It's the final week before the Midterms, and, to paraphrase Lewis Carroll, things are getting fucked up.
George Allen's goons beat up a blogger. Here's more footage, a little different than the local news. CNN, naturally, has unvarnished analysis of the situation. No calls to Walter about being mugged, though...
John Kerry's joke gets the Rove. Kerry Clarifies , and Heir Apparent John McCain crawls further into the slime. Hincty, no?
On a related note: Allen Colmes's balls seem to be getting bigger.
Speaking of balls, here's a powerful response to the Rove.
Finally...Ken Blackwell and NAMBLA. Ideology at its most foul.
Holy Stumping Grounds, Batman! Maybe they should call it a Stomp speech instead of Stump speech. Two things about this reprehensible violation of civil rights:
ReplyDelete1) if you have a sordid past and want to run for PUBLIC office, expect that sordid past to return to haunt you, whether you have court records sealed or not [Oh, wait: maybe George Allen having his goons, uhh I mean "supporters," there to rough up this guy was Allen showing forethought about his hypocritcal past coming back to haunt him]; and
2) under the cloak of endemic terrorism, the notion that this "aggresive" questioner Mike Stark might have deserved such ill treatment because, after all, he was carrying a backpack is a prime example of the insidious nature of fascism at work in our country: i.e., we live in a time of "terror"; therefore, we are justified in raising our suspicions about people (à la that CNN report). Wizard: watch out for the would-be terrorists with backpacks in your classroom and on your campus! Jesus H. Fucking Christ.
Oh, and this whole Kerry incident...? Because it's within the context of war--not to mention fiction versus reality--I'm going to quote the exchange between Jack Nicholson's character Marine Corps Colonel Nathan R. Jessep and Tom Cruise's character Navy JAG Officer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in the film A Few Good Men:
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I'm entitled.
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth.
Col. Jessep: You can't handle the truth.
In other words, although I think Kerry is trying his best to "reflect, deflect or genuflect" the brunt of his "joke" in Pasadena, the truth is that the vast majority of men and women in the United States Armed Services--that would be the droves of Enlisted personnel, folks--do NOT have college degrees and are typically un- and undereducated. (Yes, of course, there are exceptions.) But I think the reason people are getting pissed off about Kerry's comment is that he--wittingly or not--put his finger on a very touchy subject among our Enlisted military: their lack of formal education. Hell, most of the Officers I know only serve abroad because they're contracted for a minimum of 6 years, whether they go through West Point, Annapolis, ROTC or mustang it through OTS (Officers' Training School in Quantico).
Fucking McCain. Admit the truth for once, Motherfucker! Kerry told it like it is. I know many of you loathe Michael Moore and his filmmaking, but do you remember the scene in Farenheit 911 where the Marine Corps recruiters are essentially preying upon low-income single males coming out of grocery stores...? (Go back and review that documentary footage if you don't recall that powerful scene.) That is the reality, and those people mainly are the ones who are dying and being maimed in this fucked up war.
It ain't me. It ain't me. I ain't no Senator's son, son.
It ain't me. It ain't me. I ain't no fortunate one, no"
RRROOOAAARRR!!!
It's sad but I used to respect McCain. He wants the shot to run for president so bad that he swallows anything they throw to him.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that Alan Colmes got bigger balls. It's just that, after all these years, he finally swallowed Hannity's.
ReplyDeleteAnyone notice how horrible McCain's looked lately? He looks sickly and grey, as if the melanoma on his neck has started to swallow his soul, or something.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that there was a time when I respected McCain, and I'm sad that time has passed, too.
For an even bolder response to "The Rove", be sure to check out Keith Olbermann's Special Comment from November 1, 2006, at C&L.
Jen,
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU for pointing out this unadulterated brilliance by Keith Olbermann!
The Shakespeare allusion at the end is soooo fitting on many levels.
Would that all Americans could not only listen to, but also hear and heed Olbermann's wisdom here.