Dan Fisher, the Oklahoma republican representative from House District 60, has had enough of this socialist nonsense and he is going to, by God, do something about it. In yesterdays OKC paper reporter, Michael McNutt quotes Mr. Fisher as saying, "When states' rights have been tread upon we have a responsibility to speak up, and this is one of those moments." The legislator went on to add, "There comes a time when American citizens must say no."
Fisher is a man of action. He has authored Oklahoma House Bill 2073. If passed it would make it a felony for any federal official, or corporate employee to provide services which comply with the United States of America Affordable Care Act. In fact, according to the proposed law, your leftist ass will end up spending five years in the slammer if you do so. The bill also makes it a misdemeanor, punishable for up to two years, for a state employee, including the governor, to enforce any provisions of the federal law which is also known as Obamacare. Why Fisher decided to bestow some relative mercy on state employees, including the governor is unclear, although political affiliation probably has something to do with it. I mean after all it would be a bit unseemly to throw the governor, who is a member of your own party, into the can for half a decade.
McNutt writes, Fisher, who is in his rookie year at the state capitol, has said that the U.S. Constitution does not grant Congress or President Barak Obama the power to pass the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately for the new lawmaker the United States Supreme Court, the final arbiter of all things constitutional, has ruled he is wrong.
This causes a wee bit of a problem. The constitution says the rulings of the Supreme Court are the law of the land. There is no higher authority, not even Dan Fisher's brain. So if a legislator votes for this bill it could well be interpreted he or she has violated their oath to uphold the very constitution the representative says he is trying to preserve.
Yes, Brother Fisher, it is a tragedy for you and people like you, but simply put the constitution can't be unconstitutional. You can't violate it in order to enforce your personal interpretation of it.
Meanwhile, House District 84 republican, Sally Kern is as busy as a beaver protecting us from the dire threat of internationalism. Her House Bill 1412 prohibits any city, town, or county from "adopting or implementing policy recommendations" established by the United Nations Agenda 21 initiative.
Agenda 21 is a global, nonbinding and totally voluntary plan, that addresses issues such as poverty, health, sustainable population growth, deforestation, the preservation of micro environments, pollution control and management of radioactive wastes. It also endorses the further empowerment of children, women, the improved relations between businesses and their employees, and advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples.
Kern, who is better known for her homophobic rants, ("The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation. It's just a fact.") isn't kidding around when it comes to the sinister plots of The New World Order. McNutt writes that her bill would prohibit the state from contracting with, or exchanging funds with any nongovernmental, or intergovernmental organization which is accredited by the U.N.
That's right baby, screw the world! Who needs 'em? U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
Fisher's bill was approved by its committee 8-5. Kern's passed, 9-4.
I know we'll all sleep better tonight.
sic vita est
2-28-13
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Bacharach at Last: The Very Long Process For Saunders
It was a long haul for Robert Bacharach. He was originally nominated by Barak Obama for a seat on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2012. Yesterday he was finally confirmed by a 93-0 vote of the United States Senate.
The Oklahoman's Washington Bureau correspondent, Chris Casteel quoted Senator Tom Coburn as saying of Bacharach, "You cannot find a blemish on this man in terms of his personal integrity." He added, "I have never met anybody who knows the Constitution--its limitations, its intent--better than Judge Bacharach." Coburn also said that Bacharach had "one of the greatest intellects" he'd ever met.
High praise indeed. Too bad Coburn was one of the primary reasons this whole nomination process took so long. He sat on it from January until the end of April last year. In fact there is no evidence he would have ever moved on it if the state's largest newspaper, The Oklahoman and its parent company OPUBCO hadn't stepped in. On April 30th of last year Casteel wrote a piece questioning why Coburn was still refusing to endorse Bacharach to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He pointed out the committee would not entertain a nomination without the approval of both senators from the home state of the person involved. The old reprobate, Jim Inhofe had all ready given his, however Coburn was, somewhat mysteriously, refusing to budge on it. In response to Casteel's questions a spokesperson from Coburn's office issued a statement that was such gibberish it almost didn't qualify as part of the English language.
Coburn knows who runs things in Oklahoma though. On May 1st, less than twenty-four hours after receiving that open handed bop in the back of the head by OPUBCO, he gave the go ahead. From that day forward he's been claiming Bacharach is the greatest thing since Oliver fucking Wendell Holmes.
Of course even then it wasn't easy. Senate republicans wouldn't allow an up and down vote on the nomination through a prolonged filibuster. They were enamored with the poll numbers of Karl Rove and Dick Morris and believed Mr. Mitt Romney would become the next president. They desperately wanted that seat on the court to remain open so that their man could nominate someone who might be more in tune with their way of doing things. Yes, screw the Constitution, no one has paid any attention to that old rag since 1861 any way.
Coburn and Inhofe made some faint grumbling sounds about the politics of the situation. However, when democrats moved to end the filibuster, in an act of abject political cowardice, both Oklahoma Senators voted, "present" which in effect were votes against "one of the greatest intellects" Coburn has ever met.
Even after Barak Obama swept to victory the republican filibuster continued through the end of the session, forcing the president to renominate Bacharach in January of this year. GOP senators mumbled some things about lame duck congresses and tradition, but it was all utter nonsense. They knew a republican majority wasn't going to take control of the Senate this year. You almost get the impression they were waiting for Bacharach to throw his hands up in frustration and yell, "fuck it" then walk away in disgust.
He didn't and now he awaits the swearing in ceremony and a well deserved seat on the bench in the Denver based court.
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, Luis E. Ruiz walked out of the Oklahoma County jail yesterday as his father gave praise to God and Jesus Christ.
