Thursday, July 31, 2008

Those Things That Go Duh in the Night

As you can tell, ma vlast has been infested by a small but virulent gang of jack-booted thugs/miscreants. And, yes, folks, Brad (let's call him), damned if that piss-ant hasn't become the worst of 'em all. I mean, paranoid - you want to talk paranoid? This stooge has got to be one of those nimrods who checks under his bed EVERY night - just so he can crawl under the covers, for Christ!.....................................And how 'bout, too, some of those accusations he's been hurling at me, specifically? Wow, huh? I particularly like the one where he says that I'm some sort of closet right-winger/stooge. Never mind the vast amount of criticisms I've already levied against the "right", mind you, or the fact that I've never voted for Paul W. Snell, never supported Paul W. Snell, have consistently lambasted his foreign-policy, etc.. None of that ever matters....in that, yes, folks, it's nothing but a ruse/ether, period!.........................................I mean, don't get me wrong here. Part of me wants to take it as a compliment. This, I'm saying, in that, I don't know, it kind of makes me look James Bondish - Machiavellian even! But, no, seriously, when you do in fact see how it lowers that bar, denigrates the discourse at Sassy's, etc., how can it not, me-buckos, but force us to a better place, substantially? That's the best way for me to see it anyway.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Sorry, She's Taken, Sean

Is it just me or is Sean Hannity getting a little obsessed with Michelle Obama lately (for quite some time is actually more like it)? I mean, sure, she's said one or two stupid things during her husband's campaign. But, one, they were said a while ago (she's pretty much been a solid citizen since then, no?) and, two, she's apologized for them. It's like, isn't there supposed to be a statute of limitations on this stuff? I feel like telling Mr. Hannity, "Sean, let it go, my man. Yes, the woman said some stupid smack earlier in the campaign. But it's over. Be the bigger person and mosey on." Now, if I could only get the blankety-blank to return my phone-calls.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Certainty of Certitude

Another thing that McCain has been stressing of late is that, yes, any departure from Iraq must be determined by "conditions on the ground". "Conditions on the ground." Man, I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard that one. Not that it doesn't sound reasonable, mind you. Who wants to cause a bad situation to become even worse through some sort of precipitous action? I get it.......................................But, still, I can't help but wonder here. What if one of those conditions on the ground is the Iraqis themselves telling us to leave? McCain was asked that recently and, no, I didn't particularly care for his rather cavalier response to Wolf. "I know Mr. Maliki and he won't ask us to do that." Yeah, but what if he does. "He Won't.".......................................... Leap of faith, anybody?

Monday, July 28, 2008

Actionable Belligerence

Look, I know I'm dealing with some dimwitted individuals here and, yes, because of that, I'm willing to repeat myself (to a point). During one of the Democratic Presidential debates, Barack Obama said that, if he knew where Osama bin Laden was, and that, even if it was inside of Pakistan, he would be willing to use air-strikes (air-strikes, not surreptitiously sneaking up on him in a cave) to take him out. This was virtually the same statement that President Bush had made several months earlier - a statement, frankly, that I was very critical of. It's like, what, since the great Barack Obama makes this Bushlike statement, I can't be at all critical of it? Only you guys can be critical of Obama?............................................. As for "actionable intelligence", I used that term on my blog in response to Mike. I didn't use it on Tomcat's post. Maybe I should have. But, seriously, is it not a moot point? This, I'm saying, in that, yes, with or without it, either way, I think it's a dangerous strategy - for the reasons I mentioned before. That's my opinion, O.K.? I'm sorry that it's different from yours.........................................P.S. So, Mike, you don't like it when people try and make Obama look bad? That's funny. You don't seem to mind it when they do it to McCain. Seriously, though, can you at least try and understand my point here?

Voltron's Graph

Just for the record, Voltron's continuum had Fox News dead-center and me, 30% to the left of center. My suggestion was to move Fox News to the right of center and me closer to the center. For accuracy, I'm saying. You do want accuracy in reporting, don't you?

Where's a Flight-Suit When You Need One?

