Fat Bastard's Rant

2006-08-29T21:13:00.000-04:00

There is this bizarre syndrome where Republicans claim that every event is good for them, pundits echo that, and Democrats internalize it to the point of being paralyzed with fear. If there is no terrorist attack, that helps Republicans because it shows Bush is protecting us. If there is a terrorist attack, that helps Republicans because it makes Americans focus on terrorism again. If Osama bin Laden is silent, that helps Republicans because it shows he has to hide. If he releases a video tape, that helps Republicans because it puts the focus back on terrorism. Bush supporters and pundits, in unison, will insist that virtually every issue is a win-win politically for the Republicans, even as Republicans suffer political collapse.

Thing is-- people aren't buying it anymore.

2006-06-27T23:04:00.000-04:00

Spidey, I like.
Iron Man? COOL.
The Hulk? Not so much.

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		75%
Iron Man		65%
The Flash		55%
Hulk		50%
Green Lantern		45%
Superman		45%
Supergirl		40%
Robin		40%
Catwoman		30%
Batman		20%
Wonder Woman		15%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

2006-06-24T12:53:00.000-04:00

You've noticed, I'm sure, that the posting here has been very light-- The lovely and talented Mrs. B has been in hospital for the last few days for a just diagnosed heart condition.

That's where my mind has been lately.

And to establish her bonafides, while she doesn't loathe/hate/despise the right-wing assholes quite as much as I do (she is, after all, a lady), she's still a good "lefty" and deserving of best wishes.

A couple of quick thoughts:

Fire Bruce Arena. Please.

Somebody, please, bitch-slap that asshole Karl Rove.

And what fool thinks a group of poor-ass, broke-ass guys in Miami were a credible terrorist threat? Swede Jesus (that's that blonde, blue-eyed first-century Jewish carpenter, can you dig it?) is this an indicator that they're that desperate? Or that the American people are that fucking stupid???

2006-06-15T06:52:00.000-04:00

Star Trek Cribs - The Director's Cut

Now, I've always been a fan of Classic ("Prime Directive? What the fuck is that?")Trek.

But who knew Spock had it goin' on like this?

2006-06-14T17:19:00.000-04:00

Ever the oilman, Mr. Bush thinks in terms of dollars per barrel. And, while listening to Ed Schultz today, he had more than one conservobot caller talk about how the rebuilding of Iraq should be paid for by Iraqi oil; that the war itself will be paid for by Iraqi oil.

"You can measure progress in terms of oil sold on the market..."

Dumb bastards.

To even think about harnessing that rich vein of black gold, you have to secure the infrastructure. If you can't pump it, pipe it, load it and ship it, it's all but worthless.

That infrastructure is... a target. Every wellhead, every pumping station, every remote section of pipe, every tanker truck and every tanker ship has a big bullseye painted on it's side.

Systems Disruption "consists of simple attacks (using ad hoc weapons) on critical nodes of infrastructure -- oil, gas, electricity, water, etc. These attacks, if properly targeted, can cause cascades of failure that sweep entire systems."

Look, they've got to believe that anything the new Iraqi government knows, at least one faction of violent actors also knows. After all, they only let the Prime Minister know that George was coming 'til five minutes before the meeting.

"Mr. Allawi, you will be meeting with the President of the United States in five minutes." "WHAT? Beard of the prophet, I'm not ready! I have no notes! I don't have an agenda! What the... Mr. President, it is so good to see you...")

They didn't tell him because some faction or other would have known within hours. They didn't tell him because if the wrong faction had the right information, they would have whacked Our Boy George if they had to sacrifice themselves in droves to do it. And if our security people believe they're capable of that, despite the undoubtedly formidable defensive ring around him, they're surely capable of blowing up a few bits of infrastructure.

"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing."

2006-06-14T12:04:00.000-04:00

Such weaseldicks.

I just love how right wing assholes pretend evenhandedness. I mean, look-- Hillary's not my favorite candidate; I'm on record as being in favor of grabbing Al Gore by the neck and telling him in no uncertain terms that he is the goddamn candidate. But when shit-for-brains like John Hawkins, writing in a shit-smeared rag like Human Events tries to tell us what a bad candidate Hill would make:

Hillary is carrying around as much baggage as any of the other five candidates combined, starting with her philandering husband. In fact, there are so many controversies that have swirled around Bill and Hill than you can hardly list them all: Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broderick, Whitewater, selling the Lincoln bedroom, using the IRS against political enemies, selling pardons, taking the White House furniture, shady cattle futures deals, impeachment, firing the travel office staff to make room for cronies, it goes on and on and on. Discount these scandals as old news if you like, but the American people are going to think long and hard before they vote to turn the White House into the sort of sleazy circus sideshow that it was during Bill Clinton’s tenure as President.

