Today at TPMCafe Senator John Kerry discussed ways our response to extremism and terrorism should be changed. As so many well informed people have been saying all along about the "War on Terror," everything about the way our government approaches the subject needs to be rethought from the bottom up. The basic strategy of Communist guerrilla recruiters, which was highly successful in so many places, was always to swell the ranks by winning over the hearts and minds of the local population. Terrorist organizations have adopted roughly the same strategy. The militaristic approach our nation has employed during the Bush years plays right into the hands of the recruiters.
The Rand Corporation, a conservative institution dedicated to research, analysis and planning, released a report describing our "War on Terror" as a failure. Today Dan Kovalik presented some of the information contained in the report. It's not surprising that the report concluded military action simply doesn't prove effective against terrorism. The extremely low percentage of successes enjoyed under a militaristic approach, 7%, exceeds the number I would have guessed.
The report goes into detail about the dangers of combating terrorism militarily. Military buffs could have given the same details free of charge. In any military action civilian casualties are bound to take place. This plays right into the hands of recruiters for covert organizations, because they are counting on an outraged populace to provide them with the fodder they need for the conflict. Che Guevara brilliantly exploited general outrage among Latin Americans in a conflict against, as he termed it, capitalistic imperial oppression. The United States has created a similar atmosphere of outrage among Muslims by brazenly bombing the hell out of wedding parties on numerous occasions in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan has been counterproductive to anti-terrorist goals, over the long haul, serving to galvanize Islamic extremists throughout Africa, the Middle East, Southern Asia and eastward.
Senator Kerry outlines a much different strategy, one that actually makes sense. The war we need to be fighting is an information war. We need to win over the hearts and minds of the people in the Islamic world before our opponents do so instead. Engaging the people in discussions and permeating their world with knowledge would do more for our cause than a hundred years of war. We could keep soldiers in their countries for a century, and the only thing that would change would be the faces of the occupiers and the faces of the insurrection, as generations came and went. Information, discussion, knowledge, diplomacy: These are all things that could have made George Bush a great president, but were absent from the proceedings.
Imagine how much could have been accomplished to end terrorism with all of the money that has been squandered in Iraq. The humanitarian projects that could have been provided would have helped show the Muslim world that Uncle Sam is not the Great Satan. Three trillion dollars could dig a lot of wells, buy a lot of pumps, and supply many moor Muslims with running water, in those places where they have none. Imagine the schools that could have been built to teach Western philosophy. Reaching out with dollars in our hands would have gone far to changing the atmosphere of hatred for the "infidels." Luckily the struggle against hatred continues, and as long as we have hope for new leadership here there is still a chance of success in Islamic areas.
The brilliant views Senator Kerry expressed today again leads to the question of what voters could possibly have been thinking in 2004. The third point in his outline describes our need for legitimacy in the world. Clandestine torturing, indefinite detentions and covert attempts to destabilize sovereign nations have all left the United States with a credibility issue which isn't likely to go away anytime soon. Many people fear the United States because of our long history of secretly committing heinous acts against people in foreign nations. Witness our support of Augusto Pinochet and the dictatorial regime in Guatemala during the Reagan years. The world still has not forgotten the depths to which our government will stoop to achieve its perceived goals.
The fourth and fifth points complement each other nicely. The idea of knowing your enemy would have come in very handy before we invaded Iraq. The extremely robust group of people required to deal with a problem such as Islamic extremism needs to speak the language, be well versed in the religion, and very familiar with local customs. This sort of education needs to be expanded beyond the members of the intelligence community. Certainly intelligence operatives need to know these things, but members of the State Department and people involved with non-covert operations on the ground should also be educated in such a fashion. It's really not that difficult to learn their language. We should have 20,000 people in Afghanistan with such an education right now. The only thing keeping that from happening has been an essential flaw in our approach to the problem. The fifth point, be nimble, closely correlates with the fourth, because without deep knowledge of the language and culture, adaptation would be next to impossible.
