Gherald's new BFF appears to get a torture boner along with his Republican compatriots in Congress:State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican candidate for US Senate, endorsed yesterday the use of enhanced interrogation techniques - including the practice of simulated drowning known as waterboarding - in questioning terror suspects.Nice guy you picked to support, G.
President Obama notched substantial successes in spending cuts last year, winning 60 percent of his proposed cuts and managing to get Congress to ax several programs that had bedeviled President George W. Bush for years. The administration says Congress accepted at least $6.9 billion of the $11.3 billion in discretionary spending cuts Mr. Obama proposed for the current fiscal year. An analysis by The Washington Times found that Mr. Obama was victorious in getting Congress to slash 24 programs and achieved some level of success in reducing nine other programs... By comparison, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says Mr. Bush won 40 percent of his spending cuts in fiscal 2006 and won less than 15 percent of his proposed cuts for 2007 and 2008.Or maybe not... (via Sully)
I just donated $100 to the Haiti relief effort using a handy page that Google set up.Help map Haiti - Directly assist relief workers in saving lives.
Sully's updates on the Prop 8 trial are invaluable. I was particular interested in this one (full copy, shame on me):One fascinating aspect of the Prop 8 trial is whether the proposition was a good faith effort to support what its backers think of as traditional marriage, or whether it was a campaign driven by animus to a small minority. Of course, proving intent on this is hard. Except when it isn't. In a court room you have to assess the facts pertaining to the specific issue at hand and cannot rely on emotional or religious or psychological distractions. The deposition of one of the "Offical Proponent" of Prop 8, Harry Tam, is pretty devastating:
Question: “And it is your understanding that part of the gay agenda is legalizing underage sex?”
Answer: “Right.”
The conflation of homosexuality with child abuse was a central issue for the people who ran the Prop 8 campaign, hence the ads that focused on the threat that gays posed to children. Since this plays on the oldest blood libel against gays, it certainly implies that the Proposition was motivated by prejudice. Imagine a Proposition that argued that Jews should be denied, say, being school-teachers because of the threat to the kids. No one would dispute that that's a vile, blood libel motive for a constitutional amendment. But when exactly the same bigotry fuels a Proposition to deny gays the core right to marry, a right deeper in the constitution than the right to vote, it's all apparently motivated by high-minded concern for family life.
Among the emails retrieved by the court from Tam - who was a year-long organizer and fundraiser for the Proposition - is this one:
This November, San Francisco voters will vote on a ballot to "legalize prostitution". This is put forth by the SF city government, which is under the rule of homosexuals. They lose no time in pushing the gay agenda --- after legalizing same-sex marriage, they want to legalize prostitution. What will be next? On their agenda list is: legalize having sex with children ... We can't lose this critical battle. If we lose, this will very likely happen...
1. Same-Sex marriage will be a permanent law in California. One by one, other states would fall into Satan's hand.
2. Every child, when growing up, would fantasize marrying someone of the same sex. More children would become homosexuals. Even if our children is safe [sic], our grandchildren may not. What about our children's grandchildren?
Tam has requested to withdraw from the case. Because he helps prove just how powerful some of the most vile slurs against gays were in fomenting the denial of civil equality under the law in California. No wonder Maggie Gallagher wants as little sunlight in this trial as possible. Because it reveals the true motives of those who are in her movement.
Time to send in Rick Warren’s missionaries, to give all of the survivors AIDS.
SMITH: The people of Haiti have been used and abused by their government over the years. They have dealt with unthinkable tragedy day in and day out. And we’re in the middle of a crisis the Western Hemisphere has not seen in my lifetime, and 700 miles east of Miami, hundreds of thousands of desperate human beings need our help, our support, our money, and our love. And they don’t need that.
Hahahahahaha...
CNN -- James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.By the by, to anyone like JammieWearingFool still waiting for the DVD: You are insane. If ever there was a movie that was made to be seen in a theater--a 3D theater--this is that movie.
On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope
.. "Ever since I went to see 'Avatar' I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of them. I can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it," Mike posted. "I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.' "
.. "When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning," Hill wrote on the forum. "It just seems so ... meaningless. I still don't really see any reason to keep ... doing things at all. I live in a dying world."
.. "One can say my depression was twofold: I was depressed because I really wanted to live in Pandora, which seemed like such a perfect place, but I was also depressed and disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth. I so much wanted to escape reality," Hill said.
.. "After discussing on the forums for a while now, my depression is beginning to fade away. Having taken a part in many discussions concerning all this has really, really helped me," Hill said. "Before, I had lost the reason to keep on living -- but now it feels like these feelings are gradually being replaced with others."