Oh, that is just fucking rich.

Hey, dumbfuck-- have you noticed the thousands of dead bodies around George Bush's tenure?

Fucking lying sacks of shit. I really hate the fuckers.

(sigh)

Meanwhile-- how 'bout them Spaniards? Opened 'em up a can of Spanish Whoopass on Ukraine. Makes me feel a little better that someone lost more ignominiously than USA did last Monday.

While the Brazilians just coast along, secure in the knowledge that the road to the Cup goes through Brasil. What fun!

2006-06-13T21:29:00.000-04:00

So, I was listening to Big Eddie Schultz on my drive home yesterday. When I tuned to Radio Free Ohio (there's a free plug, fellas, use it with care) Big Ed was launching into some deep ramble about the "middle class" and how the middle class would still be there after the Rove story was over.

Ed's phrasing wasn't memorable, but one thing stuck with me-- the middle class is working harder and paid less. And that resonated with me, because I'm just another workin' stiff (yeah, I work in front of a computer screen most of the day and move symbols around, but I still gotta get paid so's my mortgage banker can get his cut, y'dig?)

In my work I do get around. And I talk to a lot of people in a lot of plants and companies and towns and cities and it seems like every goddamn one of us is bustin' his ass.

Every time there's another announcement of layoffs from somewhere, believe me, some hard workin' bitches and sonsabitches are all gonna be feelin' a little nervous. And once there's the blood has been let, those who remain don't have a lot of time to celebrate their survival. The work still has to be done, and if you don't want to follow your late and lamented former colleagues out the door, you damn well better pick it up.

If, on the other hand, you're one of those who either through luck, inheritance, or marriage (the reward for hard work isn't riches-- it's always more hard work), the changes wrought over the last few decades have been really helpful.

The American economy has been given over more and more to capital, and it's close enough to equate that with money. Wealth. Moolah. Cash. Paper (who thought up that fucked up nickname? It's worse than the 60's "bread," fer Ghod's sake).

Dem what has gets, dem what don't, don't.

Taxes on capital have been shrunk, shrunk, and shrunk again. The Republicans have made taxes on capital Enemy Number One. Inheritance taxes? Uh, no, those are "death taxes" and to be abhorred as though they were the cause of death themselves.

So-- if your income comes from your ownership of "capital," you've seen your tax rates go down faster than a transgender hooker in the back of Hugh Grant's car.

If your income comes from "the sweat of your brow," on the other hand, you're gonna get taxed at the fullest possible rate.

Higher tax rates for the working person; far lower job security for the working person-- while the trustafarians talk about strangling government in the bathtub.

Lately I've been hearing the old Communist rallying cry in my head- "Workers of world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!"

2006-06-12T22:59:00.000-04:00

And speaking of wanting women to die for having sex-- the AngryBlackBitch calls this shit exactly what it is-- War:

A long while ago some asshole decided to comment rather dismissively on one of my posts because a bitch had the audacity to term the current abstinence only non-sexual sex education push as a deliberate war on women.

This bitch is on record…if it walks like it and talks like it call it what it is.

Loves me a bitch.

2006-06-12T20:05:00.000-04:00

"We want women to die for having sex."

At least, that's what the Family Research Council would say if they were being honest with themselves and the rest of us.

2006-06-12T20:00:00.000-04:00

Watched USA vs. the Czech Republic today; ran out on work and down to the local wing joint to sit with a bunch of guys who generally didn't know shit about soccer (like me) but still wanted to root for the Our Side.

And Our Side played like shit. I'm no expert. Hell, I'm utterly incompetent, having never really even played the game-- but even I could see that the American side's passing was poor, that they showed no spark, that there was no aggressiveness, bloody little willingness to attack the goal... well, it was depressing.

Thank God for beer.

2006-06-11T20:46:00.000-04:00

How passionate is the world for soccer?