The upcoming presidential election may very well be the most crucial day in the history of our nation. Should John McCain get elected all hope for a new approach to our problems will be lost. Currently Barack Obama shows an inclination to continue the militaristic approach to counter-terrorism, but in his case the idea of change doesn't seem impossible. In fact, should he receive the advice to change our strategy from the highly qualified people who would be in such a position to deliver it to him, it seems highly likely that he would listen to them. That is the sincere hope of this writer, anyway.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Contempt For Rove
Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman was wrongly imprisoned for 9 months, largely due to a host of shady activities by members of the Bush administration and by the judge and prosecutor in his case. Today in The Huffington Post, Mr. Siegelman asks for your help in having Karl Rove held accountable for his actions. Please lend your support to having this scofflaw, nicknamed "fartblossom," dragged before Congress and forced to testify. Forward an email to your Congressman at:
www.ContemptForRove.com.
In a related story, U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that there is no legal basis for former Bush aides Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to be considered immune to testifying before Congress. Judge Bates, a conservative, has often sided with the executive branch in the past, so the ruling comes as something of a surprise. It could also be considered an indication of how the appeal process might work out for the Bush administration. If even a judge considered a conservative by any standard spoke out so strongly against the administration's claims, then the appeal stands a much lower chance of succeeding than the White House would like.
The ruling also casts serious doubt on Karl Rove's claims that he has "absolute immunity." Unlike Miers and Bolten, who claimed "executive privelege," Rove has held himself to be above any and all laws, just because. Please help bring this sorry excuse for a man to justice.
Forward an email to your Congressman at:
www.ContemptForRove.com
www.ContemptForRove.com.
In a related story, U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that there is no legal basis for former Bush aides Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to be considered immune to testifying before Congress. Judge Bates, a conservative, has often sided with the executive branch in the past, so the ruling comes as something of a surprise. It could also be considered an indication of how the appeal process might work out for the Bush administration. If even a judge considered a conservative by any standard spoke out so strongly against the administration's claims, then the appeal stands a much lower chance of succeeding than the White House would like.
The ruling also casts serious doubt on Karl Rove's claims that he has "absolute immunity." Unlike Miers and Bolten, who claimed "executive privelege," Rove has held himself to be above any and all laws, just because. Please help bring this sorry excuse for a man to justice.
Forward an email to your Congressman at:
www.ContemptForRove.com
The Murder of Quality Journalism
The limited run ad attacking Obama over Landstuhl perfectly demonstrated a growing tendency among professional journalists to ignore the truth. As Greg Sargent pointed out Monday morning, nearly all of the original coverage of the attack ad presented the information without any regard to its authenticity. The initial stories from CNN, NY Times, the AP and the WaPo reported on the response from the Obama campaign, but never did any real homework on the story. Four days later most of the responsible media outlets have spoken up about the complete fabrication. It's too little too late. For a minimal investment, running the ad in only three cities and only a few times, the McCain campaign used the media to spread their lies.
The major problem with a lot of current reporting doesn't involve just the objectivity of the journalists, although in many cases their objectivity can easily be questioned. The larger problem involves the intelligence applied to reporting a story. In the case of Dana Milbank quoting Barack out of context to frame him as presumptuous, the report lacks both objectivity and intelligence. Sarah Wheaton's work, however, usually carries weight as highly professional and unbiased.
When Ms. Wheaton reported on the Landstuhl story she fell into a carefully laid trap, one that had been arranged from the beginning by the McCain campaign. She wrote:
Many professional print and broadcast journalists have unfortunately dismissed Internet writers and bloggers as unworthy of recognition. That hasn't stopped online writers from exposing untruths and bias in the world of commercial media. There are only so many stories Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez can bring honestly to the world every day. Likewise with PBS and NPR, the volume of reported truth just can't match the untruths reported by cable news outlets and the growing army of Rupert Murdoch's propaganda soldiers. Writers on the Internet provide the best solution to countering the mountain of lies told by the less reputable members of the journalistic community. Bloggers, by sheer weight of numbers, can make a stand against shoddy journalism and come away victorious.