The Bethany Police Department gave up their investigation into the murder of Carina Saunders on the 6th of this month. After that organization was out of the picture it took less than three weeks for the two men accused by them of the killing to be exonerated. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is now in charge. The Oklahoman's Tim Willert quoted OSBI spokesperson, Jessica Brown as saying, the agency is gathering evidence in the case and is in the early stages of investigation. Brown was also quoted as saying, "It's going to be a very long process." In other words, Bethany fouled this thing up so badly we don't even know where to start.
So the long wait for Robert Bacharach is over, but nearly 17 months after her body was discovered, the wait for Carina Saunders' loved ones is beginning once again.
It would appear Lady Justice is not only blind, but many times she moves with all the speed of a glacier, if she moves at all.
One thing was finally gotten right. We can only hope that someday the other will too.
2-26-13
The Oklahoman's Washington Bureau correspondent, Chris Casteel quoted Senator Tom Coburn as saying of Bacharach, "You cannot find a blemish on this man in terms of his personal integrity." He added, "I have never met anybody who knows the Constitution--its limitations, its intent--better than Judge Bacharach." Coburn also said that Bacharach had "one of the greatest intellects" he'd ever met.
High praise indeed. Too bad Coburn was one of the primary reasons this whole nomination process took so long. He sat on it from January until the end of April last year. In fact there is no evidence he would have ever moved on it if the state's largest newspaper, The Oklahoman and its parent company OPUBCO hadn't stepped in. On April 30th of last year Casteel wrote a piece questioning why Coburn was still refusing to endorse Bacharach to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He pointed out the committee would not entertain a nomination without the approval of both senators from the home state of the person involved. The old reprobate, Jim Inhofe had all ready given his, however Coburn was, somewhat mysteriously, refusing to budge on it. In response to Casteel's questions a spokesperson from Coburn's office issued a statement that was such gibberish it almost didn't qualify as part of the English language.
Coburn knows who runs things in Oklahoma though. On May 1st, less than twenty-four hours after receiving that open handed bop in the back of the head by OPUBCO, he gave the go ahead. From that day forward he's been claiming Bacharach is the greatest thing since Oliver fucking Wendell Holmes.
Of course even then it wasn't easy. Senate republicans wouldn't allow an up and down vote on the nomination through a prolonged filibuster. They were enamored with the poll numbers of Karl Rove and Dick Morris and believed Mr. Mitt Romney would become the next president. They desperately wanted that seat on the court to remain open so that their man could nominate someone who might be more in tune with their way of doing things. Yes, screw the Constitution, no one has paid any attention to that old rag since 1861 any way.
Coburn and Inhofe made some faint grumbling sounds about the politics of the situation. However, when democrats moved to end the filibuster, in an act of abject political cowardice, both Oklahoma Senators voted, "present" which in effect were votes against "one of the greatest intellects" Coburn has ever met.
Even after Barak Obama swept to victory the republican filibuster continued through the end of the session, forcing the president to renominate Bacharach in January of this year. GOP senators mumbled some things about lame duck congresses and tradition, but it was all utter nonsense. They knew a republican majority wasn't going to take control of the Senate this year. You almost get the impression they were waiting for Bacharach to throw his hands up in frustration and yell, "fuck it" then walk away in disgust.
He didn't and now he awaits the swearing in ceremony and a well deserved seat on the bench in the Denver based court.
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, Luis E. Ruiz walked out of the Oklahoma County jail yesterday as his father gave praise to God and Jesus Christ.
The Bethany Police Department gave up their investigation into the murder of Carina Saunders on the 6th of this month. After that organization was out of the picture it took less than three weeks for the two men accused by them of the killing to be exonerated. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is now in charge. The Oklahoman's Tim Willert quoted OSBI spokesperson, Jessica Brown as saying, the agency is gathering evidence in the case and is in the early stages of investigation. Brown was also quoted as saying, "It's going to be a very long process." In other words, Bethany fouled this thing up so badly we don't even know where to start.
So the long wait for Robert Bacharach is over, but nearly 17 months after her body was discovered, the wait for Carina Saunders' loved ones is beginning once again.
It would appear Lady Justice is not only blind, but many times she moves with all the speed of a glacier, if she moves at all.
One thing was finally gotten right. We can only hope that someday the other will too.
2-26-13
Monday, February 25, 2013
Ruiz and Massey Walk: Carina Saunders' Murder is Still Unsolved
It started to come apart on February 6th. That is when the Bethany Police Department turned over its records of the Carina Saunders murder to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The Bethany P.D. had stepped into the grisly slaying ill prepared for an exhaustive and intense investigation. At first the leads were few and far between and when they did come they arrived in a tangled Gordian Knot with cords that went every which direction, then turned back onto themselves and refused to come undone. Rumors and urban myth rode side by side with the few hard facts that were actually available.
Today, The Oklahoman's Tim Willert has reported on line that murder charges in the case have been dropped by D.A. David Prater. The two men accused in the brutal slaying have, for now anyway, been exonerated. Jimmy Lee Massey will probably remain in the county lockup on charges of a separate crime, while according to defense attorney, Derek Chance, Luis Ruiz will walk out of that facility today.
The probable cause affidavits that caused both men to be arrested in the case have, at this time, proven, well, unprovable. All the rumors of a video of Ruiz torturing and dismembering Saunders are obviously just that, unsubstantiated rumors. The unnamed female witness who claims she saw him cut off Saunders' foot has either recanted, proven unreliable, or headed for the hills. The same can be said for the county jail inmates who claimed Massey told them all about the killing and how he had kidnapped another woman in order to force her to watch it. Other names in the case, Mindy Cottier, Christopher Banschbach, and Tia Downour, among them suddenly seem irrelevant and of no use to investigators at all. In short the OSBI is starting from the ground floor, only now it is has been nearly seventeen months since Saunders' body was discovered behind a grocery store in an empty field.
