Magic Wand

Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, on Bush's incoherent energy policy suggestions in his State of the Union message last night

This is beyond smoke and mirrors, this is magic wand stuff.

An NBA star and the founder of the Baby Einstein videos? And then you feel you can steal and take credit for our subway hero?

Fuck you, you rotten-hearted shit.

What Recycling Means to Bush

This is why ThinkProgress is the finest blog on the Net.

Their compilation of "Energy Independence" quotes from the past five State of the Union addresses...

State of the Union, 1/29/2002: Good jobs also depend on reliable and affordable energy. This Congress must act to encourage conservation, promote technology, build infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production at home so America is less dependent on foreign oil.

State of the Union, 1/28/2003: Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment. … Even more, I ask you to take a crucial step and protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined.

State of the Union, 1/20/2004: Consumers and businesses need reliable supplies of energy to make our economy run — so I urge you to pass legislation to modernize our electricity system, promote conservation, and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

State of the Union, 2/2/2005: To keep our economy growing, we also need reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy. … I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy.

State of the Union, 1/31/2006: Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil. …. By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.

Stenographer

This is called being the government's "stenographer." That headline is not news. News would be "Bush to Emphasize the 'Newness' of His Ideas" or "Bush Calls His Ideas News" or "Bush Says His Speech Contains News Ideas."

Oh, and is it too much for you to point out that Bush called for an end to "Oil Addiction" in last year's State of the Union? It doesn't take a damn Nancy Drew to "notice" that.

Jules Crittenden Blames You

It continues to blow my mind to read shit like this. Jules Crittenden is, apparently, an "editor and columnist for the Boston Herald," and he writes "the speech George Bush should make Tuesday night":

So what is the best thing I can do tonight? I can tell you the truth. What none of you want to hear. What you’ve been stopping your ears to. The ugly truth.

The State of the Union is a disaster. I did my best, but I made mistakes, and my best wasn’t good enough.

We went to war without building up our army, and now, I am trying to make up for that.

But that is not the disaster.

The disaster is that you, Congress and the American people, do not care to fight.

Faced with a fundamental challenge to our own security, to everything we believe in, to the world order to peace and security for which we and our parents fought so hard for so many years, you now want to pretend like none of these threats are real. You want to surrender to the evil I have been telling you about. An evil that, unchecked, can consume large parts of the world and threatens to usher in a dark age.

You didn’t like it when I talked about evil. Sounded too simple, too uncompromising, too moralistic. Too … biblical.

For real? You HONESTLY believe that the reason Iraq is a catastrophic quagmire and we are Less Safe than we were if Bush had played bumper cars for 5 years is that we have blocked his work? That the American people - and the fucking Republican-led congress - were obstacles to his goals? That he didn't fire randomly at enough targets?

Jules, you are a terrible person.

You'll Have Plenty of Time to Play With Your Friends When Your Chores Are Done

Thank you, David Sirota:With A Mere 15,840 Hours Until Election ‘08, I’m Already Sick of the Presidential Campaign

I feel a bit like I used to feel about basketball games. In the latter, I felt you could show up midway in the 4th and they would have 5-10 points separating them, and then they would finish the game and one team would win.

In the Presidential Race I feel that we could all just stop talking about it for, say, 6 months, and don't worry, it'll be there waiting for you, all fresh and relevant, with plenty of time left to work out who can best save the lives of humans around the globe. Until then, just govern.

Sick Minds

Ken Hovind is a "young earth" creationist that built a Pensacola, Florida park called Dinosaur Adventure Land, which "depicts humans and dinosaurs co-existing in the last 4,000-6,000 years and also contains a depiction of the Loch Ness monster."

He was just indicted for tax evision and given TEN YEARS in prison. He owed over a million dollars.

In a Pharyngula post on the topic, two quotes stood out to me that indicate the mindset of those in this "realm" of the world (must...hold back...from making judgemental...comments. Let the quotes speak for themselves....).

First, a supporter named Shelley the Republican, in a post that later urges believers to pray for a positive outcome of the (at that time not finalized) judgement, writes.

A quick review of the case show that the federal court unfairly denied Hovind's sensible and truthful defence: Kent owes no tax because everything he "owns" is really property of God. This is a fact that we would all do well to remember!