Let's put it this way... to keep people from watching the matches, you'll have to cut all their power and kill a few.

2006-06-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

I had the great good fortune to have todays Trinidad & Tobago vs. Sweden match as my introduction to World Cup futbol.

I say futbol, because "soccer" will, in my mind, forever be associated with "soccer moms."

Those who follow footie are well aware that Sweden was heavily favored in this match. Before the tournament began (and of course, everything changes once the ball hits the turf) the odds were 44 to 1 against for the Swedes to win it all, it was 2001 to 1. I'm not gonna go into how the tournament is played, y'all can do y'own damn Googlin' an' shit.

Nonetheless, watching the last thirty minutes of that match was thrilling, even heart-stopping. And it was a zero-zero freakin' tie!

And what pressure it was, as the Swedes dominated play, taking 18 shots to six for Trinidad and Tobago, and taking eight corner kicks to only one for the Trinidad and Tobago.

SHAKAAAAAA!!! SHAKA SHAKA SHAKA SHAKAAAAAAAAAA! T&T's goalkeeper, played with the 1988 Howard University side that made the NCAA finals. Last minute substitution when the starter suffered a last minute injury. Was. A. WALL:

T&T goalkeeper Shaka Hislop was the man of the hour, making several fantastic saves to help his side earn a point in its first-ever World Cup match. Hislop wasn't even supposed to be on the field, but a last-minute injury in the warm-up to Kelvin Jack opened the door for the former Howard University star.

And then there were the things outside the play itself-- sportsmanship exhibited when a T&T player patted the head of a Swede after a hard fought duel in front of the goal; a Swede's concern when his tackle injured a T&T player... the fans in the stands, folk of every color (a Swedish fan with a blue and gold face; the group of T&T fans clearly delirious with joy)--

They call it "the beautiful game."

Today's match, today's 0-0 tie-- a score guaranteed to make most Americans yawn-- this match was just simply beautiful.

2006-06-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

I watched that skanky ho's performance on the Today show and was dumbfounded. Nothing that came to mind would have been printable on a family oriented website (which this ain't, so fuck you, buddy).

Luckily for me, Taylor Marsh over on Firedoglake explains quite lucidly just why the Thick Skulled Thirty Percenters love Her Imperial Wretchedness soshe is their Queen:

Some doubted why I put so much focus on Ann Coulter yesterday. I mean, really, she’s such a wingnut wacko, right? Well, the Republicans don’t like to claim her, but she is their base, baby. The anti immigrant, anti gay, anti women, anti everything contingent of the voting Republican Party. The crowd that listens to hack radio day in and day out.

I know those guys. I've had to work with a lot of those guys. And they love the skinnyskank. Of course, they've listened to Rush and Hannity and the rest of the raving madmen for the last fifteen years gettin' their victimhood on, losing their jobs to less qualified blacks and having a "lifestyle I don't agree with shoved in our faces" and recognized the brown horde pouring over the border...

But the real beauty of Taylor's post are the assorted references from the right side of the blogosphere:

Truth Missile: when Conservatives tell the truth the MSM (including Google) cries "hate-speech!", when Liberals tell the truth… I mean if they ever told the truth… well, if and when a Liberal ever tells the truth we’ll figure out what the MSM lapdogs call it.

The conservative movement can't repudiate the quivering sac of pus; because she is Them.

2006-06-06T21:39:00.000-04:00

Although this is from America's Finest News Source, it still sounds like something the sonsabitches would try to pull, doesn't it?

[Gonzalez] added that, thanks to several key additions, the Bill of Rights now offers protections that were previously lacking, including the right to be protected by soldiers quartered in one's home (Amendment III), the guarantee that activities not specifically delegated to the states and people will be carried out by the federal government (Amendment VI), and freedom of Judeo-Christianity and non-combative speech (Amendment I).

2006-06-06T21:28:00.000-04:00

gyot DAMN, but what a flaming, gaping bitch.

2006-06-06T10:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Devil Day! Today, 06-06-06 (or, if you're European, 06-06-06) is officially Devil Day! A fine, even epochal moment for that special practical joke.

Play one on your evangelical friends today!!

2006-06-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

And we Americans just get uglier and uglier.

Now the Pentagon has decided that it will no longer obey the Geneva Convention rules against "humiliating and degrading treatment."