Mr. McCain, I keep hearing you say that this success of ours in Iraq is "fragile" (the reason, ostensibly, for us not being able to leave now). Why is that? I mean, you (you, along with the bevy of your spokespersons over at Fox) have been consistently saying that Al Qaeda (in Iraq) has been basically routed, that the Iraqi army has as well been showing incredible progress. Why, pray tell, with all of this good news (violence being down, etc.), would you possibly entertain the notion that our success over there is fragile?.....................................Hm, could it be as simple as you having a beat on a reality that many of us, frankly, have known all along - namely, that the presence of American troops over there has been a bandage on a festering wound, that the minute we get out of there, all of this so-called political progress (actually, there's been very little meaningful movement, politically, but for the sake of argument, I'm saying) is going to unravel (insurgents in the military leaving the military, al Sadr acting up, Sunni gangs going after the government, etc.)?.......................................Could it also be because you do in fact want us to stay for 100 years, build bases over there, have a clearer path to the worlds nearly largest reserve of oil, etc? I mean, I hate to think the worst like this, bro, but, I'm telling you, this war has changed people. It's made us more cynical. I don't know, it might be best to wrap things up over there. That's what I've been thinking.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Big Dogs, My Ass

These bloggers, folks, perhaps if they could just get some other interests. Maybe THAT would help. Like, for instance, I don't know, instead of surfing the Internet/looking for dot-coms that perpetrate various conspiracy theories (this, in an attempt to denigrate their political opponents), maybe have them check out some art-work; Frank Weston Benson perhaps. If that doesn't work, how 'bout some classic cinema? Anything with Montgomery Clift (no clifffff, not because he was gay) works for me; "The Heiress", "From Here to Eternity", "A Place in the Sun", "Red River", etc.. Oh, and, THEN, after the movie, have them throw some Bedrich Smetana in to the player - Czech nationalism, bro!; "The Maldau", "The Bartered Bride". It's all frigging good, for Christ!........................................Of course, having said all this, the one thing that would help most would be the installation of a little humility. These guys (most of who, let's be clear here, folks, have a clear/textbook diagnosis of paranoid personality disorder), I'm telling you, have actually determined themselves as noteworthy folks (an affirmation arrived at, apparently, through this rather incognito association with a fading sitcom actress). And, yes, me-buckos, until they can come to grips with this little delusion (compare this to me, a person who KNOWS he's insignificant), there could in fact some some even tougher sledding downward. Just ask the family members of Bledsoe, for instance. They'll tell you....................................P.S. And, no, don't even get me going on their lack of frigging humor. This, I'm saying, in that that, me-buckos, would itself be a full-time excursion - an excursion into madness!!!!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Damned if You Change, Damned if You Don't

There's been a lot made lately about how both Presidential candidates have been flip-flopping, the fact that it brings in to question their character, integrity, etc.. And, yeah, folks, I will in fact admit that it's getting irritating - the opportunistic aspects of it, in particular. But, really, hasn't it gotten past the point where we ought to be shocked/outraged by it? I mean, it's what they all frigging do. Hello! They start off by appealing to their bases in the primary and, later, once they get the nomination, move to the center in the national campaign. And, yes, folks, it's a formula that apparently works. I mean, they wouldn't be doing it if it didn't, right?......................................And, besides, when did it become such a mortal sin to change one's mind - in general? I mean, wasn't that one of the criticisms of Bush, for Christ - that the douche-bag never, EVER, changed his mind? I don't know, to me, sometimes changing one's mind actually makes some sense. McCain, for example, he had this one policy for off-shore drilling when the cost of gas was $1.50 (a gallon). Now that the cost of gas is 4-something, he has another. And, no, folks, I'm not even saying that this new position is necessarily the correct one - only that I can more or less understand it, that's all......................................It's like, why does everything so have to be defined as evil; the two candidates' every association, every single vote they've ever frigging cast, etc., etc.. I don't know, to me, if we really and truly wanted to locate the genesis of evil, we just might want to start with that bathroom mirror. That would be as good a place as any, in my opinion.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Lydia's Boys (With Apologies to Louisa May Alcott)

