn’t the only whore in question, but he is getting all the attention. Sorry, Mainstream Media. In my opinion, most of them are whores who sold themselves and the American public out by their complicity and complacency towards the Bush Administration. Not asking the tough questions is just as reprehensible as Jimmy-Jeff’s “softball” questions.

To be fair, not all of the mainstream media (MSM) have ignored this story. Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown program seems to be the last remaining TV journalist seeking to report the truth. He was one of only a few mainstream voices reporting about the voter irregularities of our last election sham. He remains one of the only – if not the only – MSM journalists reporting the Jimmy-Jeff affair with any degree of objectivity. I remember back around the time when President Bush was selected for his first term, Olbermann was still doing sports and was posed the question: “Hey, Keith, will George W. Bush do for America what he did for the Texas Rangers?” to which Olbermann’s response was: “What do you mean, sell it?”

How prophetic Mr. Olbermann’s quip was, for that is exactly what George W. Bush is doing to America – selling it out. Selling out our democracy with questionable elections; selling out our economy by insisting on tax cuts for the wealthy while spending uncontrollably; selling out Medicare/Medicaid by trying to hide the real costs and real beneficiaries (pharmaceutical companies) of his plan; selling out Social Security by claiming it has problems that it truly does not; and so on; and so on.

But those are real issues and we have a sex scandal in the White House to distract us. The sex part isn’t the real story but it is a significant part of it. One does not need to be a psychic or a rocket scientist to conclude that the only way for someone of Jimmy-Jeff’s background to gain the access he had to the West Wing was via some sort of hanky-panky. The only other alternative is complete incompetence by the Secret Service. I’m gonna put my money on the former.

As for Jimmy-Jeff? Quit your belly-achin’! You’re getting your 15 minutes of fame, which should do wonders for your day job… or is it a night job? Either way, you’re getting a lot of free publicity, Jimmy-Jeff. Since your fake-journalism gig fell through, you’ve got your other profession to fall back on. I’m sure you’ve got some pretty high-falutin’ references too! Be sure to include those on your resume’, Jimmy-Jeff. Look how well it worked out for Monica Lewinsky.

Hypocrisy Knows no Bounds

2005-02-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

I am reluctant to even start on this one since the story is still unfolding but this whole Gannon/Guckert thing could prove to be the comeuppance the Bush Administration and the entire ilk of the Neo-Cons so richly deserve.

This guy Jeff Gannon/James Guckert (hereafter called Jimmy-Jeff – has a bit of Texas flavor doesn’t it?) has to have something on someone extremely high up in our government. Why else would a former/possibly current male prostitute with no journalistic experience whatsoever be allowed access to the White House press room for 2 years – on day passes, no less? Why else would he have been given access to the West Wing? Why else would he have information about the Valerie Plame memo? Remember, this guy was denied a permanent pass and also denied access to cover the Capitol because of his questionable credentials as a journalist. Jimmy-Jeff is the skeleton in someone’s closet. (please be Karl Rove… please be Karl Rove… please be Karl Rove…)

My wife always tells me that those who scream the loudest against homosexuality usually have some homosexual tendency they are trying to cover up. Maybe that’s what’s going on here. I wonder who in the White House has paid Jimmy-Jeff for his other services. Hell, maybe they didn’t even have to pay at all. Something is going on here folks. I hope we soon find out.

Right-wingers must be beside themselves
Those who have accepted the truth that is. This is a big pill to swallow for the Moral Right. They campaigned as anti-gay Christians promoting family values. This definitely puts a sharp stick in their collective eye. Their Dumbya fielding questions and playing nice with a male prostitute whoring himself as a right-wing journalist cannot sit well in their stomachs. Well, I guess the only problem they have with it is the male prostitute part. They’re pretty much okay with whoring as a right-wing journalist. Ain’t that right, Armstrong?

