I have to say, I didn’t see this coming. I honestly thought that Alberto Gonzalez would remain attorney general as long as Dubya remained President. I thought that there was no way POTUS could afford to give up the legal protection of the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. I assumed that Gonzalez, who smirked and sneered his way through a fuck you confirmation process and numerous fuck you sessions of testimony before Congress would stay. He was the President’s butt boy and proud to have the honor. He was arrogant and simply bluffed his way through all kinds of lies and obfuscations when Senate Democrats asked him the tough questions. In many cases, it appeared that the Dems were caught flatfooted as if they couldn’t possibly believe that this guy could actually tell these lies and keep a straight face.
I also figured that POTUS would keep Gonzalez around not only as a shield to keep the President’s critics at bay; I thought that Dubya would keep him around because he knew (or someone told him in very small words) that there was no way he could ram through another loyal bushie because the Democratic majority in the Senate would prevent that from happening. The man needs an Attorney General after all and it’s pretty obvious that he needs one who will tell the President and Congress, with a straight face, that the President is not beholden to any constraint, legal or otherwise. He has to be willing to publicly give a rimjob to the President at a moment’s notice and while under oath. This is not an easy guy to locate and in Gonzalez the President had pure gold.
Which is why I am actually quite shocked that Gonzalez is now gone. The good news is that I am obviously very fallible in terms of guessing what will happen in the world of politics so my prior anti-Hillary screed may be entirely worthless.
Now that Gonzalez is gone, the President has a couple of options. The first one is a recess appointment. He can pick another bootlick in the mold of Gonzalez and not even try to have him confirmed. Just name him while Congress is in recess and then the President has effectively named Gonzalez’ successor for the remainder of Bush’s term. The President allegedly already has made a “deal” with Harry Reid whereby the President won’t make any recess appointments and Reid will promise to get some of Bush’s nominees to the floor. Still, the timing of this resignation makes me think that Bush is planning something and that he will name a recess appointment before Reid can do anything about it. Honestly, that has to be tempting. This President has already trashed his credibility with Congress so if he bails out on another promise, it really won’t make anything worse, especially if by doing so he gets to keep his shield in place. I am sure that the calculus going on in the White House is “Well, we might have trouble getting a former KKK Imperial Wizard approved as ambassador to Liberia, but if we are willing to give up on that we can stall any actual investigation until the end of the term when the President will pardon us all and then we go off and enjoy our millions of dollars.”
So, put me on the record as saying I expect a recess appointment. Again, I could be wrong and you would have to get pretty good odds on betting I am way off on this one.
But, if I am wrong and if Dubya decides to actually try to run his nominee through the confirmation process, please consider this a call for the Democrats to finally stand up for themselves and for me. No more rolling over, no more giving the President what he wants. No more listening to Joe Lieberman or any of the “Blue Dog” Democrats. Fuck that and fuck them. America is dying for someone to stand up to the unchecked power of this president and you should all be ashamed of yourselves and the way you have rolled over every time he has commanded it. Show some balls for once and filibuster anyone who won’t actually enforce e the laws and provide some oversight to an administration that has run roughshod over every fucking freedom we hold dear.
Do NOT confirm someone who believes that he is the President’s lawyer. Alberto Gonzalez, an embarrassment to Mexicans everywhere, believed that he was the President’s attorney. The fact of the matter is that he was MY lawyer and he never once gave me the respect I was owed as his client. He roughly fucked me in the ass just to have the pleasure of gently kissing the President’s. How he can sleep at night, how he avoids shame the way he does and how he hasn’t been impeached or disbarred up until now are all mysteries to me.
It cannot be stated too strongly that Democrats in the Senate need to draw the line here. Let him appoint a conservative because that is his prerogative. But there are a lot of conservative lawyers out there who believe that his is a nation of laws and not of men. Force him to pick one of THEM. Just for once stand up for the principles and ideals that make you a Democrat. There is still time for you to do some good before this President leaves office. Don’t squander this one as you have so many others.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Thing About Hillary Clinton
I worry about Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. If you have been reading up until now (and based on the lack if feedback I have thus far received, you haven’t) you can pretty much tell I am a Democrat. And quite a liberal one at that. I am what I suppose Rush Limbaugh would generically refer to as a knee-jerk-tax-and-spend-reactionary-bleeding-heart-big-government liberal. And I am pretty proud of that too.
So, even though her husband wasn’t as liberal as I am, I am a huge fan of the Clintons. My dream is that they amend the Constitution to allow a person to serve more than two terms and that Bubba and Dubya get in the ring for a no-holds-barred steel cage match. I’ll take Bubba and you neocon fucks can have whoever you want and Karl Rove can use his incantations to get Lee Atwater back among the living and they can run your guy’s campaign. Throw in Howard Hunt and Donald Segretti. I am confident my guy will win.
And I think that Senator Clinton would make an excellent president as well. While she is a bit too triangulating for my tastes and, again, she is not as liberal as I would like her to be, I would get behind her in a second. I think that she can overcome that thing that she does that makes it feel like every answer she gives to any question, right down to "Hillary, have you fed the dog?" has been focus-grouped by three different independent pollsters.
And I am not worried because she is a woman, either. I think the country has long been ready for a woman president and I think the fact that we haven’t had one says more about the lack of credible candidates that have run for the office than it does about sexism. Pakistan, a Muslim state for the love of god, has had a women prime minister. If Pakistan can be led by a woman, so can the US of fucking A.
No, my problems with Senator Clinton aren’t that I don’t like her, aren’t because she is a woman, aren’t because she triangulates too much and aren’t because she is too conservative.