High quality journalism does not require credentials, elite education or expertise. When somebody writes an article that is unbiased, highly intelligent and well written, where they have written it should have nothing to do with how it is judged. Writers like Dana Milbank perhaps don't deserve to rest on their laurels. It could very well be their laurels, their high opinions of themselves, that lead them to write articles worthy of being converted to confetti.
Just to make myself very clear, I am not a journalist. I am just a writer. That doesn't preclude me from being able to spot crap when I see it.
The major problem with a lot of current reporting doesn't involve just the objectivity of the journalists, although in many cases their objectivity can easily be questioned. The larger problem involves the intelligence applied to reporting a story. In the case of Dana Milbank quoting Barack out of context to frame him as presumptuous, the report lacks both objectivity and intelligence. Sarah Wheaton's work, however, usually carries weight as highly professional and unbiased.
When Ms. Wheaton reported on the Landstuhl story she fell into a carefully laid trap, one that had been arranged from the beginning by the McCain campaign. She wrote:
But it appears to be what he didn’t do – meeting with wounded soldiers, as he had originally planned – at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, that is continuing to reverberate after Mr. Obama’s trip.The problem with that sentence should be painfully obvious at this stage. The only reverberations were from lies told in an attack ad, which got picked up by some of the more easily duped members of the journalistic community. Andrea Mitchell displayed far more maturity and savvy in dealing with this story than many highly acclaimed journalists, and she could hardly be considered objective or pro-Obama.
Many professional print and broadcast journalists have unfortunately dismissed Internet writers and bloggers as unworthy of recognition. That hasn't stopped online writers from exposing untruths and bias in the world of commercial media. There are only so many stories Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez can bring honestly to the world every day. Likewise with PBS and NPR, the volume of reported truth just can't match the untruths reported by cable news outlets and the growing army of Rupert Murdoch's propaganda soldiers. Writers on the Internet provide the best solution to countering the mountain of lies told by the less reputable members of the journalistic community. Bloggers, by sheer weight of numbers, can make a stand against shoddy journalism and come away victorious.
High quality journalism does not require credentials, elite education or expertise. When somebody writes an article that is unbiased, highly intelligent and well written, where they have written it should have nothing to do with how it is judged. Writers like Dana Milbank perhaps don't deserve to rest on their laurels. It could very well be their laurels, their high opinions of themselves, that lead them to write articles worthy of being converted to confetti.
Just to make myself very clear, I am not a journalist. I am just a writer. That doesn't preclude me from being able to spot crap when I see it.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Brutality in New Orleans: Intro
The time available to your author has grown short today. This story deserves an enormous amount of time and attention. Therefore, this introduction serves notice of a multi-part series of articles. Only a small portion of the story will be presented each day. The subject matter is too vast for one piece, and too disturbing for this writer to delve into overly deeply in one sitting.
Activists protesting the forced permanent displacement of the poor residents of New Orleans have faced insanely overblown criminal charges and police brutality rising from their passionate defense of public housing. Bill Weinberg brought the story to my attention today, and it's a story I am not soon to forget or let die. Mr. Weinberg has presented the details in a highly professional and educated fashion. I will not seek to imitate his piece or steal from it. Instead I will elucidate some forms of police brutality and corruption which were a staple of New Orleans law enforcement for years, and which have only gotten worse since Hurricane Katrina.
While the floodwaters of Katrina rose, the prisoners in the Orleans Parish Prison were abandoned by the Sheriff's Department and left locked in their cells. The were left without lights, fresh air, food or water. The flood waters rose to chest level on the first floor. Even the inmates who managed to escape from their cells could not get out of the building. They broke windows to breathe fresh air, and hung burning fabric out the window in an attempt to be rescued. As Human Rights Watch reported:
The poor residents of New Orleans, and South Louisiana as a whole, have always been treated as sub-human by the established power structure, both at the state and federal level. The story needs to be told again and again, so that nobody forgets, ever.
