Victory, After All

Wow, nice little soft-shoe there, Bill, barely even mentioning the fact that NOW the Iraqi government itself (Maliki and his security advisers) wants a time-table for our withdrawal. And the fact, too, I'm saying, that when you finally did refer to it (no, I didn't blink and miss it), you sluffed it off as an internal political move on their part (pacifying the electorate, showing toughness to the U.S., etc.). I mean, talk about going out of your way to prevent embarrassment for YOUR de facto candidate, Senator McCain (granted, you've been considerably LESS blatant than your competitor, Keith Olbermann, has been in his nightly rah-rah for Obama). This, I'm saying, in that, think about it, Bill, the time of it being "our call"....as to the pronouncement of "victory" over there, that just might be coming to a screamy-meamy halt. Oh well, at least Mr. McCain is unequivocally on the record as saying, "yes, if the Iraqis themselves want us to leave..........................."...........................................P.S. Holy Shit! Wait a minute here. Neither of these candidates seem to be sticking to anything of late. I mean, talk about going from an occupation in abstract to TOTAL MISERY, 0-60 in 6.0 seconds (that's still fast, right?) - this is a flip-flop (in waiting) that might actually accomplish that. That, and a hell of a lot more, I'm saying.

Lydia's Place

It's the land, folks, of oversimplified analysis, unicausality, whipping-posts/boogie-men, a propensity to demonize and hate, and closed-minds that swell. And, so, too, I'm saying, does that placid bull-shit (blaming Nixon for the Bay of Pigs, for example) itself charge to the precipice and parry huge - preposterously! Of course, to have had the youngest of the "pack".... in a neck-tie, quivering, having in his own mind a hankering for Lydia, what, pray-tell, else ARE the options ? Free thinking? IIIII'm not thinking so.

Humiliation Libre

I saw a promotion the other night for this reality show called "Celebrity Rehab". I shit you not. Granted, these weren't exactly celebrity celebrities - people that the public actually gives a damn about anymore - but, still, it was enough for me to put forth a chuckle or two as I observed it. Of course, it also prompted me to rhetorically ask this question: has there now become no level/low to which a person won't go in order to pimp him/herself? And, yes, folks, I say rhetorically in that damned if it wasn't right there in front of me, boom - a hell of a big fat answer, NO!!.......................................P.S. Needless to say, one of the participants on this show is the utterly hapless Jeff Conaway ("Taxi" and "Grease", his two most memorable projects). I mean, talk about a fellow who actually does need some help. But real help, folks, not a scenario in which he's being taken advantage of by cable producers and ridiculed in virtually every home in which the show is being watched. This guy I genuinely DO feel sorry for, folks.

Things to Get Off the Chest

So much to say, so much to frigging say. Where do I even start? Let's see, how 'bout with the Nazi innuendo? Seriously, folks, I know I've written on this topic before but it definitely bears repeating. Nazi innuendo, whether it's coming from Bill O'Reilly or elsewhere (i.e., from far-left bloggers whose capacity for critical thinking and decency has clearly been eroded by repeated exposure to "doctrine") has no place in reasoned political discourse. I'm asking you, I'm pleading with you, condemn it - wherever/whenever you encounter it. This, I'm saying, in that if in fact you don't, you're just as good as condoning it.......................................Let's see, topic number two, that would have to be this guilt-by-association "hamster-wheel" that both sides are still embracing. Not, or course, that ALL of it is invalid. John McCain's hiring of one of the guys that "swift-boated" Kerry in '04, for example (McCain himself having personally condemned this group), could in fact be criticized on both decency AND hypocrisy counts. But a lot of it shouldn't, in my opinion, go beyond the much more innocuous charges of "business as usual"; Obama's moronic minister, McCain's having played footsie with Hagee, stuff like that. Give it a mention and move on, I'm saying..........................................On a related topic, I'd like to talk about friendship. I don't know if a lot of people are aware of this but, yes, sometimes people with different (even antithetical) political views can still be friends. I mean, look at William F. Buckley and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Pat Buchanan and Michael Kinsley, etc.. Hell, even Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neil, after a rough and tumble day negotiating in Washington - even they would frequently kick back with a beer or two together. Are you trying to tell me that those two were politically compatible? Give me a break. Yes, folks, there is more to life/friendships than politics.........................................One final point I'd like to deal with involves certitude/absolutism/the fact that I'm basically getting sick if it/etc..I mean, seriously, if you listen to the bulk of these extremists, there is absolutely NO GRAY (never mind a double-edged sword) ANYWHERE!! Walmart is good. Walmart is bad. The oil companies are good. The oil companies are bad. Free-trade is good. Free-trade is bad. The federal government is good (benevolent, if you listen to certain people). The federal government is bad.. I'm telling you, folks, it's enough to make you want to leave home boy............................................P.S. And what about, too, folks, the fact that Dean Acheson, even after Alger Hiss was convicted of spying, refused to throw him (his friend) under the bus. You better believe there's more to life than politics. Cliffy.

Mike, Anyone?

Some of these bloggers are so stupid, folks. They think that, because you defend John McCain, this means that you are automatically a "McCain supporter". I mean, how idiotically superficial is that ? I don't know, I guess that when "God" (or whoever) was handing out guiding principles (fairness, decency, etc.) he must have missed this particular subset of hominids....................................P.S. Yes, I'm more than aware that there are members of the right who are equally unfair. All I can say is that I hope that there's a another fellow out there (one, I'm saying, without an intention of voting for Obama) who will in fact defend Obama....and, yes, do it on principle alone. I mean, that's how human beings SHOULD react, right?

Can't See the Clouds Through the Trees

I don't know, folks, it seems to me like there might be enough fuzzy thinking to go around. On the one hand/for instance, you have the far-right saying how it's a mortal sin to use embryonic stem-cells (cells, mind you, that are going to be destroyed anyway) for medical research. This, while, at the same time, you have the far-left saying that, despite the fact that only 2,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of it will actually be used for exploration/the fact that we now have precision drilling/the fact that Alaska's environmental regulations are among the best in the world, we can't under any circumstances EVER be allowed to drill in ANWR........................................I site these as just two examples, folks, of dogma/orthodoxy/rank partisanship getting in the way of common-sense. And, yes, I absolutely could give you more, too; the right's nearly paranoid stance against same-sex marriage, the left's well-intentioned but essentially bone-headed love-affair with minimum-wage laws - as examples. I do think you kind of get the message already, though, I hope.

Keep 'Em All Close, I Say

My plea, folks, is indeed a very simple one. To all of my Democratic/liberal friends out there, I beseech you, if/when Senator Obama becomes President of the United States, do not, DO NOT, go to sleep. This, I'm saying, in that, yes, power is power and it has in fact been abused by members of both parties. Just ask the Japanese-Americans "interned" by F.D.R., the family members of the 31,000 dead service-members from the Johnson years, all those affected by Clinton's ghastly pardons of drug-dealers, terrorists, etc., etc.. Vigilance, my friends, damned if it hasn't become a full-time job these days. Please, beware of taking vacations from it.