Tag: George W. Bush

Y’amal (flickr Creative Commons)

A roundup of tasty items that caught my eye the past few days.  

• Global Orgasm Day h/t Unqualified Offerings

  The Second Annual Global Orgasm for Peace was yesterday, December 22, at 06:08 Universal Time (GMT).   Did you feel the earth move?  

  The world is full of men with axes to grind and weapons to fire in displays of their superiority over others. It is time to spare the planet from Alpha Male concepts of ‘progress’, ‘growth’ and Manifest Destiny, which are endangering all of us. True partnership between the Masculine and Feminine that is within all women and men may enable our species to survive in relative harmony. The Global Orgasm for Peace is one attempt to begin that process.

  
  
  







• from Daily Kos, updated Gilbert & Sullivan – I am the Very Model of a Bush Attorney General by Briseadh na Faire.  Bloody brilliant.  First verse below, go sing the rest.  

  I am the very model of a Bush attorney general
  
  I prosecute all Democrats with charges quite ephemeral
  
  I know the things I say are legal metaphorical
  
  With logic that defies Supreme Court rulings quite historical.









• Tbogg, now at Firedoglake, has fun with Romney’s idiotic statements in I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…but only in a figurative sense

  Mitt explains the MLK march hallucination. Dude, we told you to stay away from the brown LSD…not LDS.
  

  “The reference of seeing my father lead in civil rights,” he said, “and seeing my father march with Martin Luther King is in the sense of this figurative awareness of and recognition of his leadership.”

  “I’ve tried to be as accurate as I can be,” he continued, smiling firmly. “If you look at the literature or look at the dictionary, the term ‘saw’ includes being aware of — in the sense I’ve described.”

  The questioning did not relent. “I’m an English literature major,” he insisted at one point. “When we say I saw the Patriots win the World Series, it doesn’t necessarily mean you were there.” (He meant the Super Bowl, of course.)
  
  (via msnbc)

  
  
  btw, Firedoglake got a radical makeover a couple weeks ago. I hadn’t been there in a while so I was kind of surprised.   Not sure I like it yet but the banner is nice.   emptywheel is part of the blog too.  









• via Neatorama, The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek.  Click the pic for more space chicks.  Some of the comments on flickr are pretty funny.  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  ^{Poletti flickr photo set}
  
  

There comes a time where the echoes of history begin to take on a most alarming toll, like the sounding of a gong announcing the approach of an ominous new enemy just like a previously-defeated old foe.

This is that time. Put on your tinfoil hat for a trip down memory lane, and follow me…

Crossposted from ePluribus Media 2.0, because one can never have enough foil and recycling is good for you. Also available in orange.

My opinions here will not propose changes to affect the mess our nation is in today. My views herein will not provide solutions to fix any of the multitude of problems of the world.

My views may possibly bring solace, comfort, relief, gratitude and/or a sense of justice to some, a few or even one will be fine.

IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH A DISCUSSION OF A SPIRITUAL NATURE AND ITS IMPACT ON OUR POLITICAL ACTIONS, THEN PLEASE STOP READING AND MOVE ON FOR YOUR OWN PEACE OF MIND.

Please indulge me for a while. I must explain where I came from to be able to get to the destination I wish to take you. I hope to give you some food for thought, some inspiration and maybe some comfort. Lofty goals. I dobut I can achieve them all.

I am by no measure a religious man. From childhood until the age of thirteen, I attended Catholic mass and Sunday school. In my family, once we received first communion we were allowed to choose to continue to attend or not. For many reasons, I chose not to continue. It is possible that is was my perception and not the actual teachings. What I felt that I was not fond of, was the hell and damnation, the fear to do good, the possiblities of punishment for any one of innumerable acts, the ridgid structure and more.  

From that day to this, I have only entered a “house of worship” for funerals or weddings. I joke that I am a recovering Catholic. If you are of the Catholic faith or any other religion of brick and mortar, I mean no disrespect and I fully support your choice. Any where, by any means that one finds their faith is wonderful.

My views on the Great Spirit, the creator, my higher power or God (you pick your preference, it matters not to me) are very nontraditional. I was agnostic for about a dozen years. At that time, I believed there was some supreme being (s) who made our amazing world and all the wonders of nature. I however did not believe he, she, it, they acted in our lives, but rather created everything and was sitting back and observing as we destroyed ourselves and the planet.