We, the former shining beacon to the world, have turned into the monsters our grandfathers vanquished.

Damn, this is depressing.

2006-06-02T23:41:00.000-04:00

Well I will be all go to hell.

Robert Kennedy makes a very detailed, serious case that the 2004 Presidential election was just simply stolen.

The piece is thorougly veined with details-- footnoted and linked details, thank you very much.

Take the reference to the precinct in Ohio where

According to the exit poll, Kerry should have received sixty-seven percent of the vote in this precinct. Yet the certified tally gave him only thirty-eight percent. The statistical odds against such a variance are just shy of one in 3 billion.

Imagine that. 3 billion to one. Nice round number, eh? Somewhat less than we've spent in Iraq this month, but hey, who's counting?

2006-03-02T16:39:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

2006-01-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

Swede. Jumpin'. Jeebus. On a goddamn jumprope.

Whilst reading the redoubtable Plain Dealer's normally morally vacuous editorial page (hey, you gotta go with what you can get) I stumbled across this most puissant piece of... well...

Bin Laden and his ideological brethren promise that the conflict that has begun will not end until Muslims have the lands, power and status they demand and deserve.

Fair enough. But let take a deep toke of perspective, and ask ourselves--

do we really fucking believe Bin Laden and his merry band of murderers has ANY fucking chance in hell of pulling this off?

I don't know what Clifford D. May has been smokin', but I do wish he would kindly share. Bin Ladin ain't invade shit.

Who's done the invading these last few years? Was it... Saddam? No, his last little invasion party got him a lot more shit than he was ready to deal with.

Was it... maybe the motherfucking United States of America?

And I really don't give a good goddamn that the Bushite Regime and it's apologists insist that "it's not about oil." Are there any third graders that would swallow this line of bullshit?

DAMMIT.

2006-01-01T16:37:00.000-05:00

January First, 2006. I've survived another year; most of which I went without posting.

So what the fuck. Its my 'blog, ya don't like it you can... (ahem)

Speaking of what the fuck, I follow a link from one of the Gilliard's posts comment section to lovely little corner of the right-blogosphere called BaneRants.

It seems he has a rather... shall we say inflated opinion of of mAnn Coulter-- and his own lily-white hide. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Y'know I've always known that when (not if, dear readers) the Turner Diary types tried to throw their little soiree, they'd be shocked- shocked, I tell you, when they got return fire. As the supporters and sycophants of White Privilege tend to be, more often than not, personal physical cowards, I've also believed in letting them know--

"Yep, eventually you'll get me, but how many of you are ready to go to Hell with me?"

I have no intention of going without an honor guard.

But all that notwithstanding, let me point out a little tidbit-- the kind of thing that drives Mr. Bane and his Little Green Fuckhead fellow travelers is that they absolutely hate, hate, hate to see any goddamn thing that benefits blacks.

They will go to any length, tell any lie, perpetrate anything, and I do mean anything, to avoid seeing those Negroes achieve or attain.

No matter, though. Black folks have survived his type for the last few hundred years; I'm sure they'll survive this pin-headed rat-bastard fuck too.

2005-10-29T10:48:00.000-04:00

Metaphor. Getting an idea into the heads of readers requires a reasonable command of metaphor.

Finding the right metaphors to describe the godawful mess the Bushite Regime and its hangers-on and willfully stupid followers might possibly understand is difficult, sure enough, but the Incomparable Driftglass strikes a magnificent one in yet another brilliant post:

You and I, we live in a house built by giants.

Flawed giants to be sure – we’re all sinners here – but the men and women who made this place for us stood a full head taller than their times and looked to make us as fine a future as their magnificent, damaged vision could perceive.

The planks of the floor tongue-and-grooved together by Jefferson’s prose. The bricks laid straight and true by Washington. The kitchen kept tight and warm by Franklin. The Southern Wing fumigated by Sherman and made beautiful by Ms. Rosa Parks.

...

We all work in the dark and we all do what we can. That’s the social compact. That’s the deal, and from generation to generation our house gets little additions. New furnishings from Imperial to Populist to Early "Whip Inflation Now."

Sometimes we paint the place Red, and sometimes Blue, and sometimes what those colors mean changes completely, but the compact requires -- absolutely requires -- that we respect the house itself.

And it is in this signal betrayal that the Modern Republican Party is singularly infamous.