End of Intro
Activists protesting the forced permanent displacement of the poor residents of New Orleans have faced insanely overblown criminal charges and police brutality rising from their passionate defense of public housing. Bill Weinberg brought the story to my attention today, and it's a story I am not soon to forget or let die. Mr. Weinberg has presented the details in a highly professional and educated fashion. I will not seek to imitate his piece or steal from it. Instead I will elucidate some forms of police brutality and corruption which were a staple of New Orleans law enforcement for years, and which have only gotten worse since Hurricane Katrina.
While the floodwaters of Katrina rose, the prisoners in the Orleans Parish Prison were abandoned by the Sheriff's Department and left locked in their cells. The were left without lights, fresh air, food or water. The flood waters rose to chest level on the first floor. Even the inmates who managed to escape from their cells could not get out of the building. They broke windows to breathe fresh air, and hung burning fabric out the window in an attempt to be rescued. As Human Rights Watch reported:
“The water started rising, it was getting to here,” said Earrand Kelly, an inmate from Templeman III, as he pointed at his neck. “We was calling down to the guys in the cells under us, talking to them every couple of minutes. They were crying, they were scared. The one that I was cool with, he was saying ‘I'm scared. I feel like I'm about to drown.' He was crying.”
The poor residents of New Orleans, and South Louisiana as a whole, have always been treated as sub-human by the established power structure, both at the state and federal level. The story needs to be told again and again, so that nobody forgets, ever.
End of Intro
Take Tasers From The Police
When University of Florida journalism student Andrew Meyer was tasered at a John Kerry event, the incident showed the brutality of tasers. It also demonstrated how members of the law enforcement community increasingly turn to the use of tasers when normal physical restraint would work just as well. At the time I considered the event an anomaly, and merely an isolated example of shoddy police work. I no longer have the luxury of believing that.
In March of 2008, Walter E. Haake Jr. died from being tasered. He had suffered a head injury prior to the incident. He was tasered for not exiting his vehicle, although the police had his keys and he was not acting in an aggressive fashion. The justification for police actions amounted to, "He didn't obey us."
Earlier this year, on January 17, Baron Pikes was murdered by taser in Winnfield, Louisiana. Pikes fought with Scott Nugent, who was a police officer at the time. Nugent continued tasering Pikes long after the man sawmill worker was handcuffed and under control. Justice for the family of the murdered man has yet to come, and probably never will.
In Ozark, Missouri, Mace Hutchinson fell off a 30 foot overpass and broke his back. When police officers arrived on the scene the badly injured sixteen year old could not stand up. Police claimed he said something about killing cops, and that's why they tasered him 19 times. Evidently a sixteen year old boy with a broken back was too much of a man for Ozark police to handle. The only mystery of the story is how the young man survived. It's no mystery why the police really did this thing: they are sadistic cowards.
The list of fatalities goes on and on. The last story mentioned 300 reported taser deaths in one year, but they probably meant the 337 confirmed taser deaths since 1999. The author inaccurately states that the list of people tasered to death does not exist anywhere else. The Department of Justice has the list, they just don't publicize it. Amnesty International has discussed the increasing number of fatalities, and the exact number of deaths, on a number of occasions. The number of deaths is common knowledge to people who care, but the general public is kept in the dark about it. After all, the mainstream media barely even covers Iraq now.
According to one Amnesty International report, the data and conclusions of which are echoed in nearly every study on tasers, the weapon is far from the non-lethal solution it was intended to be. Not only does it present far greater health risks than stated in the lead-up to law enforcement use, but the use of the weapon is often completely unwarranted. Women and children have been electrocuted with the devices, but we all know how dangerous women and children are.
