I wish we had some democrats with this kind of grit:
"RALEIGH - L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.
"Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.
"When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff."
Some of Helms' disgusting positions can be found here and here. He was not a man to be memorialized, he was a man to be forgotten.
Hat Tip: Sully
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Quote of the Day
From Sanchez:
"DC is full of relatively affluent, educated white people and a mix of middle-class and crushingly poor black people. The historical reasons for this scarcely need rehearsing. And as a rule, affluent educated people do not go around robbing poor people with guns. That’s what lobbyists are for."
"DC is full of relatively affluent, educated white people and a mix of middle-class and crushingly poor black people. The historical reasons for this scarcely need rehearsing. And as a rule, affluent educated people do not go around robbing poor people with guns. That’s what lobbyists are for."
More Bushisms
The man is shameless:
"Well: he needs to given his own view of religion in politics. Here's the president's citation from Jefferson in his speech at Monticello on July 4:
"In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be -- to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all -- the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government."
"Here's the original:
"May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government."
If I did something like this in school I'd be brought up in front of disciplinary committee. Bush does it and he gets a pat on the head for being able to form a sentence.
"Well: he needs to given his own view of religion in politics. Here's the president's citation from Jefferson in his speech at Monticello on July 4:
"In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be -- to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all -- the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government."
"Here's the original:
"May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government."
If I did something like this in school I'd be brought up in front of disciplinary committee. Bush does it and he gets a pat on the head for being able to form a sentence.
Qualifications to be President
I've often thought that one of the greatest qualifications for President is managerial experience, and you discover what candidate has it based on how they run their campaign. If this is any indication of McCain's skill then we're looking at another keystone cop administration.
The Door Opens
Iraq again asks for a US timetable for withdrawal:
"BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
"The comments by Mouwaffak al-Rubaie were the strongest yet by an Iraqi official about the deal now under negotiation with U.S. officials. They came a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal.
"President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals."
Of course McCain isn't hearing none of it since his budget now depends on 'victory' in Iraq and Afghanistan which means that whether they like it or not we have to stay there until we 'win', whatever that means.
"BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
"The comments by Mouwaffak al-Rubaie were the strongest yet by an Iraqi official about the deal now under negotiation with U.S. officials. They came a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal.
"President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals."
Of course McCain isn't hearing none of it since his budget now depends on 'victory' in Iraq and Afghanistan which means that whether they like it or not we have to stay there until we 'win', whatever that means.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Sorry I Said Anything
Sigh. McCain vs. Clark day four:
"Three things have prolonged this story. First, Wes Clark's decision to not only not apologize but to keep appearing on TV to discuss the matter, which he did yesterday. Then, Obama's decision to not only not urge Clark to stand down but to say that the portion of his patriotism speech Monday in which he said no veteran should have his service questioned wasn't actually intended as a rebuke to Clark. And finally McCain's decision last night to shift gears from his "I want to talk about the issues" posture."I think it's up to Sen. Obama now to not only repudiate him, but to cut him loose," McCain told reporters aboard his plane en route to Colombia."
Do I think Clark should have said what he said? No. Do I think what he said was outrageous? No. Do I think the media should give McCain a pulpit for his 'outrage'? Hell no.
Could we just push up the election already?
"Three things have prolonged this story. First, Wes Clark's decision to not only not apologize but to keep appearing on TV to discuss the matter, which he did yesterday. Then, Obama's decision to not only not urge Clark to stand down but to say that the portion of his patriotism speech Monday in which he said no veteran should have his service questioned wasn't actually intended as a rebuke to Clark. And finally McCain's decision last night to shift gears from his "I want to talk about the issues" posture."I think it's up to Sen. Obama now to not only repudiate him, but to cut him loose," McCain told reporters aboard his plane en route to Colombia."
Do I think Clark should have said what he said? No. Do I think what he said was outrageous? No. Do I think the media should give McCain a pulpit for his 'outrage'? Hell no.
Could we just push up the election already?