The Confederacy tried to tear down this house; and they failed. Their spiritual grandchildren, the Modern GOP, is returning to the family's work only now they use stealthed bulldozers rather than sledgehammers.

Go read the DriftMeister's magnificent prose.

He says what I feel far better than I can say it.

2005-10-28T19:25:00.000-04:00

Occasionally I delude myself that I can write. Then I read Driftglass' stuff and... well, anyway, today he posts about the Bushite Regime's tendency to see the world in only two tenses:

First, there is the alky’s Best Friend: the eternally Bright Future about which they talk endlessly. The Bright Future is a wonderful, scrum-dee-lee-icious realm full of Iraqi Corners that are juuuust about to be turned, booming prosperity, magically evaporating deficits and rising Republican popularity.

...

Then there is and the Dim and Distant Past,... that scary place full Dubya’s draft dodgery, drunkenness, lies, broken promises, blood-soaked treason, treachery, betrayal of the nation’s trust, breathtaking ineptitude, fatal arrogance, casual thuggery,

And that’s just in the last two weeks!

Go read it. Its well worth the effort.

2005-10-21T21:18:00.000-04:00

There are leaders like King Aragorn, and then there's... Bushie. Viggo Mortensen explains that he's not "anti-Bush":

I'm not anti-Bush; I'm anti-Bush behavior. In other words, I'm against cheating, greed, cruelty, racism, imperialism, religious fundamentalism, treason, and the seemingly limitless capacity for hypocrisy shown by Bush and his Administration.

To quote the Instacracker- Heh.

Pre-loaded response to any wingnut blather about comparing their Mighty Preznit to a fictional character: Fuck off.

2005-10-21T10:46:00.000-04:00

Hmmmm... perhaps if we abort all white babies, we can eliminate grisly, pointless murders...

2005-10-20T23:06:00.000-04:00

Somebody's obviously just got way to damn much money.

2005-10-20T22:28:00.000-04:00

Norm Ornstein had a perfectly rational thought, that America must consider the worst case scenario:

...the problems of scandal and polarization result in a meltdown of the W. Administration and a collapse of governance in Washington. No Doubt some hard core partisans and ideologues would exult. But with the domestic and foreign policy challenges the country faces, it would be a disaster for all of us.[emphasis added]

Like the Bushite Regime hasn't already been a disaster? Well, perhaps not for all of us; the 'awl bidness' is doing pretty well on three-dollar-a-gallon gasoline. But for pretty much all the rest of us-- especially those poor brave bastards in the Infantry!-- that dumb son-of-a-bitch has been a walking, talking caricature of a disaster. (Yeah, go google up "miserable failure.")

No, I need to know what drugs that other Norm was doing when his solution came to mind.

1. Vice President Cheney resigns-- and President Bush replaces him not with Condoleeza Rice, as the rumors in Washington speculate, but with his father, George H.W. Bush.

2. President Bush resigns, allowing his father to move up to the presidency.

3. Bush 41/44 chooses his best buddy and surrogate son Bill Clinton (42, that is) to be Vice President. Talk about a fusion White House. Talk about bringing us together. Talk about compassionate triangulation.

Nevermind the fact that the wingnut base would go absolutely batshit fucking crazy. KKKlintoon as VP? Puh-lease.

I just think there's absolutely NFW that blockheaded son-of-a-bitch is going to walk out of the Oval Office without a fight, not that the GOP dominated legislature would consider giving him one. And if he's gonna go down, the dumb bastard will happily take the rest of the country with him.

Georgie's concern for the fate of the Republic could be measured in nano-givashits.

God help us.

2005-10-20T20:19:00.000-04:00

Now, as usual, it's a British newspaper-- a decidedly conservative British newspaper exposing the behaviour of the Bushite Regime:

Vice-President Dick Cheney and a handful of others had hijacked the government's foreign policy apparatus, deciding in secret to carry out policies that had left the US weaker and more isolated in the world, the top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed on Wednesday.

So, its not that Dubya is the vile treasonous dog that he seems, its that he's just a fucking idiot. But then, that is consistent with our observation of the man, isn't it?

Painful it must be for Republicans, though, to see just how far from the tree this particular rotten apple fell. The old man, George Herbert Walker Bush-- combat veteran of World War II, architect of Gulf War I and its successful conclusion-- was a titan on the world stage compared to his son, the ninny.

