Nail Em Up

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the longest serving GOP senator, was indicted on seven counts for concealing more than $250,000 in gifts from oil services company VECO Corp.  VECO employees remodeled his home and the company traded a 35 year old Mustang for a 1999 Land Rover, among many other things.  Since federal agents raided the offices of six legislators' offices in 2006, including Ben Stevens' (Ted's son), five have been sentenced to prison and VECO's CEO, Bill Allen, pleaded guilty in May 2007 to bribing state officials.  With Allen's cooperation, hopefully the government will be able to nail this 84 year old bastard and send him away for the rest of his short life, and with a miracle he could end up in a federal pound-him-in-the-ass prison.  Corrupt politicians like Ted are disgusting and they're increasingly becoming a Republican problem that will simply hand Democrats more seats this year, but with the party in its current state I'm not sure I give a damn.

Obama Camp Censoring the Media

The new New Yorker magazine cover features every caricature of Obama and his wife that have been perpetuated by the far right (Obama the muslim, Michelle the angry radical, etc.).  Putting aside the fact that I think the Michelle caricature is accurate, I think it's ridiculous for the Obama camp and its supporters to be in an uproar about this.  It lends a little credibility to the Muslim caricature that he can't handle a simple cartoon from a magazine that is know for its heavily satirical articles read mainly by more intellectual people who stay abreast of the real issues and facts and not the far right nut jobs that such caricatures are targeted towards (i.e. the ones who would never vote for him anyway!).  How many people who believe that Obama is a Muslim supporter of bin Laden even look at the cover of the New Yorker or know what the hell the New Yorker is? More proof that God forbid anyone say or print anything negative about the man who will end poverty, war, sickness, and other ill afflicting the world within his first six days in office.

R.I.P. Tony Snow

His principles were misguided in the way that only someone's on the far right (or left) could be, and his demeanor typified the arrogance we expect from this administration, but he seemed like a good person.  Rest in peace.

Rove Does Whatever the Hell He Wants? Shocking

Karl Rove ignored a congressional subpoena requiring him to testify today about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department.  The arrogance of this administration, which has hidden behind executive privilege for all of its misdeeds, is appalling.  They've treated this country as a playground bully would, breaking the rules and making new ones as they go.  However, I can understand why Karl Rove took advantage of his powers.  I picture him as the real-life "Buddy Pine" (a.k.a. Syndrome) from "The Incredibles."  He was the pudgy dork that everyone picked on in school and then he gets powers and goes after everyone else so he can feel important.  He was a pudgy dork then and he's a pudgy, pathetic loser now.  I only wish there was a way to send him to a nice "pound-him-in-the-ass" prison.

Jackson Wants Barack's Nuts

Jesse Jackson is making headlines again, this time for insulting Obama.  Though Jackson says his comments about wanting to cut Barack's nuts off are soundbites taken out of context and he still fully supports the candidate, they come as somewhat of a shock from a man who would put the interests of black America before those of America as a whole.  Jackson cares about blacks and only blacks, so for him to say anything negative about the first black candidate is surprising.  People like Jackson and Sharpton are divisive forces within the black community and the Democrat party, and both groups would be better off if such people disappeared from the limelight.

One Death Closer

This post may not end up being the most tasteful but neither was Jesse Helms, who died yesterday at the age of 86. Social conservatives were quick to laud Helms. The White House said, "America lost a great public servant and true patriot". I won't question his patriotism, though it may have been misplaced on some issues. He served in WWII so I have to give him credit for that. I will question his status as a "great public servant". Men like Helms are no such thing. They're great self servants, successfully pushing their own biases into the public forum.

Helms was a segregationist, though less and less outspoken as racism became more taboo. When he ran against Harvey Gannt, black former mayor of Charlotte, he aired a TV campaign ad that said "You needed that job, and you were the best qualified, but they had to give it to minority because of a racial quota." Racial quotas are definitely wrong, but the message was clear...vote for a black and lose your job.

Helms was an excellent representation of the ignorance spread by social conservatives. On the issue of homosexuality, he once attributed AIDS to "people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts." However, his shear stupidity may be best exemplified by this piece of direct-mail..."Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade school classes that teach our children that CANNIBALISM, WIFE-SWAPPING, and the MURDER of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior." I crack up every time I read that, especially when I realize there is more than one person who believes this stuff. Okay, I can kind of see how conservatives of the Helms variety are dumb enough to think that kids will become gay (cannibalism?) by hearing their teacher talk about tolerance (God forbid), but wife-swapping!

Helms' death takes the party one small step farther from the grasp of religious nut jobs and brings it one small step closer back to reason. He "served" this country far too long.

Siding With Obama (At Least on One Issue)

There are few issues I can side with Obama on, but I have to give him credit for a speech he made two years ago to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal that is now making national headlines thanks to James Dobson. Dobson, of Focus on the Family, attacked Obama today for that speech made in June 2006, in which Obama stated, "Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?" EXACTLY!

During his radio program, Dobson actually had the balls to say, "I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology,". So using the Bible to attack homosexuals isn't distorting anything? That one small reference in the Bible still applies because manipulative, self-serving, narrow-minded scum like you say it does? I see. The extent of the hypocrisy among evangelicals never ceases to amaze me, along with their holier-than-thou attitudes. What's more, it's disgusting how men like Dobson get out there and lead congregations against certain actions and people based on their own biases while using the Bible to justify it. All the while they're guilty of some of the very same sins (see Ted Haggard).