The only hard facts available to the media and public at this time come from the autopsy report and those deal only with the condition of Saunders' body and its state of decomposition. There is nothing there, even the unquantitative amount of Tramadol found in her liver, that would lead the OSBI toward a specific suspect.
Willert reports that Prater is not answering calls or questions regarding the case and Ruiz's attorney had no comment other than to say his client would be released today. Willert also wrote that charges could be refiled against the two men, but that certainly seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. The D.A's office has been burned once during this blind man's fire drill so it is doubtful it will move again until there is absolutely no doubt about who, when, and where.
If there is any justice at this time it is in the grim knowledge that Prater was getting ready to prosecute and perhaps convict the wrong guys, but he had to back out of it. At least that part of the system still seems to work. The rest of it appears to be a miasma of dysfunction and quackery.
So the killer, and or killers are still out there, walking among us. They are still doing whatever it is they do when they aren't hacking apart teenagers. They could be the assholes in line in front of you at the local 7-11 store. They might even be watching "Ancient Astronauts" on the History Channel right now.
Carina Saunders, however, isn't doing any of those things. She is still quite dead and for her justice remains not only elusive, but increasingly improbable.
The pooch, as they say, has been screwed and the getaway has been clean for someone.
There seems no bottom to this tragedy. And, to the disgrace of all those attempting to solve it, no end.
2-25-13
Today, The Oklahoman's Tim Willert has reported on line that murder charges in the case have been dropped by D.A. David Prater. The two men accused in the brutal slaying have, for now anyway, been exonerated. Jimmy Lee Massey will probably remain in the county lockup on charges of a separate crime, while according to defense attorney, Derek Chance, Luis Ruiz will walk out of that facility today.
The probable cause affidavits that caused both men to be arrested in the case have, at this time, proven, well, unprovable. All the rumors of a video of Ruiz torturing and dismembering Saunders are obviously just that, unsubstantiated rumors. The unnamed female witness who claims she saw him cut off Saunders' foot has either recanted, proven unreliable, or headed for the hills. The same can be said for the county jail inmates who claimed Massey told them all about the killing and how he had kidnapped another woman in order to force her to watch it. Other names in the case, Mindy Cottier, Christopher Banschbach, and Tia Downour, among them suddenly seem irrelevant and of no use to investigators at all. In short the OSBI is starting from the ground floor, only now it is has been nearly seventeen months since Saunders' body was discovered behind a grocery store in an empty field.
The only hard facts available to the media and public at this time come from the autopsy report and those deal only with the condition of Saunders' body and its state of decomposition. There is nothing there, even the unquantitative amount of Tramadol found in her liver, that would lead the OSBI toward a specific suspect.
Willert reports that Prater is not answering calls or questions regarding the case and Ruiz's attorney had no comment other than to say his client would be released today. Willert also wrote that charges could be refiled against the two men, but that certainly seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. The D.A's office has been burned once during this blind man's fire drill so it is doubtful it will move again until there is absolutely no doubt about who, when, and where.
If there is any justice at this time it is in the grim knowledge that Prater was getting ready to prosecute and perhaps convict the wrong guys, but he had to back out of it. At least that part of the system still seems to work. The rest of it appears to be a miasma of dysfunction and quackery.
So the killer, and or killers are still out there, walking among us. They are still doing whatever it is they do when they aren't hacking apart teenagers. They could be the assholes in line in front of you at the local 7-11 store. They might even be watching "Ancient Astronauts" on the History Channel right now.
Carina Saunders, however, isn't doing any of those things. She is still quite dead and for her justice remains not only elusive, but increasingly improbable.
The pooch, as they say, has been screwed and the getaway has been clean for someone.
There seems no bottom to this tragedy. And, to the disgrace of all those attempting to solve it, no end.
2-25-13
Friday, February 22, 2013
Chuck Hagel and the Friends of Hamas
Sometimes, actually many times, I'm not sure journalism exists any more. This is especially true when it comes to this vast medium known as the internet. I mean lets face it, anyone can set up a web site with a lot of razzle dazzle and claim to have sources and inside dope on anything ranging from politics to entertainment. And while that all looks and sounds great he might in truth be some 40 year old crank living in the basement of his mother's home who spends most of his time watching reruns of "Ghost Hunters" on TV. I mean that poor schmuck at Notre Dame fell in love with a woman who didn't even exist, for God's sake. Every now and then even I have the mad urge to run some absolutely foul and ridiculous scam. Something along the lines of posting a picture of the late NBC correspondent Frank McGee to my profile. That is right, here I am world, the same guy who reported to you on live TV that John F. Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas nearly 50 years ago. Haven't I aged well?
Yes, there are the scams and then there is the blatant political propaganda that passes for fair and balanced reporting. Everyone has an agenda and sometimes the truth has to be hedged a tad in order to justify and promote The Grand Plan. The flip side of that coin is that if something presents itself that is so tantalizing, so juicy-good that it will take down a person who has opposing views the urge is overwhelming to get it out there to an audience without confirming any of it.
Here is how that works. Barak H. Obama nominated former republican senator Chuck Hagel to be the new Secretary of Defense. On the surface it sounds pretty gosh darn bipartisan doesn't it? When he was running for president in 2008 John McCain said of Hagel, "he'd make a great Secretary of State," and that "I'd be happy to have him in any senior cabinet position."
Well things went a little south in that whole relationship. Hagel you see figured out the war in Iraq was basically a Bush/Cheney con job. He, in fact, likened the whole affair to Vietnam, a subject he knows something about since he was an infantry squad leader there and twice awarded the purple heart. His falling out with his party and McCain, who he ultimately refused to endorse in 2008, was bitter and ugly. Hagel didn't help soothe the bad feelings back when Dubya was in office. He was quoted as saying, "I took an oath of office to the constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party, or my president."