“There's a vast difference between the way George H.W. Bush dealt with major challenges, some of the greatest challenges at the end of the 20th century, and effected positive results in my view, and the way we conduct diplomacy today.”

No shit.

2005-10-17T21:16:00.000-04:00

Via Shakespeare's Sister, the reason I'm giving up and becoming a Republican.

2005-10-17T20:21:00.000-04:00

Steve Gilliard at The News Blog cudgels Bill Kristol:

Kristol is being purposely dense here. Classified information, sure. Plame's name and role was not classified. It was Top Secret-SCI, restricted to the Directorate of Operations and its most senior officials. Her work at the CIA was a state secret. Revealing it was a crime. It wasn't just politics as usual. But it wasn't her name alone, but revealing her work as an employ of Brewster-Jennings which caused the real problem. When a judge is asked to review Fitzgerald's requests, he's never been turned down. Most of his public papers are redacted. People probably died as a result of that revelation. You can bet Fitzgerald has that information on tap. It was a major intelligence defeat and a self-inflicted one at that.[emphasis added]

He's never been turned down. He put Judy Miller in the slammer. And for all the wingnut blather that Valerie Plame was not really "undercover" (like the CIA doesn't know who their own fucking spooks are), people died for this "leak."

UPDATE: Some days I don't know my Kristol from my Kristhof.

2005-10-17T13:25:00.000-04:00

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." -Napoleon Bonaparte

Right now I think Harry Reid may be channeling a certain short but successful French general. We're not hearing a lot from the Democrats right now despite how desperately we-- okay, I want to twist the knife.

Indictments.

The return of the roosting chickens. The roasting of the chickenhawks.

Patience, my dears, patience... this is going to be an interesting autumn.

2005-10-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

I have this co-worker. He's a pretty good guy; but definitely a conservative Christian. We've been on a couple of business trips together, and once the subject of black voters and the Republican party came up. I pointed out to him guys like David Duke and Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms and Trent Lott and... told him that even though black Americans were largely conservative and Christian in their personal lives and in their outlook, the Republicans would have to go pretty far to bring them in.

The other day I saw him in the hall, walked up and said, "If the question of why black people don't vote GOP ever pops into your head, I've got two words for you to remember: Bill Bennett.

He seemed rather surprised that I should take offense.

And the poor bastard doesn't think he's a bigot at all. He doesn't meanto be a bigot. He doesn't want to be a bigot.

But he's surprised that a black man would take offense at the idea that aborting black babies would reduce crime.

2005-10-12T19:36:00.000-04:00

I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.

I really need for somebody, anybody, to tell me how this is not racial bigotry.

I really need that.

The issue is not the suggestion of aborting all black babies. It is that his modest proposal makes a "known" connection between blacks and criminality. Period.

Bill Bennet demonstrates the casual bigotry that knows black people are prone to criminal behavior. It is the backbone of "law and order" conservatism, and always has been; the sure knowledge that given the opportunity, Negroes will prey on innocent people. Innocent white people.

So, Bennett's words have become, for me, a sort of litmus test. I wish I could just walk up to them all and ask one question: "Do you agree with Bill Bennett?"

The answers would no doubt be quite illuminating.

2005-10-11T20:59:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've been busy. I've also been sick. But mostly busy.

But I think I'll be around for a bit, so-- more later.

2005-09-09T00:22:00.000-04:00

Digby speaks to what I've been so angry about: that people weren't allowed in to help, and the people in New Orleans weren't allowed to just walk out.:

I think we can all understand the overwhelming nature of this disaster. And there should have been more adequate planning and a better response, no doubt about it. But the decision to deny immediate aid to people in the city is the worst decision of all. Read that story. These tourists were treated like shit by the authorities everywhere they went, just like the locals. Whoever made the decision to deny those people relief and then deny them the ability to leave when they tried to save themselves has blood on his or her hands.

Indeed.

2005-09-08T14:56:00.000-04:00

I wonder if our 'conservative' friends would accept an eyewitness report from some nice, middle-class Britons about their experiences in-- and getting out of-- New Orleans:

Mr Scott said: "The American people were fantastic, they couldn't do enough for us. I wish I could say the same for the American authorities.

"We had 72 Army ration packs for 40 people for five days.