These guys, though, folks, I swear, some come straight from central-casting. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard any of them make a point that WASN'T spiked, laced with hyperbole, paranoia, etc.. And the fact that they apparently worship/defend a mudder....and a has-been, too, for Christ! I mean, I thought it was a pretty good line, myself; "I would have rather stared at a chalk-outline of Sal Mineo than be forced to watch that frigging shanty-show." Oh well, I guess that not everyone these days is blessed with Slade Leeds's irony/sense of jest - him being the master of the throw-away lines at Sassy's, damn it!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Pre-Hatched Eggs

"We're winning in Iraq." That's another slogan that the pro-war forces have spitting out a mile a minute of late. Unfortunately, for me, all it does is conjure up images of all that rhetoric that came out of the Johnson and Nixon administrations during Vietnam. I mean, weren't we always pretty much winning over there, too? In fact, I don't think we ever lost a battle, for Christ. I just wish I could get the people who weren't around during Vietnam (and some of the ones that were, frankly) to realize that, yes, there will always be a big difference between "winning" and having won - a big difference. We haven't won anything yet, folks......................................Yes, the violence is down. But it's like I've been saying over and over and over again. There are numerous competing explanations, other than the surge (which, sure, has probably contributed somewhat; increased checkpoints, etc.), that could account for this lessening; ceasefires, the results of ethnic cleansing, the buying off of Sunni militants, etc.. I mean, sure, we can probably keep the lid on this situation for as long as our army holds out (yes, that's the real strategic challenge here). But, really, until the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds (not to mention the myriad of sub-groupings) completely bury the hatchet (yes, preferably not in each other's backs) and we get the vast bulk of our men out of there, "winning in Iraq" will remain exactly what it is; namely, another in a long line of platitudes.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Bloom on the Bloom (For Janice)

The truth, folks, she never really needed to pull her hair back - NOT AT ALL! I mean, sure, to have had her neck do a rat-a-tat-tat....like that, in tandem with her smile, the peepers....and the juice machine, too - obviously, THEY were happy. But it just wasn't a necessity. That's all I'm saying; the beauty....of her essence as it stands before me, the fact that she continues to be the best of the best at Sassy's, period, etc.. Though, like I said before.......................................

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Edward R. My Ass

I hate to say it, folks, but I think it's now official. "Countdown" with Keith Olbermann has clearly become the most biased news program in television history. In fact, I would go as far as to say that's it's starting to make me queasy. This, I'm saying, in that, even on Fox, while those folks always seem to frame the debate in a manner that puts the Democrats on the defensive, at least they do get people on to give a semblance of the other side. Granted, a lot of this resistance is token and, yes, the conclusion is often as predictable as a Globetrotters-Generals game. But at least they do give the allusion, I'm saying. On that frigging "Countdown" show, there is no dissent of any kind, EVER!!.......................................And the spin that happens, too, me-buckos. I'm telling you, this Olbermann guy will stop at nothing in his effort to tar-and-feather McCain. Take, as an example, McCain's vote against the Farm Bill. According to Olbermann, this was not a principled vote against wasteful government spending (as most fair-minded people would probably conclude) but, rather, a sinister/back-door effort to preserve something called the Enron loop-hole. Yeah, that's right, he's blaming McCain for the Enron mess now. It's like, what's next, Watergate, the Bay of Pigs (other far-left loons have already blamed Nixon for that one but, whatever), the Tea-Pot Dome scandal, for Christ?........................................I mean, talk about a freak-show, huh? This frigging guy is starting to make O'Reilly look like Howard K. Smith. Gee, I wonder if I could get him to do a "Special Comment" on me - you know, right before he utters, "good night and good luck". Frigging stooge!!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Julie on High

Oh, though, to have even kept a cork upon it that long! THAT, me-buckos, in and of itself, was miraculous. And, yes, the simultaneous nature of her beauty, too, I'm saying, the fact that she was just as precious when the lights at Sassy's were dim, damned if that, specifically, was itself just as "irksome". Of course, the fact that this other fellow (whose name, God-damn it, I refuse to mention) is as oblivious to her as he was in fact to Leeds, let's just say that I'm not quite as guilt-ridden any more. There, now if I could only get the future a little less cloudy, me to lose my "drawing-board", etc.. That, and I'd be completely set (yes, perhaps for life), huh?