If you are atheist I respect and support your views and choice. I do not believe my opinions here will be in great conflict with yours and I hope this essay is at least interesting to you.

January 1985 with the culmination of many events I was introduced to spirituality and over what is now nearly 23 years it has evolved, changed, expanded and I hope will continue to do so all my life. This was not a cult. There were no leaders. Nobody was in ANY position of authority. Nobody asked me or told me to do anything or not do anything. There were no dues of fees. It was simply a group of people in search of a way to lead a life of spirituality. I am NOT recruiting or promoting anything or attempting to “convert” anyone. I am simply explaining my personal views and experiences.

I do not know, nor do I care, if my great spirit(s) is/are a he, she, it or them. At the very beginning of my journey, I was guided by some wonderful people who gave me a few simple pieces of advice (not rules or demands). This is what was suggested.

— Forget everything you have ever learned of God, wipe the slate clean.

— You are going to build/create “your” own supreme being guided by your conscience, by prayer, by meditation and by an attempt to make a conscious contact with “your” higher power.

— The “God” (for simplicity and lack of a better word) “you” design will be one that has the traits, characteristics and actions that you believe fit those of an all powerful creator of everything that exists in the sky and on earth.

— Each morning get on your knees and try to connect with “your” higher power. To begin this life long journey start by saying ONLY, please each morning. At night do the same but say ONLY thank you.

— You will know when you are ready to move your relationship to a level of increased communication and as you know, do so. It is a relationship as any other in our life and there is communication.

— If you have any questions, fell free to contact us at any time. We will not contact you. We are not a babysitter and we will not chase you. If you are not interested, that is fine. Move on your way and we wish you happiness and a good life. If you are interested, we are here for you, but, we are not here to be your marital, financial, job, social or any other type advisor. All we can do is share our experience with you as it relates to our spiritual journey.

They kept to their word. They never called me. If I called them, they would immediately meet with me to answer questions I had and to share their experience. They were an amazing group of people with no ulterior motives or hidden agendas and I also neither have these.

That’s where I began and today I often pray many times a day. Each morning I give my higher power permission to intercede in “my will” and to help me to do his/her/their will. I fail very, very often in doing his/her/their will. I believe I must do this every morning as the granting of my permission lasts only for that day.

Today, I have 100% proof, for myself, that my God has acted in my life hundreds of times. Sometimes in small ways and sometimes in major ways.

I have little concern for how others live their lives, as long it does not affect me, my family or my country. I support any choices any individual makes (within reason). In general, I believe others actions/behaviors are between them and “their” God as mine are between me and mine.

Yes, I know, you have read a couple pages already to try to get to where I explain my belief that we get solace and comfort in knowing George W, Bush’s future. Now I will begin to get to that. The prior was needed for the remainder.  

This is a question for people here.  Recently, I found out that shortly after the Supreme Court decision ending mandatory minimums for crack cocaine, President Bush commuted the fifthsentence of his Presidency.  He commuted the sentence of Michael D. Short, who had served fifteen years for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, and will be released in February, less than a year before his sentence will expire.

Now, this is something I consider good news.  I am a member of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, as is Mr. Short.  But I couldn’t help but to be curious as to why this one particular individual was given clemency by President Bush, with no explanation given, mere hours after the Supreme Court made its decision public.  So I dug a little deeper.

Mr. Short, as it turns out, was convicted in a trial of 26 members of what was called the “Woodridge group”, a cocaine dealing ring in Washington D.C. in the 1980s.  His trial was part of a large group of trials known at the time as the Winestock trial.  Mr. Short, along with nearly all the other people convicted in that trial, have filed many appeals, all of which have been denied, but Mr. Short, unlike other co-defendants, only appealed on procedural and inadequate counsel grounds.  Beyond numerous recorded phone conversations, the main witness in the Winestock trial was a member of the Woodridge group who gave testimony in exchange for leniency at his own sentencing.  That witness was Brian Lee Tribble, who had previously been accused and then cleared of providing basketball star Len Bias with the cocaine that killed him the night after he was selected second in the NBA draft.