"We had to break into all the vending machines in the hotel and we got all the snacks out of those.

"I have nothing but contempt for the American authorities. The only person who seems to be trying to do anything is the Mayor of New Orleans and that man is banging his head against a brick wall."

Such strident anti-Americanism!

2005-09-07T15:14:00.000-04:00

The leavings of Death's rich harvest in the wake of Katrina have not been counted, cannot be counted until the water has subsided and every single room in every single structure has been individually searched.

How many survived the storm yet died for want of rescue? For want of water, or food?

Now, no doubt in the name of respect for the dead, we will not be allowed to see them.

Mamie Till would have understood.

2005-09-07T02:07:00.000-04:00

By way of The News Blog, a first person account of life in New Orleans immediately after the hurricane. The most horrifying thing is the story of the Gretna sheriff's department:

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.

And then it gets yet worse:

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water.

2005-09-06T16:27:00.000-04:00

The federal government's actions regarding Hurricane Katrina has been non-feasance amounting to malfeasance.

The scale of continuing incompetence here is astounding. It isn't just that FEMA failed in the intial rush, people might forgive that, but that FEMA is like a freaking hemaroid, blocking help to this day. They lied to the American people, which is one thing. But when the American people came to help, even Wal Mart, they were blocked by FEMA.

2005-09-03T19:47:00.000-04:00

Via the incomparable Shakespeare's Sister (who, I'm sure, is not as old as her name sounds) one more piece of evidence that the Regime is either incompetent, evil, or perhaps both:

1000 of Louisiana's citizens responded to the public's pleas for help. They were prevented from helping by Dwight Landreneau's agency, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries which had been taken over by FEMA.

Not only is this regime doing damned little to help the people of New Orleans-- they're actively preventing private citizens from helping.

We are so fucked.

2005-09-03T15:20:00.000-04:00

The more I read, the more astonished I get. I found this email reference over on The News Blog in a comments thread, apparently written by someone in Gretna (a suburb of New Orleans):

We have set up a very slick compund/ base camp for Gretna Police dept. Gnenerators/ ac, tents, bathrooms, you name it. It's a block away from our warehouse/ compound. We are very fortunate to be a part of that team (Gretna) They were light years ahead of preparing for the storm and it shows. The force is tired and stressed b/c of the threat of all the New Orleans cast aways attempting to come over the bridge into Grtetna. They have a round the clock police line. They are armed with riot guns and machine guns. [emphasis mine]

Somehow, it makes a horrible kind of sense.

A Serb/Croat/Bosnian kind of sense.

God help us all.

2005-09-02T22:02:00.000-04:00

Filed under "Now WTF?":

A friend on a lawyer listserve sent me this story. This kid is definitely getting a pro bono lawyer. He found an abandoned bus in New Orleans, packed it with survivors, and drove it to the Astrodome. The reaction of the officials? They're going to charge him with theft. Unbelievable.

Now ain't that just some shit?

This kid takes an abandoned bus and evacuates a lot of people to Houston.

The reporters all characterize it as "theft." Somehow, I think if the refugees had been white, they would have called it "commandeered" and lauded him as a hero.

Its almost enough to make a man paranoid.

2005-09-02T21:54:00.000-04:00

Filed under "WTF?"

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla) has urged President Bush to fire Michael Brown as undersecretary of the Homeland Security Department in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Wexler cited reports in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that FEMA under Brown's management inappropriately gave away $30 million in disaster relief funds to people in the Miami, Florida, area even though they were not affected by Hurricane Frances, which made landfall more than 100 miles away.

I've read elsewhere that this guy is an incompetent twit of the first order.

Thus, given the proclivities of the Regime, I expect Michael Brown to get the Medal of Freedom any day now.

2005-09-02T19:55:00.000-04:00

Mrs. B is on a tear lately. She's actually writing to our senators and our congressman, giving them hell over the Bushite Regime's failure of leadership in the Gulf Coast.

That's not something she's generally moved to do; I've always been the ranter of the family. Pretty damn good at it, I might say... but I won't.

Me, I'm torn between mute rage and black despair.

dead bodies lining the streets... in America...

I can't for the life of me understand the people that I know who support the Regime. The obvious incompetence of this merry band of looters... but then, perhaps their competencies lie elsewhere.

Its a dead nuts certainty that the Bush Regime are masters of the lie and the smear. They're world class hucksters. And they behave like gangsters.