We should not lose site of the most important fact that this is also an issue of national security. A fake reporter, with a fake name is given two years worth of day-pass access to the West Wing. This is worse than the vetting, or lack thereof, of Bernie Kerik. These are the people who claim to be protecting America and yet it appears that anyone who has given a Lewinski to a White House staffer may be given special access to the president.

For all the self-righteous indignation conservatives displayed during the Lewinski scandal, this is well deserved. People in glass houses should not throw stones. And if the Jimmy-Jeff scandal had happened to Clinton this would be all over our televisions and talk radio for the next several weeks. Save for a few peeps here and there, so far mum’s the word from the mainstream press.

The So-Called Liberal Media (SCLM) may soon awake
As I said before, this one isn’t over yet. The mainstream media has yet to pickup on all the juicy tidbits but since sex sells, they are bound to pick up on this sooner or later. One would think that they almost have to for two reasons. One, in order to keep up with the blogosphere where the story originally broke. Since the mainstream media seemed to stop being independent of the White House – back in say 2001 – the internet has become a dominant alternative for news and information – unfiltered and uncensored. Bloggers are faster with the info and have the potential to reach a much broader audience. Liberals are not the only visitors to sites like Buzzflash.com, CounterBias.com, and SmirkingChimp.com, to name a few. Right-wingers read our rants too. I’ve received my share of hatemail from people who haven’t liked what I had to say about King Fredo (Corleone) and his mis-administration. The louder they scream, the more we know we’re on the right track. Truth hurts. That same truth hurts the SCLM because the more people that start turning off their filtered news, the more they turn to the blogosphere. That’s money to them, baby. Fewer viewers = fewer advertising $$$.

The second reason the mainstream media may be compelled to talk about this is because it happened on their turf. A fake reporter – from the conservative side of the blog, at that – infiltrated their space. Jimmy-Jeff got info and access they coveted. Will they continue to be complicit? I certainly hope not and I don’t think they will.

This has the potential to snowball into an avalanche for the Busheviks. The campaign was their platform to further their anti-gay agenda and we may now know why they were so vehemently against gay marriage. One of their own may indeed be in the closet. Their hypocrisy was pretty obvious before with regard to democracy and freedom – spreading it abroad while destroying it at home. It seems the Neo-Con hypocrisy truly knows no bounds.

We’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

God and Politics

2005-01-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

God and Politics
Doug Griffin

I’ve always heard that the two powder kegs that spark the most heated debates are religion and politics. That said…

No Smoking!

If those who lead you say to you, "See, the Kingdom is in the sky," then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, "It is in the sea," then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty. ~ Attributed to Jesus Christ

The Kingdom of God is within yourself… and outside yourself
You are God. I am God. We are God. The sooner everyone realizes this, the better the planet will be. Contrary to Christian doctrine, God did not make man in His own image, man made God in his own image. As the saying goes.

I believe this because of the human qualities that most monotheistic religions tend to attribute to God. Jealousy? Vanity? Vengence? We’re talking about a highly evolved entity that supposedly can create or destroy an entire universe in the blink of an eye. Do jealousy, vanity, or vengence sound like noble qualities of a noble God? No. They are human qualities (some of our worst) and they are part of the control mechanisms placed in the Christian Bible and other “Bibles” to further induce subservience. “Obey me – and only me – or else!”

The Bible’s Editors
One should also question the editting of the Bible(s) as well. There are so many versions of the Christian Bible, all because those who had the power added things they wanted and removed information they did not agree with. King James ring a bell? That is human, not devine inspiration. It is the arrogance of man disguised as God’s wrath and the ignorance of man disguised as blind devotion that keeps the masses as slaves to the grind.

God is a universal conscousness – all knowing and all seeing because all living souls are conscious. Even if we don’t know it.

Think of and for your “self”
Are you the body that you inhabit? No. Ponder this: If it were at all possible to remove your brain – memories, emotions, and all – and place it in a different body, other than your physical appearance, wouldn’t you still be you? So who is to say that your self, your consciousness – your soul, if you will – is not a small part of a greater conscious mind?