To make a long story short Mr. Chuck Hagel landed squarely on the GOP hit list. McCain now claims he isn't qualified to be Secretary of Defense and republican senators have filibustered to prevent a straight up vote on his confirmation.
Early this month there were rumors circulating that Hagel was hostile toward Israel and that he'd taken speaker's fees from controversial foreign groups. Enter one Dan Friedman of the Daily News. On February 6th Friedman says he called up an unnamed republican senate aide and asked if any of Hagel's critics knew who the controversial groups he had supposedly addressed might be. Friedman, who apparently considers himself a dry wit, went all Saturday Night Live during the conversation and asked the aide if Hagel had spoken to, you know, "The Junior League of Hezbollah in France? And what about Friends of Hamas?" Obviously neither group exists. It was Friedman trying to be funny.
Dan, you silly boy. The aide told Friedman he'd get back to him. He didn't. However someone did get back to someone else.
On February 7th the right wing news site, Breitbart News ran a story with the breathless and overextended lead, "Senate sources have told Breitbart News, exclusively, they have been informed one of the reasons that President Barak Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel has not turned over requested documents on his sources of foreign funding is that one of the names listed is purportedly a group called Friends of Hamas." In the story the author, Ben Shapiro wrote that when contacted the White House "didn't deny the claim." Well they didn't because they hung up on the goof instead of addressing something so over the top stupid that it wasn't worth their time.
Shapiro quickly tweeted a link to the story to his 40,000 followers and according to Friedman, the conservative blogs, RedState.com and The Corner.com immediately linked to it. Hot damn, they had gone big game hunting and bagged a colossal beast. Even the rube from Arkansas, Mike Huckabee bit. He said that if the story was true it should disqualify Hagel from landing the job. The whole thing fell apart, of course, when Friedman went public with the admission he'd made "Friends of Hamas" up as a joke.
Shapiro, however is having none of it. Friedman quoted him as saying, "The story as reported is correct. Whether the information I was given by the source is correct, I'm not sure." Well there is certainly a standard Edward R. Murrow would be proud of. The old, "Its not my fault, he told me so," theory of reporting.
The country is divided deeply, perhaps mortally so. The media, which should be interested in the truth, for good, or ill, has become part of that dividing process. When you start to pass off propaganda and rumors as investigative reporting and the truth you've entered the shadowy realm of Herr Goebbels and company. At the very least you'd get your ass a rock solid "F" in Mrs. Ward's John Marshall High School Journalism II class.
Unfortunately many people will never unread Ben Shapiro. The image of Chuck Hagel cashing a Friends of Hamas check will be with them always. It will be just another confirmation of the leftist/socialist/Muslim threat found on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Most news sources are now saying, despite this nonsense, Hagel will likely be confirmed next week.
sic vita est
2-22-13
Yes, there are the scams and then there is the blatant political propaganda that passes for fair and balanced reporting. Everyone has an agenda and sometimes the truth has to be hedged a tad in order to justify and promote The Grand Plan. The flip side of that coin is that if something presents itself that is so tantalizing, so juicy-good that it will take down a person who has opposing views the urge is overwhelming to get it out there to an audience without confirming any of it.
Here is how that works. Barak H. Obama nominated former republican senator Chuck Hagel to be the new Secretary of Defense. On the surface it sounds pretty gosh darn bipartisan doesn't it? When he was running for president in 2008 John McCain said of Hagel, "he'd make a great Secretary of State," and that "I'd be happy to have him in any senior cabinet position."
Well things went a little south in that whole relationship. Hagel you see figured out the war in Iraq was basically a Bush/Cheney con job. He, in fact, likened the whole affair to Vietnam, a subject he knows something about since he was an infantry squad leader there and twice awarded the purple heart. His falling out with his party and McCain, who he ultimately refused to endorse in 2008, was bitter and ugly. Hagel didn't help soothe the bad feelings back when Dubya was in office. He was quoted as saying, "I took an oath of office to the constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party, or my president."
To make a long story short Mr. Chuck Hagel landed squarely on the GOP hit list. McCain now claims he isn't qualified to be Secretary of Defense and republican senators have filibustered to prevent a straight up vote on his confirmation.
Early this month there were rumors circulating that Hagel was hostile toward Israel and that he'd taken speaker's fees from controversial foreign groups. Enter one Dan Friedman of the Daily News. On February 6th Friedman says he called up an unnamed republican senate aide and asked if any of Hagel's critics knew who the controversial groups he had supposedly addressed might be. Friedman, who apparently considers himself a dry wit, went all Saturday Night Live during the conversation and asked the aide if Hagel had spoken to, you know, "The Junior League of Hezbollah in France? And what about Friends of Hamas?" Obviously neither group exists. It was Friedman trying to be funny.
Dan, you silly boy. The aide told Friedman he'd get back to him. He didn't. However someone did get back to someone else.
On February 7th the right wing news site, Breitbart News ran a story with the breathless and overextended lead, "Senate sources have told Breitbart News, exclusively, they have been informed one of the reasons that President Barak Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel has not turned over requested documents on his sources of foreign funding is that one of the names listed is purportedly a group called Friends of Hamas." In the story the author, Ben Shapiro wrote that when contacted the White House "didn't deny the claim." Well they didn't because they hung up on the goof instead of addressing something so over the top stupid that it wasn't worth their time.
Shapiro quickly tweeted a link to the story to his 40,000 followers and according to Friedman, the conservative blogs, RedState.com and The Corner.com immediately linked to it. Hot damn, they had gone big game hunting and bagged a colossal beast. Even the rube from Arkansas, Mike Huckabee bit. He said that if the story was true it should disqualify Hagel from landing the job. The whole thing fell apart, of course, when Friedman went public with the admission he'd made "Friends of Hamas" up as a joke.