Loyalty to George Bush is the most prized talent of his entire organization (I can't for the life of me refer to them as an administration anymore).

dead bodies lining the streets... in America...

Four days in the Superdome with no food and no water.

In America.

2005-09-01T18:19:00.000-04:00

I've been staying away from the news, lately. Hasn't hurt that I've been out of town for a couple of days; and the only time I've been near a live TV has been passing through hotel lobbies, but now that I'm home I still just don't want to watch.

Got an email from a dear friend who lives in- or at least, lived in New Orleans. She reports that there's been a shark sighting in in the flood waters around the Landmark Hotel in the Metairie area.

A fucking SHARK?!!

Jumpin' Jeebus on a pogo stick. Not enough to have sewage, filth, bodies both animal and human-- and now you have to look out for a fucking shark.

Meanwhile, as our fellow citizens suffer and die, depressing news has reached Fat Castle: I've heard that the United States Government has refused help from Russia, Canada, Venezuela, and a lot of other countries. We'll get back to that sometime soon.

2005-08-30T23:26:00.000-04:00

I swear to God, they're putting Bush kool-aid in the damn water system!

So, today, I'm on an airplane out of (God save us) George Bush Intercontintal (megalomaniacal bastards) and find myself sitting next to a guy in a pilot's uniform. He tells me that his godson is in Iraq and that we never hear about all the improvements in the situation-- the schools built, the extension of fresh water piping...

And I'm thinking, "Sweet Jesus in a jump-jet, are you that fucking stupid? It doesn't mater worth a fuck when there's bombs going off everyday and OUR FUCKING GUYS are getting killed!"

I kept my mouth shut; a distressingly difficult yet often repeated labour these days.

Meanwhile in Iraq, things continue to suck.

2005-08-28T19:53:00.000-04:00

Frank Rich answers the question that's been dogging me lately-- Where the hell are the Democrats?

When the war's die-hard cheerleaders attacked the Middle East policy of a mother from Vacaville, Calif., instead of defending the president's policy in Iraq, it was definitive proof that there is little cogent defense left to be made. When the Democrats offered no alternative to either Mr. Bush's policy or Ms. Sheehan's plea for an immediate withdrawal, it was proof that they have no standing in the debate.

And so, Congresswoman Pelosi? Senator Reid?

2005-08-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

Insta-puddle rightfully denounces the Reverend Fred Phelps, asshole-in-chief of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Seems Mr. "God Hates Fags" has been picketing at the funerals of fallen soldiers, because they died for the United States, which of course is a bastion rampant faggotmania. (and no, I'm not linking to that son-of-a-bitch's site-- go find it for yourself.)

That does beg the question, though-- did Insta-poodle denounce Reverend Fred when he was protesting at the funerals of AIDS victims? Did he mention it at all?

Or was Freedies's fun time at a "faggot's" funeral just hunky-dory? One of those little things that makes you say, "Hmmmmmmm...."

2005-08-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

Once again, the Rude Pundit has zeroed in on how This Fat Bastard feels.

"Right! First things first-- wheeeeeeeere's yer crapper?"

2005-08-27T20:59:00.000-04:00

And so, as the days have gone by and all the excuses have amounted to nothing. From WMDs to Al Qaeda Loves Saddam to Saddam Personnally Threw Those Airplanes Into The World Trade Center to It's Hard Work Spreading Democracy, every damn time these blockheads come up with another excuse for this misbegotten adventure it melts away like an ice cube in the August sun.

My 'conservative' friends still believe in Our Beloved Leader, though. And of course there are those who just want to "nuke 'em all and let Jeebus sort 'em out." It amazes me absolutely to no end the lengths to which they will go to explain this war of aggression. They gladly pile conspiracy on top of plot on top of cabal when Occam's Razor indicates (pretty damn clearly) that the Bushites fucking lied.

There for sure ain't no damn WMD's in MessyPotamia.

2005-08-26T22:23:00.000-04:00

I have a shrub in my front yard.

It produces no flowers.

It grows perniciously, like sin in Vegas- except that it doesn't stay there.

I tell you, I hate that son-of-a-bitch. I hate with passion; like a Serb bustin' ass on a Croat (and vice versa) I want it gone, no if, ands or buts about it.

I've decided to call it.... George.