One God
There is only one God. Collectively we are God. Socrates said to “know thyself.”
This is the key to everything else. Carl Jung said, “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” Put these together with the above quote attributed to Jesus and you’re on the path to self-discovery. The eternal truths that we all seem to be searching for are internal truths and are waiting for us to find them. We just keep looking in the wrong places. No one wants to look within because we are afraid of what we might find. It kind of goes hand-in-hand with the non-accountability that I’ve been ranting about.

So what does all this have to do with politics?
It’s pretty simple, really. Because the Religious-Right has usurped this country, it has put the entire planet in peril because of its misguided beliefs. The Rapture? Give me a break! The people making the decisions still believe Jesus Christ was an anglo. Isn’t that a clue to the misguidedness of the Religious-Right. I’m reminded of yet another quote, this one from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He said, “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” Einstein wrote, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” I would argue that beyond science and spirituality/religion, we have lost logic. It is the absence of logic that creates misguided men. I’ve come to the stark realization that logic has been relegated to the 4-letter word category and is the victim of an intense, self-induced mental sensorship.

They hate us for our freedom
No. They hate us for our arrogance. The same arrogance that said the 2nd day of November in the year 2004 of our Lord, was a mandate for George W. Bush is why they (whoever they are) hate us.

Blind devotion to George W. Bush is what the world sees. They don’t see Red states and Blue states. They see America thinking its okay to bully the rest of the world and they’re getting a bit tired of it. This is how the blind stupidity of the majority, adversely affects the logic-minded minority.

Re-electing the man responsible for killing tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis – more than Saddam, Uday, and Qusay combined – because Saddam was sitting on a fictitious stockpile of weaponry is why they hate us. Torturing untold numbers of innocent Iraqis because the soon-to-be-confirmed Attorney General of the United States of America said it was okay to do it to another group of similarly-complected peoples is why they hate us.

It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people. ~ Giordano Bruno

This goes for religion as well as politics. Just because a very small majority of voters supposedly voted for George W. Bush, does not mean they made the right choice. Just because a very large number of Americans worship the traditional Christian God, does not make them right either. I think Christians that tend to recoil when they hear the word “choice” do so because choice is bad for an organized religion whose espoused most fundamental doctrine is: “Obey me – and only me – or else!” This is ironic since “love” is the most fundamental doctrine of the namesake of Christianity – Jesus Christ.

Have you ever noticed that President Bush seems to have that same “Obey me – and only me – or else!” attitude? That couldn’t be a reason why they hate us.

Could it?

What about our elections?

2004-09-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

"Nothing symbolizes freedom as much as an election, and with voting scheduled for January, many wonder: will the insurgents allow Iraqis to exercise their most basic of freedoms?" ~ NBC News

The Republicans have done everything they could to steal the upcoming elections here in the U.S. (insistance on electronic voting, voter purges,
etc.). Why is it that Iraqi freedom is more important than American freedom?

You can't speak of the spread freedom when you oppress your own people.

You can't speak of the spread democracy when you would rather be a dictator yourself.

"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." ~ George W. Bush (post 2000 election)

CBS isn't the only media outlet that owes an apology!

2004-09-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember the drumbeat to war?
ABC, CBS, CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, NBC, et al...
They are all just as responsible for the more than 1,000 dead Americans and more than 10,000 dead Iraqi civilians in Iraq. They are responsible because they all reported the misleading information from the Bush Administration as the truth. Most bloggers knew the information was cooked. The media never revisited quotes about Saddam Hussein from the Administration when they first took office.

Colin Powell and Dick Cheney both said that Saddam was contained. Had weapons inspectors been able to finish their job, those Americans and Iraqis might still be alive.

If Saddam Hussein had no WMD, he was not a threat.
If Saddam Hussein had no ties to al-Qaida and 9/11, he was not a threat.