This needs to stop. Our nation's not so subtle slide toward a police state needs to be reversed. Any form of oppression, especially American proto-fascism, has no place in our democracy. The right-wing's love of violence need not become our rule for the future. Everyone should know just how much danger they are in when dealing with the police. Police need only to dislike a person to put them on a stretcher. I say take the tasers away from the police. Please make it a personal issue to enact legislation banning the weapons. I know that I will.
In March of 2008, Walter E. Haake Jr. died from being tasered. He had suffered a head injury prior to the incident. He was tasered for not exiting his vehicle, although the police had his keys and he was not acting in an aggressive fashion. The justification for police actions amounted to, "He didn't obey us."
Earlier this year, on January 17, Baron Pikes was murdered by taser in Winnfield, Louisiana. Pikes fought with Scott Nugent, who was a police officer at the time. Nugent continued tasering Pikes long after the man sawmill worker was handcuffed and under control. Justice for the family of the murdered man has yet to come, and probably never will.
In Ozark, Missouri, Mace Hutchinson fell off a 30 foot overpass and broke his back. When police officers arrived on the scene the badly injured sixteen year old could not stand up. Police claimed he said something about killing cops, and that's why they tasered him 19 times. Evidently a sixteen year old boy with a broken back was too much of a man for Ozark police to handle. The only mystery of the story is how the young man survived. It's no mystery why the police really did this thing: they are sadistic cowards.
The list of fatalities goes on and on. The last story mentioned 300 reported taser deaths in one year, but they probably meant the 337 confirmed taser deaths since 1999. The author inaccurately states that the list of people tasered to death does not exist anywhere else. The Department of Justice has the list, they just don't publicize it. Amnesty International has discussed the increasing number of fatalities, and the exact number of deaths, on a number of occasions. The number of deaths is common knowledge to people who care, but the general public is kept in the dark about it. After all, the mainstream media barely even covers Iraq now.
According to one Amnesty International report, the data and conclusions of which are echoed in nearly every study on tasers, the weapon is far from the non-lethal solution it was intended to be. Not only does it present far greater health risks than stated in the lead-up to law enforcement use, but the use of the weapon is often completely unwarranted. Women and children have been electrocuted with the devices, but we all know how dangerous women and children are.
This needs to stop. Our nation's not so subtle slide toward a police state needs to be reversed. Any form of oppression, especially American proto-fascism, has no place in our democracy. The right-wing's love of violence need not become our rule for the future. Everyone should know just how much danger they are in when dealing with the police. Police need only to dislike a person to put them on a stretcher. I say take the tasers away from the police. Please make it a personal issue to enact legislation banning the weapons. I know that I will.
The Devil Went Down to Georgia
In this instance Barack Obama plays the unlikely role of Charlie Daniels, and John McCain could very well be the fiddle playing devil who just can't win the bet. That's right, the Obama campaign smelled something on the breeze down in Georgia, and decided to make it a battleground. Jeanne Cummings at Politico detailed some of the reasoning and expenses as related to the campaign in that southern state.
McCain talking mouthpiece Tucker Bounds said he can't understand Obama's strategy, but normal people like myself see it quite clearly. Barack destroyed Hillary in Georgia's Democratic Primary. McCain narrowly took second place among his competitors there, losing to Mike Huckabee and barely defeating Mitt Romney. Clearly John "The Human Glowworm" McCain didn't even appeal to Republican voters in the Peach State. The Obama campaign doesn't have to turn the state blue. All they have to do is get more voters to show up one time, this November. A less than enthusiastic voter base for John McCain could amount to an Obama win, regardless of state politics.