Monday, July 14, 2008

Political Dung-Heap

I don't know, folks, four years ago (Obama fresh off that blistering speech at the convention, McCain still considered somewhat of a maverick Republican), it looked like an Obama-McCain match-up would in fact give us two decent choices. What a difference four years makes, huh? I mean, seriously, you've got two guys (both good men, from what I can gather) here who've been changing their tunes to the tune of tune-changing now becoming an art. McCain, for example, he's a frigging supply-sider now! It's like, when was that ever the case before? And Obama, damned if he hasn't apparently found a new soul-mate in Antonin Scalia (recently siding with the judge on death-penalty and gun-control cases). What's next for Obama, a sold-out speech in front of the N.R.A.? Give me a break!........................................What about voting for one of the third-party candidates? Well, let's just say that I'm not exactly thrilled with them, either. You've got the totally eccentric Bob Barr running as a Libertarian, the equally eccentric and borderline delusional Ralph Nader (yes, he did some good....40 years ago!!) running, well, because he feels like it, and, yes, my personal favorite, folks, Cynthia McKinney. You remember her, right, the lady who attacked a Capitol police officer. Yep, believe it or not, she's running, too. And we're trying to institute a democracy in Iraq!!? Un-be-frigging-lievable!!........................................P.S. Just for the record, I'll probably be voting for Obama (this, though, I probably trust Barr more on the Iraq issue). I'll be easy to find if you're looking for me. I'm the dude with the clothes-pin on his nose.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

More Murky Memories of Melinda

I'm telling you, "Joe", she was one whole hell of an S.O.B. at Sassy's. And the dirty-doggishness of it, too, I'm saying, the fact that Slade Leeds himself had twice taken her hard up the poop-shoot, etc., that alone was enough to make anybody grieve. Of course, the fact that there does remain within me....one tender moment (O.K., maybe two), damned if there may not even be a speck of me to galvanize at all. So much so the dirty bastard reduced me, apparently.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

There's More to Life Than Patriots and Villains

"George Bush is shredding the Constitution." That's another one I hear quite frequently. I mean, talk about at least some border-line hyperbole. It's not like he's putting HIS people in internment camps (F.D.R., anybody?) or suspending the writ of Habeus Corpus to actual Americans (Honest Abe, anybody?). Couple that, of course, with the fact that if we ever did have the misfortune of being "hit" again, a lot of those same people would be asking the President, "so, why didn't you do MORE to stop it?".......................................Look, folks, truth in advertising, I don't particularly care for President Bush. I think his foreign-policy, in particular, has been a disaster. I'll even admit to the fact that some of these "anti-terror" measures have as well been troubling (warrantless wire-taps, holding people indefinitely, etc.)........................................BUT, having said that , don't you think we just might need a jolt of perspective here? For instance, yeah, we're spying on Americans, folks, but only on those Americans who are commiserating with foreign thugs. I mean, it's not like they're focusing in on Aunt Betty or anything. And even though the thought of holding those Guantanamo chumps in perpetuity is a shaky proposition, the thought of some mushy-minded American judge sorting through the rubble is as well frightening (though, yes, it may in fact be ultimately necessary). Bottom-line, folks, we're kind of in a lose-lose situation here. It should be very interesting to see what Senator Obama does when/if he stands to inherit it...........................................P.S. It should also be noted that the "Patriot Act", when it passed back in '02, it passed 99-1 (the late, courageous Paul Wellstone, the only dissenter). I mean, granted, Bush has no doubt pushed the envelope since then but the over-all mind-set, I'm saying, was in fact developed in a bipartisan manner. Actually, folks, Anthony Romero of the A.C.L.U. has himself stated that a good deal of the C.I.A. power-grab started (drum-roll, please) under President Clinton. Not that the partisans on the left will ever admit to that, of course.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

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.

Monday, July 7, 2008

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.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

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.

Friday, July 4, 2008

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.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

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.