We went to war in Iraq because the Bush Administration wanted to. And the administration lied to the American people to make them believe there was a threat when there really was none. Wasted lives and money because the Bush Adminstration wanted Iraq's oil... so Haliburton could profit and Dick Cheney could get one more bonus.

Tell me again why George W. Bush should be president. Oh yeah, the media tells me everyday how he's tough on terror.

Please!

Here's Bush right after 9/11:
“I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive.’” ~ George W. Bush about Osama bin Laden - Sept. 17, 2001

But 6 months later:
“I don't know where he is. I have no idea and I really don't care. It's not that important.” ~ George W. Bush about Osama bin Laden - March 13, 2002

The man responsible for the most horrific day in American existence is no longer public enemy number 1 because at this point Iraq needed to be invaded and plundered.

But it's so important to grill Dan Rather for publishing forged documents with ACCURATE information on them. Let's ignore the accuracy of the information and focs on the fact that these are not the actual documents they claimed to be.

Too bad the media failed to scrutinize the Bush Administration's march to war...
Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!

George W. Bush: A Catastrophic Success Story

2004-09-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

According to the Washington Post:
“Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency has fewer experienced case officers assigned to its headquarters unit dealing with Osama bin Laden than it did at the time of the attacks, despite repeated pleas from the unit's leaders for reinforcements, a senior C.I.A. officer with extensive counterterrorism experience has told Congress.”

Someone please tell me again why the media calls George W. Bush the “leader” in the war on terror without any contention.

The War on Terror might actually be close to being won already had President Bush not shifted the focus to the un-related war in Iraq. Now the Taliban is on the rise again and al-Qaida has swelled its ranks because of President Bush. The only thing the president has done successfully - catastrophically, I might add - is destroy two countries and alienate us from the rest of the planet.

President Bush used the phrase “catastrophic success” to describe the situation in Iraq. Which, to me, means he was successful at creating a catastrophe. Saddam Hussein was not a threat. If there were no WMD, how could have been? Meanwhile, Iran and North Korea, the real threats continue to grow.

President Bush himself has been a “catastrophic success” as president:

* Successfully allowed the catastrophe of 9/11.

* Successfully finished "My Pet Goat" while the 9/11 catastrophe was occurring.

* Successfully allowed Afghanistan to slide towards catastrophe as the Taliban and al-Qaida continue to regain their influence.

* Successfully turned Iraq into the catastrophe of 1980s Lebanon and 1960s and 70s Vietnam.

* Successfully pushed over 1,000 American families into emotional catastrophe as a result of the war of choice in Iraq.

But the successful tale of catastrophe can be traced back through George W. Bush’s life.

His father's name got him into Yale and his father’s connections successfully got him into the Texas ANG over several, more qualified candidates, many of whose names are on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Their families would probably rather it was his name on the wall instead of their loved ones'. Then, he'd be a war hero, rather than an undeserving deserter with an honorable discharge.

He successfully turned nearly every business he was associated with into a catastrophe - and dad bailed him out each time. The man couldn’t even find oil in Texas. That should be the textbook definition of a catastrophic success. Come to think of it, America itself hasn't been positively successful at all under President Bush's watch. This time, America needs to be bailed out!

If on November 3, 2004 George W. Bush is reported to win the election, the United States of America will become another “catastrophic success” to add to his resume’. The Berlin Wall came down under the first President Bush. It is entirely possible Vladimir Putin will reconstruct it (figuratively speaking, of course) under the watch of a second term for George W. Bush.

We may have Bush jr.’s catastrophically successful doctrine of preemption to thank for that.

But hey, it’s not all bad. At least he’d be a nice guy to have a beer with! And that’s where we are today. The Bush team has successfully turned catastrophe into: “no matter how bad things are, the president is still a nice guy.”

You know? I don’t really need to have a beer with my president. What I need is for my president to care whether or not I can afford a beer if I want one.

Bush is a bratty rich kid.
Are You Better off...
It's the truth, Stupid!