Sure, if you don't want to live in a country, like the United State of America, which is founded on secular laws, feel free to remember it. Are you really sinking to the equivalent of "But God created adultry"?

Next, Kent's own words to the court, asking for leniency.

If it's just money the IRS wants, there are thousands of people out there who will help pay the money they want so I can go back out there and preach," Hovind said.

How could we ever build a bridge to these states of mind? They need to form their own Christian version of Iran, I suppose.

Choose Your Own Adventure books on the iPod! Excellent. And there's even a free one: The Abominable Snowman.

Twisted Polls Create Twisted Impressions

Someone named Dean Barnett posts on Hugh Hewitt's blog about what he calls the "Most Depressing Poll Ever."

Apparently, it was a FOX News Poll, and listen to this twisted, manipulative poll question. I don't feel like this records any particular feeling, just people's attempts to convey their opinion within the odd confines of the format:

Do you personally want the Iraq plan President Bush announced last week to succeed?

As you can imagine, the results of such a twisted question (we already know that most people do NOT want to allow the escalation to go through, and so their response to this will be seriously clouded by that) are somewhat negative. The results:

Overall: 63% Yes 22% No 15% Don’t Know

Democrats: 51% Yes 34% No 15% Don’t Know

Republicans: 79% Yes 11% No 10% Don’t Know

Independents 63% Yes 19% No 17% Don’t Know

Dean continues, offering his solemn and serious analysis.

Friends, I’ll allow you a minute to wrap your minds around this, for we are truly through the looking class. Even though we have some 150,000 troops in harm’s way and we universally profess to “support the troops,” over 1/3 of our society either wants them to fail or doesn’t know if they want them to succeed. Even more chilling are the results regarding our currently dominant political party. 49% of Democrats either want us to lose in Iraq or “don’t know” if they want us to succeed.

I would love to hear why losing in Iraq would be in the national interest. And I would love to hear the humanitarian justification for leaving Baghdad’s civilians to the tender mercies of the murderous militias and terrorists that stalk that city.

And I would also love to hear Democratic leaders respond to these poll numbers. But I won’t hold my breath.

The main problem here is the Bush refuses to define "success" or "victory," so questions like this make no sense. Also, as I said, the strongest reaction to the "plan" last week was a reaction of the plan, so if folks reject the premise, asking them about the results of it are out of place.

If I were to even ask the Poll question "Do you want America to succeed in Iraq?" there would probably be folks that say "no." But again, that question would also make no sense, because it's based on a strange movie-based view of the world. Polls need to be more specific.

Do you want America to find the Pony?

Put Down the Party Horn

Go Glenn!. On the "compliance" of the Bush Administration in "ending" illegal warrantless surveillance.

I have to say that I find the celebratory tone that I have seen here and there to be quite odd and unwarranted. There is nothing to celebrate here. We shouldn't be grateful when the administration agrees to abide by the law. That is expected and required, not something that occurs when the King deigns that it should and we then celebrate that he has agreed to comply with the laws we have enacted.

And even more Glenn - his excellent coverage of some Congressional "activity" today.

Who's the Vegan NOW?

The Onion: Dairy Company Introduces Lots-Of-Pulp Milk

Bestest Friends

No love lost between Iraq Prez al-Maliki and the Bush administration:

Responding to Condoleezza Rice's recent comment that his government is on 'borrowed time,' Maliki 'humorously' suggested 'that it might be the Bush administration that is on borrowed time,' the Los Angeles Times reports.

'I understand and realize that inside the American administration there is some kind of a crisis situation, especially after the results of the last election,' Maliki said. "

(Thanks to Matt for reminding me whether "no love lost" means good or bad)

Johnny Marr's in Modest Mouse now? Oh, jeeeez. I guess I'll have to try to get over the MM singer's voice now.

Chamois Queen

These days, I'm all about chamois shirts. Hence, this is my new patron saint.



(okay, maybe hers is denim, but it's the whole effect that matters)

2006 Chickenhawk of the Year

Nobody does it better. The Poor Man Institute presents the 2006 Chickenhawk of the Year.