Me On Yglesias On Steele
If I'm hearing MY right then I think Steele's an ass. Here's just as few of the things MY heard Steele say that irritate me like a nude walk through Poison Ivy:
"Says on a panel "white Americans have made more moral progress in the last forty years than any people in the history of the human conditions.""
"Continuing with my Shelby Steele blogging, he went into what I thought was a really unfair attack on Barack Obama, drawing an invidious comparison between Obama and John McCain and Hillary Clinton on the grounds that we don't really know who he is. Instead, says Steele, Obama is running on a vague sense that he's a talented politician and a black guy. At first I thought he was going to take this in an unverifiably airy direction, but then he specifically said of McCain that if he's elected "we know what road that guy’s going to go down" whereas we don't know the same for Obama."
I thought about writing something to counter that, but time is too short to respond to BS.
"Says on a panel "white Americans have made more moral progress in the last forty years than any people in the history of the human conditions.""
"Continuing with my Shelby Steele blogging, he went into what I thought was a really unfair attack on Barack Obama, drawing an invidious comparison between Obama and John McCain and Hillary Clinton on the grounds that we don't really know who he is. Instead, says Steele, Obama is running on a vague sense that he's a talented politician and a black guy. At first I thought he was going to take this in an unverifiably airy direction, but then he specifically said of McCain that if he's elected "we know what road that guy’s going to go down" whereas we don't know the same for Obama."
I thought about writing something to counter that, but time is too short to respond to BS.
Questions and Answers
Sully and others are confused by Obama's stance on gay marriage. On one hand he opposes it (but contends they should have civil unions) but on the other hand he defends California's ruling for gay marriage. Sanchez has a solution that makes perfect sense to me:
"As a very loose analogy, you can consider the position I think a fair number of people take on something like flag burning: They don’t like it, and they might be perfectly happy to have statutes banning it. However, given that the Supreme Court has determined that flag burning is a form of expression protected by the First Amendment, amending the Constitution to create exceptions in the First Amendment seems like a bad idea to them. Now, this isn’t quite my own position, since I think flag burning, like any number of other forms of offensive expression, ought to be protected. That said, if the Supreme Court had decided, on fairly narrow grounds, that flag burning fell into some recognized category of non-protected speech, I don’t know that I’d consider this an intolerable and crippling blow to our expressive rights, even though I’d disagree with the outcome. I would find it far more disturbing if we set a precedent that when the Court rules to protect speech that enough Americans find outrageous, we’ll have a big partisan push to change the Constitution. The underlying idea here is that, important as the case by case determination of the scope of certain fundamental rights is, what’s even more important is the structural principle that these determinations should not be a popularity contest, and ought to be isolated from cyclical politics to a great extent.
"I think that’s probably the reasoning that best accounts for the language Obama used, though I can think of a slightly different route to a similar conclusion. That is, you might think we shouldn’t grant marriage rights to gay couples where they don’t exist, but oppose taking those rights away in places where they’ve already been granted, and especially where gay couples have already begun to marry."
I mentioned before that Obama seems to have a nuanced and subtle view of legal issues, and this seems to fall in line with that. Ultimately though it seems that he has enough respect for the law as to honor it even when it doesn't coincide with his POV. That's enough reason for me to vote for him.
"As a very loose analogy, you can consider the position I think a fair number of people take on something like flag burning: They don’t like it, and they might be perfectly happy to have statutes banning it. However, given that the Supreme Court has determined that flag burning is a form of expression protected by the First Amendment, amending the Constitution to create exceptions in the First Amendment seems like a bad idea to them. Now, this isn’t quite my own position, since I think flag burning, like any number of other forms of offensive expression, ought to be protected. That said, if the Supreme Court had decided, on fairly narrow grounds, that flag burning fell into some recognized category of non-protected speech, I don’t know that I’d consider this an intolerable and crippling blow to our expressive rights, even though I’d disagree with the outcome. I would find it far more disturbing if we set a precedent that when the Court rules to protect speech that enough Americans find outrageous, we’ll have a big partisan push to change the Constitution. The underlying idea here is that, important as the case by case determination of the scope of certain fundamental rights is, what’s even more important is the structural principle that these determinations should not be a popularity contest, and ought to be isolated from cyclical politics to a great extent.