Shapiro, however is having none of it. Friedman quoted him as saying, "The story as reported is correct. Whether the information I was given by the source is correct, I'm not sure." Well there is certainly a standard Edward R. Murrow would be proud of. The old, "Its not my fault, he told me so," theory of reporting.
The country is divided deeply, perhaps mortally so. The media, which should be interested in the truth, for good, or ill, has become part of that dividing process. When you start to pass off propaganda and rumors as investigative reporting and the truth you've entered the shadowy realm of Herr Goebbels and company. At the very least you'd get your ass a rock solid "F" in Mrs. Ward's John Marshall High School Journalism II class.
Unfortunately many people will never unread Ben Shapiro. The image of Chuck Hagel cashing a Friends of Hamas check will be with them always. It will be just another confirmation of the leftist/socialist/Muslim threat found on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Most news sources are now saying, despite this nonsense, Hagel will likely be confirmed next week.
sic vita est
2-22-13
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Polls, Loose Lips Sink Ships, and Herman Cain Explains the Situation
Icy slush is thick on the streets and parking lots in Oklahoma City right now. It is a wet cold mess out there, rather like the current condition of the republican party.
A USA Today/Pew Research Center poll shows the American public, while not particularly happy with any politician, are squarely siding with Barak H. Obama on the most important issues of the day. On the federal deficit 45% agree with the president and 38% agree with republicans. In fact even most republicans have told pollsters they agree that the only way to reduce the deficit is to not only cut spending, but raise taxes. It gets worse. 45% agree with the president on gun control while 39% don't. Despite an astute and sophisticated P.R. campaign helmed by Ted Nugent and Wayne LaPierre, a Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found 92% of Americans agree there needs to be a buyer background check run before a gun can be sold to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
47% of those polled side with the president on climate change policies as opposed to 26% in opposition. When it comes to the automatic massive federal government cuts scheduled to hit March 1, 49% said they will blame the republican house for not reaching an agreement on the deficit, as opposed to 31% who say they will blame the president. If the cuts kick in an estimated 16,000 civilian Department of Defense employees will be furloughed in Oklahoma alone and $129.3 million in payroll dollars will be lost to the local economy. Nationwide the number of those furloughed could reach 800,000.
Then we come to the greatest republican killer of them all, immigration reform. 50% of Americans agree with the president and 33% side with a deeply divided GOP. Despite the arrival of Marco Rubio and some right wing media fantasies that involve Hispanics moving in vast numbers toward the republican party, the president's approval rating among that demographic, according to this poll, is 73%.
Can anyone with a functioning brain blame them? John McCain recently held a town hall meeting in Sun Lakes, Arizona. Among other bon mots expressed by some of his angry white conservative constituents were these: "Undocumented aliens should never be allowed to become citizens, or vote."-- "Illegals are all illiterate invaders who want free government benefits."--"If we cut off their welfare they'll go home."-- And finally, my personal favorite, "Only guns will discourage illegal immigration." Yes, if I was Hispanic I would certainly feel comfortable and at home hanging out with those xenophobic rubes. In the face of all that rage McCain said something about us being a Judeo-Christian nation. He was roundly booed. Don't for a moment think that sort of thing is confined to Arizona either. Senator Tom Coburn could face the same sort of crowd here in a suburb of Oklahoma City.
One can almost hear GOP strategists screaming at those assholes in Sun Lakes to, "Shut up, for God's sake! You're killing us.!" Indeed, as the old saying goes, loose lips sink ships.
The fact is the republican party appears to be in the throes of the most extended act of suicide ever witnessed. They couldn't win last November because their base wasn't broad enough, but they can't expand their base because their current base won't allow it. I know, it makes no sense, but it is what is happening, unless, of course, you believe Herman Cain. Cain, the pizza maker and part time sexual deviant appeared on Bill O'Reilly's FOX News show the other day and said the reason Barak Obama is popular is because 51% of us are dumb.
In an obvious and sincere appeal to the hearts and minds of those who voted for the president last November, Mr. Cain opined that, "We have a severe ignorance problem." He said he believes that the majority of voters last year were misled. Even O'Reilly seemed incredulous. "I mean how dumb are we?" he asked. Cain's response was, "Yes, Bill we are that dumb."
Well you have to blame it all on something don't you.
The poll numbers look grim on nearly every front for the GOP. They don't even have the false comfort of Rove/Morris hallucinations any more.
And worst of all they just keep opening their mouths and spewing forth the most awful bullshit imaginable.
It is simply a matter of time before the more clever among them strap on parachutes and hit the silk, because quite honestly it really does look like the plane is going down in flames.
Ol' Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt are turning in their graves as I type.
2-21-13
A USA Today/Pew Research Center poll shows the American public, while not particularly happy with any politician, are squarely siding with Barak H. Obama on the most important issues of the day. On the federal deficit 45% agree with the president and 38% agree with republicans. In fact even most republicans have told pollsters they agree that the only way to reduce the deficit is to not only cut spending, but raise taxes. It gets worse. 45% agree with the president on gun control while 39% don't. Despite an astute and sophisticated P.R. campaign helmed by Ted Nugent and Wayne LaPierre, a Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found 92% of Americans agree there needs to be a buyer background check run before a gun can be sold to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
47% of those polled side with the president on climate change policies as opposed to 26% in opposition. When it comes to the automatic massive federal government cuts scheduled to hit March 1, 49% said they will blame the republican house for not reaching an agreement on the deficit, as opposed to 31% who say they will blame the president. If the cuts kick in an estimated 16,000 civilian Department of Defense employees will be furloughed in Oklahoma alone and $129.3 million in payroll dollars will be lost to the local economy. Nationwide the number of those furloughed could reach 800,000.