I have, of course, a lot more details, but none of it really goes anywhere.  I can’t answer why Bush chose this individual out of all the people in America serving long sentences for crack distribution.  But the whole thing seems odd.  Is this worth blogging in detail?  Or am I wasting my time?  

Hat-tip to RawStory via Dupa T. Parrot of DelphiForums.

December 11, 2007, Dan Abram’s MSNBC broadcast of Bush League Justice.

The video is on YouTube, but I’m not certain if it is there with or without permission. Submitted for your perusal in the meantime:

There is no extended text below the fold.

Crossposted at ePluribus Media as well.

This is quite an enjoyable interview!

 LONDON – Former England soccer manager Steve McClaren fought off tough competition from US President George W. Bush to win a dreaded “Foot in Mouth” award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign.

 George W.Bush came in second for “All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone.”

 This quote came from W’s response to this question during the press conference following the California wildfires.

Q: Mr. President, a lot has been made about the contrast between this response and the Katrina response. Do you have any thoughts on that, and how you’re doing?

The winner of this year’s award was….

(cross-posted from kos at buhdy’s request; thanks for all the recs, dd people!)

We know that one of the two destroyed CIA interrogation tapes documented the torture of Abu Zubaydah.

We know that Zubaydah was no “high-value” Al Qaeda operative, but an “insane, certifiable” gofer. We know that when this truth was conveyed to George II, his response was to personally press the CIA to pursue further “information extraction.” We know that Zubaydah provided no actionable intelligence, but that his desperate attempts to placate his torturers may have resulted in US-directed “dark side” operations that killed innocent people. And we know that George II, aware of all this, has nonetheless persisted in attributing an increasingly important role to Zubaydah as both Al Qaeda fiend, and key to “cracking” the 9/11 plot.

We can assume, then, that the tape documenting Zubaydah’s interrogation was destroyed not only because of the monstrous nature of the torture techniques inflicted upon him. It likewise represented a dangerous lever, one that could have toppled the tower of lies that BushCo has erected upon the tormented mind and tortured body of Abu Zubaydah.

It could have exposed the truth. That what has been done to this man may be the filthiest, most outrageous act committed by an administration that has redefined, in our name, filth and outrage.    

I’ll start by saying I find USAToday an example of everything bad and wrong about today’s print media.  Well maybe not everything, WaPo is worse because they’re also dishonest.  But USAToday is deliberately designed (and has been since it’s inception) to be the McEyewitness News of Newspapers, a pile of print for you to step in on the way out of your room at the Marriott in the morning.  Reading it takes no longer than a cup of coffee and a danish.

But lots of people do because it’s free and a step up from a local ‘shopper’ newsprint magazine, so I occasionally check their opinion section to get the pulse of what’s supposed to be mainstream.

Today one of their opinions was No torture, no need to destroy videotapes.  Whoever wrote this has no doubt that the tapes would make us look bad-

Had the tapes ever gotten out, they might have made the Abu Ghraib prison photos look tame. Imagine the propaganda value Osama bin Laden could reap from video of Arabs struggling in pain as Americans subjected them to waterboarding or other torture. The fact that the prisoner might have been a murderous thug would be lost in the revulsion and condemnation of the United States for barbarism.

Then again the prisoner might not have been a murderous thug, just a low level wacko, but I digress.

Like all things USAToday it’s a very quick read and I encourage you to do so.  The author mostly gets it right.  “The original sin was the torture itself, not the tapes or their destruction.  Spy agencies don’t get to write their own laws.”

What I think the author misses though is how much seeing these tapes would inflame not only Arabs, but Americans.

Who among us, a society that buys its meat shrink wrapped in plastic at best, in microwavable breaded nuggets more often, really wants to see sausage made?

I’ll tell you who.  The 30%.  Dogfighting, executions, we’re Romans and we deserve the best circuses to display the power and wealth of our empire!

It puts me in mind of later empires too, where dictators and their sycophants giggle and eat popcorn while flickering images of state traitors dance at the end of piano wire nooses like obscene puppets.

Do you suppose W watched these tapes?  How many times?  Special bonus question- how many times for Saddam’s execution?