The McCain campaign seems to take a win there for granted. The condescending way John McCain has treated the Obama campaign all along amounts to drastic overconfidence, and that can be seen quite clearly when it comes to Georgia. The Republican candidate apparently believes that it is his God given right to win in all southern states because he's white. While he may win Georgia in the end, the lesson to be learned here is that Obama refuses to make it easy. If the Obama campaign exploits every weakness they perceive in their opponent's strategy, then the gap between the two candidates will widen, whether it be because of Georgia or Florida or Arizona.
McCain talking mouthpiece Tucker Bounds said he can't understand Obama's strategy, but normal people like myself see it quite clearly. Barack destroyed Hillary in Georgia's Democratic Primary. McCain narrowly took second place among his competitors there, losing to Mike Huckabee and barely defeating Mitt Romney. Clearly John "The Human Glowworm" McCain didn't even appeal to Republican voters in the Peach State. The Obama campaign doesn't have to turn the state blue. All they have to do is get more voters to show up one time, this November. A less than enthusiastic voter base for John McCain could amount to an Obama win, regardless of state politics.
The McCain campaign seems to take a win there for granted. The condescending way John McCain has treated the Obama campaign all along amounts to drastic overconfidence, and that can be seen quite clearly when it comes to Georgia. The Republican candidate apparently believes that it is his God given right to win in all southern states because he's white. While he may win Georgia in the end, the lesson to be learned here is that Obama refuses to make it easy. If the Obama campaign exploits every weakness they perceive in their opponent's strategy, then the gap between the two candidates will widen, whether it be because of Georgia or Florida or Arizona.
Techno RNC Style
Yesterday I saw a video described as a new advertisement attacking Obama. The production quality was so poor I assumed it was a hoax. This morning I found more references to it, meaning the RNC really did create it. Watch the video here.
What target audience could this ad possibly have been created for? The only people who would become alarmed about a Marxist in the Obama campaign would never understand the video, because they would be like 100 years old. Somebody should tell the RNC that the Soviet Union collapsed, and Marxists are like cute pets now.
I'd also like to know what David Hasselhoff has to do with anything. He was an actor on Knight Rider, and then he had that long gig on Baywatch. Are their flashes of David Hasselhoff supposed to be derogatory? I am genuinely clueless about the RNC's intentions with regard to the German actor. If they are trying to anger Germans with the ad, then I imagine it could be marginally successful. David Hasselhoff is something of a hero in that nation.
If the ad was intended to hurt Obama's campaign and not insult Germans, then I would have to believe that it is a miserable failure. The message is delivered in such a vague fashion that there is little sense to be made out of it. The advertisement could even possibly help the Obama campaign, because it looks like Barry and David and techno loving Germans are having a blast. Again, anybody who would be disturbed by the commercial probably won't understand it at all.
The ad ends with Obama yelling, "I'm on top of the world!" This reference to "Titanic" misses the mark by a mile. They appear to have made Obama into Leonardo DiCaprio. Do they really want voters to think about Leo when they see Obama? Doesn't John McCain have a hard enough time looking good in comparison to Barry? Yeah, the McCain campaign needs everyone to associate Barack Obama with Jack Dawson, the heroic young man who froze to death so that his love could live.
Parody? Way to waste the dollars RNC, but keep this sort of ad coming, I say. The ad is far more entertaining than McCain on the best of days.
What target audience could this ad possibly have been created for? The only people who would become alarmed about a Marxist in the Obama campaign would never understand the video, because they would be like 100 years old. Somebody should tell the RNC that the Soviet Union collapsed, and Marxists are like cute pets now.
I'd also like to know what David Hasselhoff has to do with anything. He was an actor on Knight Rider, and then he had that long gig on Baywatch. Are their flashes of David Hasselhoff supposed to be derogatory? I am genuinely clueless about the RNC's intentions with regard to the German actor. If they are trying to anger Germans with the ad, then I imagine it could be marginally successful. David Hasselhoff is something of a hero in that nation.