Then we come to the greatest republican killer of them all, immigration reform. 50% of Americans agree with the president and 33% side with a deeply divided GOP. Despite the arrival of Marco Rubio and some right wing media fantasies that involve Hispanics moving in vast numbers toward the republican party, the president's approval rating among that demographic, according to this poll, is 73%.
Can anyone with a functioning brain blame them? John McCain recently held a town hall meeting in Sun Lakes, Arizona. Among other bon mots expressed by some of his angry white conservative constituents were these: "Undocumented aliens should never be allowed to become citizens, or vote."-- "Illegals are all illiterate invaders who want free government benefits."--"If we cut off their welfare they'll go home."-- And finally, my personal favorite, "Only guns will discourage illegal immigration." Yes, if I was Hispanic I would certainly feel comfortable and at home hanging out with those xenophobic rubes. In the face of all that rage McCain said something about us being a Judeo-Christian nation. He was roundly booed. Don't for a moment think that sort of thing is confined to Arizona either. Senator Tom Coburn could face the same sort of crowd here in a suburb of Oklahoma City.
One can almost hear GOP strategists screaming at those assholes in Sun Lakes to, "Shut up, for God's sake! You're killing us.!" Indeed, as the old saying goes, loose lips sink ships.
The fact is the republican party appears to be in the throes of the most extended act of suicide ever witnessed. They couldn't win last November because their base wasn't broad enough, but they can't expand their base because their current base won't allow it. I know, it makes no sense, but it is what is happening, unless, of course, you believe Herman Cain. Cain, the pizza maker and part time sexual deviant appeared on Bill O'Reilly's FOX News show the other day and said the reason Barak Obama is popular is because 51% of us are dumb.
In an obvious and sincere appeal to the hearts and minds of those who voted for the president last November, Mr. Cain opined that, "We have a severe ignorance problem." He said he believes that the majority of voters last year were misled. Even O'Reilly seemed incredulous. "I mean how dumb are we?" he asked. Cain's response was, "Yes, Bill we are that dumb."
Well you have to blame it all on something don't you.
The poll numbers look grim on nearly every front for the GOP. They don't even have the false comfort of Rove/Morris hallucinations any more.
And worst of all they just keep opening their mouths and spewing forth the most awful bullshit imaginable.
It is simply a matter of time before the more clever among them strap on parachutes and hit the silk, because quite honestly it really does look like the plane is going down in flames.
Ol' Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt are turning in their graves as I type.
2-21-13
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
An American's Idol, Anders Breivik
Well, we all have our idols. Many choose singers and bands. Not just a few people pick sports stars. Others are inspired by political and cultural leaders. I have several myself, most of them are authors. According to CBS reporter, Bob Orr, the geeky little guy who shot his mom then 26 other human beings in Newtown, CT, Adam Lanza had an idol named. Anders Breivik.
Breivik is currently sitting in a Norwegian prison because he murdered 77 people a couple of years ago. According to Orr, anonymous police sources are saying that Lanza felt he was in some sort of deadly, bizzaro, competition with Breivik and desperately wanted to top his number of kills. He chose the Sandy Hook Elementary school because he felt it was a soft target and offered the maximum number of potential victims.
Connecticut state police Lt. Paul Vance was quick to deny that any sort of reason has been established for Lanza's rampage, other than the obvious one, that he was as berserk as a wolverine whipped into a frenzy by an overload of meth. Vance maintains that authorities are, "a long way" from determining any sort of motive and claims the Breivik connection is pure speculation. He did say that young Adam had collected information on previous mass shootings, although police have found nothing that specifically outlined his plan, or said he was trying to "out do" anyone.
The FBI continues to try to recover information from the hard drive of Lanza's computer, but haven't come up with anything of use so far. It would seem his efficiency at destroying things was all encompassing.
In a NBC interview Hartford Courant reporters, Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner said that notes found in Adam Lanza's bedroom lead them to believe that he could have been inspired by the madness in Norway. Their publication has teamed with PBS' Frontline to air a report on the life of the shooter and his family.
According to Griffin, Nancy Lanza did everything she could to help her son get an education, including trying various school and in home options. She did say that Mrs. Lanza was prodding her son to be more independent. Griffin touched on rumors that she was also convinced of a dystopian future and was hoarding supplies, weapons, and ammunition to prepare for the collapse of civilization in New England. While not flatly denying that Nancy Lanza was a suburbanite survivalist, she seemed to tacitly dismiss the notion.
What is known is that Adam Lanza was a sick puppy from very early on. In fact his mother told his older brother's scout master not to touch him even casually because physical contact was absolutely repulsive to him. This was before he reached the age of ten. Neither Griffin, or Kovner speculated about what steps she might have taken to get her son professional help, or what medications he might have been on, or off.
What is also known is that Adam Lanza shot each of his victims multiple times just because he could and that he used his mother's weapons to do it. In the end, it doesn't matter why she amassed a home arsenal. What does matter is she did while at the same time she was raising an increasingly unstable son who had taken a very real liking to violent video games and was fascinated by spree killers. Her collection of guns was ultimately her undoing just as it was the undoing of 26 other souls, 20 of them, for all practical purposes, babies.
The fact is, short of chucking her son into a mental institute, which she was obviously unwilling to do, the only way to have prevented the Newtown nightmare was to have denied him access to the guns he used. In other words, to not have them in the house at all. It was something she was also unwilling to do. Yes, her intentions were benign, she was a loving mother and she tried hard to help her child, but what finally came to pass is that Nancy Lanza provided the tools that her bat shit crazy kid used during his murderous walkabout. Anders Breivik may have been the inspiration, but dear old Mom was the enabler.
Meanwhile earlier today in Orange County, California a series of carjackings by a single gunman left three people dead and two wounded, one of them critically. When the perpetrator was finally cornered by police he reportedly shot himself, elevating the total body count to four.