If I could pick out a group of Democratic media commentators I have come to hate over the last couple of years, Harold Ford would be one of my first round draft picks.How You Know Harold Ford Sucks: I used to like him (as well as Evan Bayh) when I was in full fledged wingnut mode.Update 2: Here's a blast from Ford's past:
That should pretty much seal the deal.
An organization I'm affiliated with endorsed Harold Ford for the U.S. Senate a few days after Harold Ford felt the need to butt into the Connecticut senate race on behalf of fellow reactionary/corporate whore Joe Lieberman... I groused that my organization had endorsed an opportunistic, power-hungry self-aggrandizing prick, one of the only Democrats to have been rated an F in the DMI survey of how House votes impact the lives of the middle class. And I groused when I thought back about Harold Ford, very Lieberman-like, always looks to score points for himself at the expense of fellow Democrats and, more important, at the expense of basic Democratic ideals and values. Yeah, but he's better than Corker, right. Yeah, yeah.
Although... someone who votes to abolish habeus corpus and to allow George W. Bush, proven fascist scum, to determine who will and will not be tortured with no judicial review whatsoever... I mean Corker, schmorker. Could I ever vote for Harold Ford. I don't think so.
That made me ill. I moved from grousing and blogging to kvetching. I spoke to some of the other Board members and to the staff, especially after Ford figured out another way to throw a group of fragile, victimized Democrats under the bus by out-homophobing Corker about the New Jersey Supreme Court decision on civil unions. "I do not support the decision today reached by the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding gay marriage. I oppose gay marriage, and have voted twice in Congress to amend the United States Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. This November there's a referendum on the Tennessee ballot to ban same-sex marriage-- I am voting for it."
Ain't he tough!
I understand, but reject, certain religious teachings that denounce homosexuality as morally wrong, illegitimate, or unnatural; and I take strong exception to those who argue that same-sex relationships should be discouraged by society and law. Science has taught us, even if history has not, that gays and lesbians do not choose to be homosexual any more than the rest of us choose to be heterosexual. To a very large extent, these characteristics are immutable, like being left-handed. And, while our Constitution guarantees the freedom to exercise our individual religious convictions, it equally prohibits us from forcing our beliefs on others. I do not believe that our society can ever live up to the promise of equality, and the fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, until we stop invidious discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
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Let me see if I have this right.
I really don't need to say more on this because George Carlin did it perfectly some 20+ years ago. I sadly could not find a video of his brilliant "They're Just Words!" bit, but you can jump to listen to the audio here. Here's the transcript:There's a different group to get pissed off at you in this country for everything your not supposed to say. Can't say ******, boogie, jig, jigaboo, skinhead, moulli, moullignon, schvartze, jungle bunny, greaser, greaseball, dago, guinea, wop, ginzo, kike, zebe, hebe, yid, mocky, hymie, mick, donkey, turkey, limey, frog, zip, zipperhead, squarehead, krout, hiney, jerry, hun, slope, slopehead, chink, gook.Update: I'll let TNC have the final word:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those words in and of themselves. They're only words. It's the context that counts. It's the user. It's the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad. The words are completely neutral. The words are innocent. I get tired of people talking about bad words and bad language. Bullshit! It's the context that makes them good or bad. The context. That makes them good or bad.
For instance, you take the word "Nigger." There is absolutely nothing wrong with the word "Nigger" in and of itself. It's the racist ******* who's using it that you ought to be concerned about. We don't care when Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy say it. Why? Because we know they're not racist. They're *******! Context. Context. We don't mind their context because we know their black.
Hey, I know I'm whitey, the blue-eyed devil, paddy-o, fay gray boy, honky, ************ myself. Don't bother my ***. They're only words. You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth, even if it's an unpleasant truth, like the fact that there's a bigot and a racist in every living room on every street corner in this country.
Leaving aside political cynicism, this entire affair proves that the GOP is not simply still infected with the vestiges of white supremacy and racism, but is neither aware of the infection, nor understands the disease. Listening to Liz Cheney explain why Harry Reid's comments were racist, was like listening to me give lessons on the finer points of the comma splice. This a party, rightly or wrongly, regarded by significant portions of the country as a haven for racists. They aren't simply having a hard time re-branding, they don't actually understand how and why they got the tag.Update 2: Ok, and John Cole:
These guys are lost. But Michael Steele's "off the hook" strategy will, presumably, point the way back. Not for nothing, I offer the wise and venerable words of my people: Negro, please.
I honestly wonder what Republicans think they are accomplishing. The African-American community is able to tell the difference between someone using a dated term and someone pining for the days of segregation, so they will not be convinced that the GOP is all of a sudden the place for them. The only thing this is doing is building another wing in the cocoon, further insulating the GOP from the rest of the country. The only people they are going to convince that the Democrats are the “real racists” are themselves.
Just a random thought that I was wondering if anyone else has noticed.
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