If the ad was intended to hurt Obama's campaign and not insult Germans, then I would have to believe that it is a miserable failure. The message is delivered in such a vague fashion that there is little sense to be made out of it. The advertisement could even possibly help the Obama campaign, because it looks like Barry and David and techno loving Germans are having a blast. Again, anybody who would be disturbed by the commercial probably won't understand it at all.
The ad ends with Obama yelling, "I'm on top of the world!" This reference to "Titanic" misses the mark by a mile. They appear to have made Obama into Leonardo DiCaprio. Do they really want voters to think about Leo when they see Obama? Doesn't John McCain have a hard enough time looking good in comparison to Barry? Yeah, the McCain campaign needs everyone to associate Barack Obama with Jack Dawson, the heroic young man who froze to death so that his love could live.
Parody? Way to waste the dollars RNC, but keep this sort of ad coming, I say. The ad is far more entertaining than McCain on the best of days.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Right-Out Arrives
Welcome, everyone, to my first entry at Right-Out. As a traditional writer who grew up writing on a typewriter, blogging took a little getting used to. I practiced at the Daily Kos before going solo here, and I owe the readers there my apologies for all the mistakes I made. I learned the importance of holding a post until after serious editing and consideration. I learned just how many Republicans read liberal blogs, and just how much they hate my work. I learned that a great number of liberals find the ideas of other liberals incredibly offensive, no matter how similar. Finally, I learned that I would be happier if I could write entry after entry, all day long, instead of just the one you are allowed there. So here I am, and thank you for reading.
I am writing this entry simply as an introduction. I expect few people to read it until my posts accumulate in the search engines, but I'd like it to be here once people start showing up. There's already enough information about me in my profile, so I won't rehash that. I would like to explain my derivation of the title Right-Out. The term, which I dreamed up (but which may already be in use somewhere for all I know), refers to several things, foremost of which would be the Irish nationalist phrase "Brits Out." The fact that I referenced it does not mean I support the IRA. I simply saw an opportunity to use it for myself in a different light, an anti-neocon catchphrase. Secondly, the term also refers to a saying in my part of the world, "I am right out on that." If you don't understand that, it means, "I don't like that idea." Thirdly, much like a blackout deprives people of the ability to see in the dark, a Right-Out deprives people of economic equality, civil liberties, humanitarian aid and justice. Fourthly, I will be outing any wingnuts disguised as normal human beings. Moving on...
Most of my entries will contain references to music being played in the background while I write. It's just something I do. Shamefully, I am currently writing this in silence. I plan to put on Ani Difranco in a few minutes though. Let me count the ways I love her music: Nope, I can't ennumerate that. I just love it.
Fernando Botero painted an exhibition entitled "Abu Ghraib" which has been touring the Western world for three years. This illustrates that regardless of the Bush regime's immunity to prosecution, or accountability of any kind, here in the United States, the rest of the world has not suspended judgment of the proto-fascist war criminals. I say thank the Lord for the 5.5 billion people who don't live in the United States, because from their hearts and minds will flow the true karmic justice the neocons will have to face one day. The men who committed so many atrocities rest comfortably in the idea that Jesus forgives all. I'm not sure which Sunday School they went to, because all is not always forgiven.
The tubes today are aflame with the news that their creator, Ted Stevens, really is a worthless, ignorant, corrupt politician after all. A Democratic Senator may emerge from Alaska as a result. Oh power of the crossed fingers, please don't fail us now. In a related story, Ted Stevens' mind contacted CNN in an effort to be reunited with his body. The call was dismissed as a prank, leaving Stevens walking around brainless as always. Meanwhile, Republican Senators are throwing Ted's money out the window like it was a rotten egg accidentally broken during Thanksgiving Dinner.