Drooling Over Greenwald

Glenn Greenwald is the best political writer living today. I've been reading and worshipping his blog for about a year now, and his references to a new book (he previously wrote How Would a Patriot Act?, which I actually still need to read) are getting me all geared up. Today he dropped a handful of details of what the book will be about:

Its broad theme is the exploitation of 'Good v. Evil' concepts and rhetoric (and the corresponding and insatiable need for an 'Enemy') in American political 'debates' and policy, and how reliance on that framework has destroyed the Bush presidency and damaged the country. Various topics are examined under that rubric (Iraq, Iran, media narratives, domestic policy making, executive power abuses, etc.). I'll write more about the book at some point when it makes sense to do so.

David Kuo on Dobson/McCain: "it is Jesus that is being bartered and sold here"

Earlier today I posted on my feelings of cynicism about Bush "taking a stand" against the way the Saddam (and subsequent) executions were handled (inane Bush quote I hadn't included: the new Iraqi govt "has still got some maturation to do") .

I linked to a writer named David Kuo, an evangelical Christian who used to work for the Bush Administration in their, more or less, "Faith Outreach" department. He left and then wrote a book strongly criticizing the administration of mocking and manipulating evangelicals, and just pretending to care about them.

Now, I'm no Christian, let alone an Evangelical, but I can respect one who speaks with honesty and integrity, and I find David's blog fascinating. This is a man who believes that Jesus is the highest of the high, higher than issues of sex on tv, higher than the fight against homosexual marriage, higher than "abstinence-only" programs - generally, he believes that all the trappings of the American Evangelical scene have nothing to do with his religion, and that is a wonderful and refreshing thing to here.

Well, today David is writing on the whole McCain-Dobson nonsense (Dobson, super-big-wig of American Evangelicals and the power they wield, says he doesn't like John McCain, and John says "hey, let's talk, let's work this out"), and it sickens him in many ways. Watch how he nails them both to the wall from a perspective different from my own, but one which I love to see. The highest sin is hypocrisy and falsehood.

This whole thing does nothing more than hurt the name of Jesus because it is Jesus that is being bartered and sold here. McCain wants Jesus so he can get votes. He thinks Jesus is found with the religious conservative vote. Dobson wants to give the illusion he controls Jesus so that he can achieve his political ends. All of this sends a single message to the world - Jesus' main significanc these days is to serve people's political ends.

Republicans have been taking Christians for granted by dangling minor panderings in front of them, and Christians are starting to realize they've been had. I may not agree with everything David writes (in fact, I'm sure of it), but in this case, and many others, David looks at the world with eyes unclouded by what he wants to believe is in front of him -- a top ethical position in my book.

Hey, isn't that sometimes referred to as Science?

Bush Uses the Upset Card to Convince People His Opinions Are Foreful

Bush says he is upset (come on, Bushie, can you say "unacceptable" again??) at the handling of the Saddam execution. So were ALL of us, LAST WEEK, when it happened, you spineless shit!

David Kuo has a fascinating and honest Christian blog called J-Walking where, among other things (like his fascination with the iPhone) he believes that Bush should have watched the Saddam hanging:

I watched him squirm during the discussion of Saddam Hussein's hanging video and how he didn't want to watch the actual hanging. If we can't watch the consequence of what we have done then isn't it possible that the thing we have ordered is wrong? Isn't facing consequences what every one of Jesus' followers is to do? I don't understand it.

More from Wikipedia, in case you didn't know who David is:

David Kuo is an author and former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Kuo's book Tempting Faith is a political and spiritual memoir of his time in Washington working with the religious right. However, it received enormous attention primarily because of his revelation that President Bush's "compassionate conservative" promises were never fulfilled and used for primarily political purposes. He also revealed how the Bush administration used Christian voters while simultaneously ridiculing Christian political leaders.

Christian Jedi Update

Each morning I ride the train through the field and streams of NYC freakdom, and I note some surprising media almost every day. I plan to present them here with little or no comment, as they tend to hit me pre-cognitively.



Note that small wide word above the word "Wisdom" - I hadn't even seen that word when i spotted this book on the train. That makes the posting even more surreal.

Something to Aspire To

I didn't even know freehand perfect circle drawing people existed. I'm smitten.