"I think that’s probably the reasoning that best accounts for the language Obama used, though I can think of a slightly different route to a similar conclusion. That is, you might think we shouldn’t grant marriage rights to gay couples where they don’t exist, but oppose taking those rights away in places where they’ve already been granted, and especially where gay couples have already begun to marry."
I mentioned before that Obama seems to have a nuanced and subtle view of legal issues, and this seems to fall in line with that. Ultimately though it seems that he has enough respect for the law as to honor it even when it doesn't coincide with his POV. That's enough reason for me to vote for him.
Netflix Pick of the Week
Check this out. Usually I hate Colin Farrell, who I think is about as overrated as this guy, but he kills in this movie. Funny, sad, thought provoking, and entertaining, In Bruges was one of the best movies of the year.
And yeah, I was in Bruges, and yeah, it is a shit hole. A beautiful shit hole, but as dull as a bowling ball.
The Bag I'm In
I feel Atrios' pain:
"One thing about blogging during the campaign is that you end up pissing people off on all sides. There are those who, understandably, think it's vitally important that Barack Obama be elected and so important that asshole bloggers like me should refrain from any and all criticism lest my mighty blog powers cause Obama to fail. And there are those that get mad because I'm completely in the tank and don't criticize Obama enough. And everyone in between."
And if you heard my dad's opinion of me when I criticize Obama you'd think I was Sean Hannity. What can you do?
"One thing about blogging during the campaign is that you end up pissing people off on all sides. There are those who, understandably, think it's vitally important that Barack Obama be elected and so important that asshole bloggers like me should refrain from any and all criticism lest my mighty blog powers cause Obama to fail. And there are those that get mad because I'm completely in the tank and don't criticize Obama enough. And everyone in between."
And if you heard my dad's opinion of me when I criticize Obama you'd think I was Sean Hannity. What can you do?
As You Will
Here's an interesting stat about gun violence I didn't know. From Sully:
"Suicides accounted for 55% of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Do with it as you will.
"Suicides accounted for 55% of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Do with it as you will.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
And About What Clark Said
Sully has his comments here, and Kiko takes the other side here. I left some comments under K's post, but basically I wasn't too down with Clark's tone, or even the fact of why he should bring it up in the first place. No, I don't think it's a 'swiftboat' but it's heading in that direction. Is this really where Obama wants to go?
I think Marc is right on this point:
"Critics of McCain have used the same verbiage before, and used it as an insult. Historians and journalists who study the events will first notice that McCain spent five years as a POW; surely, that is the relevant fact, not the way he became a POW. One focuses on the means of his condition only to degrade the subsequent five years, as if to say, yeah, five years of torture was bad, but it was kinda dumb of him to get shot down. Referring to the shoot down strips away the relevant context: McCain was shot down on a daring combat mission whose target, as I recall, was strategically relevant. It wasn’t as if he wandered into Viet Cong airspace and was hit by a stray piece of metal. (By the way – and this is important – McCain admits in both the books he wrote about his Vietnam experience that he wasn’t a great aviator. So why even make the point?)"
Friday, June 27, 2008
Was Obama Being Honest?
In the last week or so I've discussed Obama the politician, but over at Ezra I'm reminded that Obama can be rather sincere:
"Yesterday, I expressed frustration with Obama's criticism of the Supreme Court's decision to declare the death penalty unconstitutional as a punishment for child rape. Obama's position may be politically expedient, I argued, but it's wrong on the merits. Jeffrey Rosen, however, has a good catch from The Audacity of Hope suggesting that Obama's take is actually tethered to a fairly long-standing belief in the applicability of the death penalty to crimes beyond murder:
"Obama's support for the execution of child rapists wasn't invented for the presidential election; it dates back to The Audacity of Hope, where he wrote: "While the evidence tells me that the death penalty does little to deter crime, I believe there are some crimes--mass murder, the rape and murder of a child--so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment."
Some times Obama panders, but sometimes his mental complexity does lead to nuances in thinking that cross partisan lines. The question remains: Will he have the wisdom to know which to follow?