Politicization: The more I hear about it the more it sounds like a wicked sexually transmitted form of polio that our executive agencies contracted after being reamed by George "Chimpy" Boosh. I just thank my lucky stars I was considered the enemy from day one. It would have been a huge let down to be a moderate Republican with great skill at my profession, only to be fired or turned down for a job because of some mind-controlled neocon Barbie. Hopefully, Monica Goodling will be working at McDonald's before it's over with. I hope she was to work for a vociferous lesbian Latina who makes her clean toilets twice every shift. I forgot to mention monkey-on-a-string Stephen Johnson, who sold our environment down the river for Dur Busherr.
In closing I'd like to say, "Barack Obama!" Why? Because I still have hope that our nation can be saved, and because the other guy is John "I'm So Confused" McCain.
Note to commenters: I usually don't get comments until I write another piece, and I rarely respond to criticism or praise. I won't condemn or delete anyone's comment, no matter how hurtful their intent. I believe in free speech, I don't just use it for myself.
I am writing this entry simply as an introduction. I expect few people to read it until my posts accumulate in the search engines, but I'd like it to be here once people start showing up. There's already enough information about me in my profile, so I won't rehash that. I would like to explain my derivation of the title Right-Out. The term, which I dreamed up (but which may already be in use somewhere for all I know), refers to several things, foremost of which would be the Irish nationalist phrase "Brits Out." The fact that I referenced it does not mean I support the IRA. I simply saw an opportunity to use it for myself in a different light, an anti-neocon catchphrase. Secondly, the term also refers to a saying in my part of the world, "I am right out on that." If you don't understand that, it means, "I don't like that idea." Thirdly, much like a blackout deprives people of the ability to see in the dark, a Right-Out deprives people of economic equality, civil liberties, humanitarian aid and justice. Fourthly, I will be outing any wingnuts disguised as normal human beings. Moving on...
Most of my entries will contain references to music being played in the background while I write. It's just something I do. Shamefully, I am currently writing this in silence. I plan to put on Ani Difranco in a few minutes though. Let me count the ways I love her music: Nope, I can't ennumerate that. I just love it.
Fernando Botero painted an exhibition entitled "Abu Ghraib" which has been touring the Western world for three years. This illustrates that regardless of the Bush regime's immunity to prosecution, or accountability of any kind, here in the United States, the rest of the world has not suspended judgment of the proto-fascist war criminals. I say thank the Lord for the 5.5 billion people who don't live in the United States, because from their hearts and minds will flow the true karmic justice the neocons will have to face one day. The men who committed so many atrocities rest comfortably in the idea that Jesus forgives all. I'm not sure which Sunday School they went to, because all is not always forgiven.
The tubes today are aflame with the news that their creator, Ted Stevens, really is a worthless, ignorant, corrupt politician after all. A Democratic Senator may emerge from Alaska as a result. Oh power of the crossed fingers, please don't fail us now. In a related story, Ted Stevens' mind contacted CNN in an effort to be reunited with his body. The call was dismissed as a prank, leaving Stevens walking around brainless as always. Meanwhile, Republican Senators are throwing Ted's money out the window like it was a rotten egg accidentally broken during Thanksgiving Dinner.
Politicization: The more I hear about it the more it sounds like a wicked sexually transmitted form of polio that our executive agencies contracted after being reamed by George "Chimpy" Boosh. I just thank my lucky stars I was considered the enemy from day one. It would have been a huge let down to be a moderate Republican with great skill at my profession, only to be fired or turned down for a job because of some mind-controlled neocon Barbie. Hopefully, Monica Goodling will be working at McDonald's before it's over with. I hope she was to work for a vociferous lesbian Latina who makes her clean toilets twice every shift. I forgot to mention monkey-on-a-string Stephen Johnson, who sold our environment down the river for Dur Busherr.
In closing I'd like to say, "Barack Obama!" Why? Because I still have hope that our nation can be saved, and because the other guy is John "I'm So Confused" McCain.
Note to commenters: I usually don't get comments until I write another piece, and I rarely respond to criticism or praise. I won't condemn or delete anyone's comment, no matter how hurtful their intent. I believe in free speech, I don't just use it for myself.
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