According to Slate and @GunDeaths, the Orange County shootings have raised the number of people shot to death in the United States since the Newtown murders to 1,951.
And some of us still have the audacity to say we're free.
Right.
2-19-13
Breivik is currently sitting in a Norwegian prison because he murdered 77 people a couple of years ago. According to Orr, anonymous police sources are saying that Lanza felt he was in some sort of deadly, bizzaro, competition with Breivik and desperately wanted to top his number of kills. He chose the Sandy Hook Elementary school because he felt it was a soft target and offered the maximum number of potential victims.
Connecticut state police Lt. Paul Vance was quick to deny that any sort of reason has been established for Lanza's rampage, other than the obvious one, that he was as berserk as a wolverine whipped into a frenzy by an overload of meth. Vance maintains that authorities are, "a long way" from determining any sort of motive and claims the Breivik connection is pure speculation. He did say that young Adam had collected information on previous mass shootings, although police have found nothing that specifically outlined his plan, or said he was trying to "out do" anyone.
The FBI continues to try to recover information from the hard drive of Lanza's computer, but haven't come up with anything of use so far. It would seem his efficiency at destroying things was all encompassing.
In a NBC interview Hartford Courant reporters, Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner said that notes found in Adam Lanza's bedroom lead them to believe that he could have been inspired by the madness in Norway. Their publication has teamed with PBS' Frontline to air a report on the life of the shooter and his family.
According to Griffin, Nancy Lanza did everything she could to help her son get an education, including trying various school and in home options. She did say that Mrs. Lanza was prodding her son to be more independent. Griffin touched on rumors that she was also convinced of a dystopian future and was hoarding supplies, weapons, and ammunition to prepare for the collapse of civilization in New England. While not flatly denying that Nancy Lanza was a suburbanite survivalist, she seemed to tacitly dismiss the notion.
What is known is that Adam Lanza was a sick puppy from very early on. In fact his mother told his older brother's scout master not to touch him even casually because physical contact was absolutely repulsive to him. This was before he reached the age of ten. Neither Griffin, or Kovner speculated about what steps she might have taken to get her son professional help, or what medications he might have been on, or off.
What is also known is that Adam Lanza shot each of his victims multiple times just because he could and that he used his mother's weapons to do it. In the end, it doesn't matter why she amassed a home arsenal. What does matter is she did while at the same time she was raising an increasingly unstable son who had taken a very real liking to violent video games and was fascinated by spree killers. Her collection of guns was ultimately her undoing just as it was the undoing of 26 other souls, 20 of them, for all practical purposes, babies.
The fact is, short of chucking her son into a mental institute, which she was obviously unwilling to do, the only way to have prevented the Newtown nightmare was to have denied him access to the guns he used. In other words, to not have them in the house at all. It was something she was also unwilling to do. Yes, her intentions were benign, she was a loving mother and she tried hard to help her child, but what finally came to pass is that Nancy Lanza provided the tools that her bat shit crazy kid used during his murderous walkabout. Anders Breivik may have been the inspiration, but dear old Mom was the enabler.
Meanwhile earlier today in Orange County, California a series of carjackings by a single gunman left three people dead and two wounded, one of them critically. When the perpetrator was finally cornered by police he reportedly shot himself, elevating the total body count to four.
According to Slate and @GunDeaths, the Orange County shootings have raised the number of people shot to death in the United States since the Newtown murders to 1,951.
And some of us still have the audacity to say we're free.
Right.
2-19-13
Monday, February 18, 2013
Preventive Security in Libya, John McCain's Conspiracy, Angry Iranians, and the End of Civilization According to Wayne LaPierre
Hussein Bin Hmeid and his men were on the job last week in Benghazi, Libya. He is the spokesperson for something known as the Preventive Security Apparatus. The PSA popped four foreign nationals because, "They were printing thousands of books calling for conversion to Christianity."
The Reuters report quoted Mr. Hmeid as saying, "Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100% Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security." He wasn't real specific on how it affected Libyan national security, but then it is well known that when looking at the Big Picture, details are for wimps. Mr. Hmeid assured the world that the Korean, South African, Egyptian, and a Swede who was traveling with a U.S. passport would be interrogated thoroughly for a couple of days and then his outfit would hand them over to Libyan intelligence personnel. There is a huge temptation right now to steal a line from the movie, "Casablanca". You know the one when Claude Raines turns to Humphrey Bogart and says something like, "Rick, Major Strasser is one of the reasons the Third Reich enjoys the reputation it has all over the world." That would probably be considered culturally insensitive of me however, so I'll pass.
Speaking of Benghazi, John McCain went on "Meet the Press" yesterday and claimed there has been a massive cover up regarding the deaths of four Americans there last September. When host, David Gregory questioned the Senator about that, it led to this exchange.
McCain: "I'm asking you, do you care whether four Americans died? And shouldn't people be held accountable for that?"
Gregory: "Well what you said was cover up--a cover up of what?"
McCain: "Of the information concerning the deaths of four brave Americans."
Good man, Senator. When pressed go on the attack and when cornered get real non-specific, because details--well, I've all ready explained it in the second paragraph.
The Iranians are pissed off, as usual. This time it is because a Revolutionary Guards commander, Hessam Khoshnevis was killed by Syrian rebels. The rebels claim Iran is covertly sending elements of the Revolutionary Guards into the country to help keep their pal, Bashar al-Assad in power. The Iranians claim it isn't true, although they were a bit vague on why Khoshnevis was in Syria in the first place. In a logic found only in places like Tehran and 1936 Munich the, Iranians are blaming the Jews for the whole mess. They vow to take revenge sometime soon.