"Yesterday, I expressed frustration with Obama's criticism of the Supreme Court's decision to declare the death penalty unconstitutional as a punishment for child rape. Obama's position may be politically expedient, I argued, but it's wrong on the merits. Jeffrey Rosen, however, has a good catch from The Audacity of Hope suggesting that Obama's take is actually tethered to a fairly long-standing belief in the applicability of the death penalty to crimes beyond murder:
"Obama's support for the execution of child rapists wasn't invented for the presidential election; it dates back to The Audacity of Hope, where he wrote: "While the evidence tells me that the death penalty does little to deter crime, I believe there are some crimes--mass murder, the rape and murder of a child--so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment."
Some times Obama panders, but sometimes his mental complexity does lead to nuances in thinking that cross partisan lines. The question remains: Will he have the wisdom to know which to follow?
Finally!
An explosion on CNN that wasn't caused by US bombs!:
Seriously though this is great, great news. But one thing, how is it that Bush can so seamlessly go from calling Obama to an appeaser for wanting to negotiate with our enemies to himself negotiating with our enemies without every news outlet calling him out for hypocrisy? Either Bush is a political genius or the news doesn't give a damn. Gee, I wonder which one it is?
Note: That Times link I posted does give a somewhat tepid acknowledgement of Bush's duplicity, but, in my opinion, that in no way balances their reporting of Bush's 'appeasement' remarks.
Seriously though this is great, great news. But one thing, how is it that Bush can so seamlessly go from calling Obama to an appeaser for wanting to negotiate with our enemies to himself negotiating with our enemies without every news outlet calling him out for hypocrisy? Either Bush is a political genius or the news doesn't give a damn. Gee, I wonder which one it is?
Note: That Times link I posted does give a somewhat tepid acknowledgement of Bush's duplicity, but, in my opinion, that in no way balances their reporting of Bush's 'appeasement' remarks.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
My Completely Amateur View on Today's Ruling
I'm not a lawyer or anything, but it seems to me that the Supreme Court got this one right. Sure, I can rail at conservative talking head hypocrites and how none of them seem to be whining right now about 'activist judges' usurping power from the state, but I won't. This one seemed to be a no brainer, and that's coming from some one who believes in outlawing guns. Whether I like it or not the Constitution allows people to own weapons, and unless we're going to amend the Constitution we'd all do better off thinking of ways to keep weapons out of criminal's hands rather than keeping them out of every one's. At least for now.
The best thing about the ruling? It allows me to link to the coolest widget ever:
DC v Heller - Free Legal Forms
The best thing about the ruling? It allows me to link to the coolest widget ever:
DC v Heller - Free Legal Forms
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Joke of the Day
Imus is at his funniest, when he's making excuses:
"On Tuesday he said he was following the spirit of that promise by calling attention to the unfair treatment of blacks - in this case the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones.
"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."
He called the flurry of criticism surrounding the comments "ridiculous" and said that his program's cast is now more diverse than ever - and includes a black producer and two black co-hosts.
"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?" Imus wondered aloud.
Co-host Karith Foster - who is black - came to Imus' defense during Tuesday's broadcast, saying, "People who interpret what you said as racist clearly didn't hear the whole thing, and they don't know who you are and what the program is about - and they obviously haven't been listening."
The latest comments by Imus to come under scrutiny were aired on Monday's broadcast. During a conversation about Jones' run-ins with the law, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Sports announcer Warner Wolf said Jones - formerly known as Pacman - is "African-American." Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."
I don't even know where to begin--the fact that Imus said something so blatantly racist to start with, or the fact that he chose this lame excuse to end. And then to say that Pac-Man Jones is an example of racism...Pac-Man Jones? Really? Really? He's an example of stupidity sure, but racism? Man this is so weak.
Imus seems like the kind of guy who'd burn a cross on your lawn and then tell you the next day that he did it to show you that racism is still alive. Or better yet, the thief who breaks into a bank, and when he gets caught says he did it to show how security is so lax.
But what do you expect? He's friggin Imus! What, you thought he'd 'changed'? Then I guess the joke's on you.