Over the weekend Reuters was also reporting that 26 people in Baghdad were killed by bombs in Shi'ite neighborhoods. Sunni Muslim insurgents were blamed for the carnage. Iraqi Sunnis have been in a state of growing paranoia ever since Saddam did the mid-air polka on the wrong end of a rope. They've also lost their grip on power thanks to elections that might actually be considered fair, or at least fair compared to what they are used to in Iraq. The Sunnis, after decades of running the show, now find themselves on the outside looking in as the Shi'ite majority takes on increasing control of the government.
Does blossoming paranoia sound familiar? Well it does when you consider the words of our old pal Wayne LaPierre last week. Mr. LaPierre has switched gears sort of in his never ending shill for gun manufacturers. Last week in the The Daily Caller, another arm of the republican propaganda machine, he painted a picture of looting and crime run amok in Brooklyn during the aftermath of super storm Sandy. That none of it actually happened isn't really important. What is important is that it could have happened.
It would seem that the tried and true, "we must have unlimited arms to defend ourselves against a tyrannical government" argument has grown old. Or perhaps it has dawned on more than a few people that while AR 15's are quite effective when you are gunning down first graders, theater patrons, and family members they really aren't all that useful when it comes to stopping M1A2 Abrams tanks and F-16 fighter bombers. Yes, so now, Mr. LaPierre has gone all survivalist. The government won't come and get our guns, but it also won't be able to protect us because it will be broke. We won't be able to afford police departments in the near future so we have to be able to defend ourselves when civilization collapses and it becomes every man, woman, and child for them self. The next stop on this surreal Tilt a Whirl ride is that we must be able to own the high capacity ammo clips and semi automatic weapons in order to protect ourselves from ravenous hordes of flesh eating zombies. I mean, Good Christ, you see them everywhere on the cable network AMC. It is just a matter of time before they show up in your neighborhood. Keep a clear eye and don't get caught unprepared!
So, the week has begun. It is a bright clear, windy, Monday here on the southern plains.
Just Stay low and keep moving and as long time local TV host, Danny Williams used to say, "watch out for flying chairs."
sic vita est
2-18-13
The Reuters report quoted Mr. Hmeid as saying, "Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100% Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security." He wasn't real specific on how it affected Libyan national security, but then it is well known that when looking at the Big Picture, details are for wimps. Mr. Hmeid assured the world that the Korean, South African, Egyptian, and a Swede who was traveling with a U.S. passport would be interrogated thoroughly for a couple of days and then his outfit would hand them over to Libyan intelligence personnel. There is a huge temptation right now to steal a line from the movie, "Casablanca". You know the one when Claude Raines turns to Humphrey Bogart and says something like, "Rick, Major Strasser is one of the reasons the Third Reich enjoys the reputation it has all over the world." That would probably be considered culturally insensitive of me however, so I'll pass.
Speaking of Benghazi, John McCain went on "Meet the Press" yesterday and claimed there has been a massive cover up regarding the deaths of four Americans there last September. When host, David Gregory questioned the Senator about that, it led to this exchange.
McCain: "I'm asking you, do you care whether four Americans died? And shouldn't people be held accountable for that?"
Gregory: "Well what you said was cover up--a cover up of what?"
McCain: "Of the information concerning the deaths of four brave Americans."
Good man, Senator. When pressed go on the attack and when cornered get real non-specific, because details--well, I've all ready explained it in the second paragraph.
The Iranians are pissed off, as usual. This time it is because a Revolutionary Guards commander, Hessam Khoshnevis was killed by Syrian rebels. The rebels claim Iran is covertly sending elements of the Revolutionary Guards into the country to help keep their pal, Bashar al-Assad in power. The Iranians claim it isn't true, although they were a bit vague on why Khoshnevis was in Syria in the first place. In a logic found only in places like Tehran and 1936 Munich the, Iranians are blaming the Jews for the whole mess. They vow to take revenge sometime soon.
Over the weekend Reuters was also reporting that 26 people in Baghdad were killed by bombs in Shi'ite neighborhoods. Sunni Muslim insurgents were blamed for the carnage. Iraqi Sunnis have been in a state of growing paranoia ever since Saddam did the mid-air polka on the wrong end of a rope. They've also lost their grip on power thanks to elections that might actually be considered fair, or at least fair compared to what they are used to in Iraq. The Sunnis, after decades of running the show, now find themselves on the outside looking in as the Shi'ite majority takes on increasing control of the government.
Does blossoming paranoia sound familiar? Well it does when you consider the words of our old pal Wayne LaPierre last week. Mr. LaPierre has switched gears sort of in his never ending shill for gun manufacturers. Last week in the The Daily Caller, another arm of the republican propaganda machine, he painted a picture of looting and crime run amok in Brooklyn during the aftermath of super storm Sandy. That none of it actually happened isn't really important. What is important is that it could have happened.
It would seem that the tried and true, "we must have unlimited arms to defend ourselves against a tyrannical government" argument has grown old. Or perhaps it has dawned on more than a few people that while AR 15's are quite effective when you are gunning down first graders, theater patrons, and family members they really aren't all that useful when it comes to stopping M1A2 Abrams tanks and F-16 fighter bombers. Yes, so now, Mr. LaPierre has gone all survivalist. The government won't come and get our guns, but it also won't be able to protect us because it will be broke. We won't be able to afford police departments in the near future so we have to be able to defend ourselves when civilization collapses and it becomes every man, woman, and child for them self. The next stop on this surreal Tilt a Whirl ride is that we must be able to own the high capacity ammo clips and semi automatic weapons in order to protect ourselves from ravenous hordes of flesh eating zombies. I mean, Good Christ, you see them everywhere on the cable network AMC. It is just a matter of time before they show up in your neighborhood. Keep a clear eye and don't get caught unprepared!
So, the week has begun. It is a bright clear, windy, Monday here on the southern plains.
Just Stay low and keep moving and as long time local TV host, Danny Williams used to say, "watch out for flying chairs."
sic vita est
2-18-13
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