"On Tuesday he said he was following the spirit of that promise by calling attention to the unfair treatment of blacks - in this case the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones.
"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."
He called the flurry of criticism surrounding the comments "ridiculous" and said that his program's cast is now more diverse than ever - and includes a black producer and two black co-hosts.
"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?" Imus wondered aloud.
Co-host Karith Foster - who is black - came to Imus' defense during Tuesday's broadcast, saying, "People who interpret what you said as racist clearly didn't hear the whole thing, and they don't know who you are and what the program is about - and they obviously haven't been listening."
The latest comments by Imus to come under scrutiny were aired on Monday's broadcast. During a conversation about Jones' run-ins with the law, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Sports announcer Warner Wolf said Jones - formerly known as Pacman - is "African-American." Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."
I don't even know where to begin--the fact that Imus said something so blatantly racist to start with, or the fact that he chose this lame excuse to end. And then to say that Pac-Man Jones is an example of racism...Pac-Man Jones? Really? Really? He's an example of stupidity sure, but racism? Man this is so weak.
Imus seems like the kind of guy who'd burn a cross on your lawn and then tell you the next day that he did it to show you that racism is still alive. Or better yet, the thief who breaks into a bank, and when he gets caught says he did it to show how security is so lax.
But what do you expect? He's friggin Imus! What, you thought he'd 'changed'? Then I guess the joke's on you.
Whoops!
A couple of minutes ago there was gunfire at Tel Aviv airport during a visit by French honcho Sarkozy. First thought--terrorist attack. But it now looks like an Israeli soldier was just pulling a Bush:
"However, a conflicting report said the soldier apparently fell from a vantage point he was occupying on a high building, from where he was securing the event, and the bullet that killed him misfired from his gun."
Poor guy was probably just trying to get a better view of Sarkozy's wife.
"However, a conflicting report said the soldier apparently fell from a vantage point he was occupying on a high building, from where he was securing the event, and the bullet that killed him misfired from his gun."
Poor guy was probably just trying to get a better view of Sarkozy's wife.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Carlin's Wisdom--Nugget #2
From the Rude Pundit, Carlin on perspective:
"There are two ways to think about this existence we have. One of them is that it's Wednesday and it's three fifteen and we're talking here in my home, and at four o'clock I have to leave for another meeting. Now, that's a reality. But there's another reality. We're in the solar system of a second-rate star, three quarters of the way out on a spiral arm of an average galaxy in a thing called the Local Group. And ours is only one of billions of galaxies, each of which has billions of stars. Some star systems are binary, and there could be a planet that revolves around a center of gravity between two binary stars. So you'd have two sunrises and two sunsets every day. One could be a red giant, the other a white dwarf; two different-sized, -shaped, and -colored suns in the sky. And there might be other planets and comets. In other words, fuck Wednesday, fuck three fifteen, fuck four o'clock, fuck the United States, fuck the earth. It's all temporal bullshit. I like thinking about being out there and not thinking about the corporate structure, not worrying about freedom, and not worrying about guns. I chose a life of ideas. That entertains me. That nourishes me."
-George Carlin
"There are two ways to think about this existence we have. One of them is that it's Wednesday and it's three fifteen and we're talking here in my home, and at four o'clock I have to leave for another meeting. Now, that's a reality. But there's another reality. We're in the solar system of a second-rate star, three quarters of the way out on a spiral arm of an average galaxy in a thing called the Local Group. And ours is only one of billions of galaxies, each of which has billions of stars. Some star systems are binary, and there could be a planet that revolves around a center of gravity between two binary stars. So you'd have two sunrises and two sunsets every day. One could be a red giant, the other a white dwarf; two different-sized, -shaped, and -colored suns in the sky. And there might be other planets and comets. In other words, fuck Wednesday, fuck three fifteen, fuck four o'clock, fuck the United States, fuck the earth. It's all temporal bullshit. I like thinking about being out there and not thinking about the corporate structure, not worrying about freedom, and not worrying about guns. I chose a life of ideas. That entertains me. That nourishes me."
-George Carlin
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