My problem is because I have serious doubts that she can win. Look, this country is poised to give the Democratic Party a stranglehold on both the White House and Congress. Poll after poll shows that the voting public are disenchanted with Dubya and the Republicans in Congress. Now, I have serious issues with what the Democrats have done, and more importantly, failed to do since they took back Congress in 2006. It is my hope and belief that Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi will look at these polls and decide that they have been too easy on this president. Take away some of this Supreme Executive Power he insists he is wielding. But that’s for another day. Right now, what concerns me is that Hillary Clinton is the only person running as a Democrat who can possibly give the Republicans the jolt of energy they need to mobilize themselves.
As it stands right now, the Republican nominees are a bunch of flip-floppers who have suddenly seen the light and are now reaching out to give a reacharound to any ultraconservative they happen to meet. Either that or they are a bunch of loony whackjobs who believe that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs. Suddenly Giuliani is willing to be flexible (which is to say inflexibly against) on abortion and Romney now forswears everything he ever did that was good for Planned Parenthood. John McCain is so addlebrained that he can’t even remember whose bunghole he is supposed to be frenching at any given time and was last seen giving a tongue bath to the corpse of Jerry Falwell. Fred Thompson hasn’t seen fit to enter the race and why should he when he is damn near winning the fight from the sidelines? Nope, this bunch of serial marriers, cheaters, crazies, idiots, inbreds, mental defectives and waterboarders couldn’t hope to beat any “normal” candidate.
But Hillary Clinton is not “normal” even by the lax standards of presidential politics. She induces an atavistic and reflexive hatred in Republicans. She is the ONE candidate who could rouse the Republican base to show up and vote. As it stands right now, a lot of right-wing zealots are looking like they might just sit this one out and that is a plus for the Democrats because no matter what faults the religious right may have, a lack of discipline in voting is none of them. Had it not been for God-Gay wedge issue-laden campaigns, it is almost certain that George “The Accidental President” might never have been [s]elected.
Hillary Clinton will force the right to mobilize. And, when you combine that with their minority voter suppression tactics, their post-election storm troopers and the fact that Democrats aren’t always the most disciplined voting bloc, you have a recipe for another Republican win. She may end up being the most popular Democrat and god knows that if she wins the election I will work for her and give her money. And maybe I am wrong; during the first Gulf War I was certain that Bush the Elder would win a second term, so that goes to show what I know.
But I will tell you that none of the other Dems induce such a reactionary response as does Senator Clinton. Of all the people in this country, she may be the only one about whom everyone else has an opinion. Put another way, if you were to ask 10,000 people whether they had a favorable, unfavorable or no opinion about her, I think you could really get a “zero” next to the “no opinion” line. She is the one candidate who could rouse the great but dormant Falwellbeast.
So, even though her husband wasn’t as liberal as I am, I am a huge fan of the Clintons. My dream is that they amend the Constitution to allow a person to serve more than two terms and that Bubba and Dubya get in the ring for a no-holds-barred steel cage match. I’ll take Bubba and you neocon fucks can have whoever you want and Karl Rove can use his incantations to get Lee Atwater back among the living and they can run your guy’s campaign. Throw in Howard Hunt and Donald Segretti. I am confident my guy will win.
And I think that Senator Clinton would make an excellent president as well. While she is a bit too triangulating for my tastes and, again, she is not as liberal as I would like her to be, I would get behind her in a second. I think that she can overcome that thing that she does that makes it feel like every answer she gives to any question, right down to "Hillary, have you fed the dog?" has been focus-grouped by three different independent pollsters.
And I am not worried because she is a woman, either. I think the country has long been ready for a woman president and I think the fact that we haven’t had one says more about the lack of credible candidates that have run for the office than it does about sexism. Pakistan, a Muslim state for the love of god, has had a women prime minister. If Pakistan can be led by a woman, so can the US of fucking A.
No, my problems with Senator Clinton aren’t that I don’t like her, aren’t because she is a woman, aren’t because she triangulates too much and aren’t because she is too conservative.
My problem is because I have serious doubts that she can win. Look, this country is poised to give the Democratic Party a stranglehold on both the White House and Congress. Poll after poll shows that the voting public are disenchanted with Dubya and the Republicans in Congress. Now, I have serious issues with what the Democrats have done, and more importantly, failed to do since they took back Congress in 2006. It is my hope and belief that Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi will look at these polls and decide that they have been too easy on this president. Take away some of this Supreme Executive Power he insists he is wielding. But that’s for another day. Right now, what concerns me is that Hillary Clinton is the only person running as a Democrat who can possibly give the Republicans the jolt of energy they need to mobilize themselves.
As it stands right now, the Republican nominees are a bunch of flip-floppers who have suddenly seen the light and are now reaching out to give a reacharound to any ultraconservative they happen to meet. Either that or they are a bunch of loony whackjobs who believe that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs. Suddenly Giuliani is willing to be flexible (which is to say inflexibly against) on abortion and Romney now forswears everything he ever did that was good for Planned Parenthood. John McCain is so addlebrained that he can’t even remember whose bunghole he is supposed to be frenching at any given time and was last seen giving a tongue bath to the corpse of Jerry Falwell. Fred Thompson hasn’t seen fit to enter the race and why should he when he is damn near winning the fight from the sidelines? Nope, this bunch of serial marriers, cheaters, crazies, idiots, inbreds, mental defectives and waterboarders couldn’t hope to beat any “normal” candidate.
But Hillary Clinton is not “normal” even by the lax standards of presidential politics. She induces an atavistic and reflexive hatred in Republicans. She is the ONE candidate who could rouse the Republican base to show up and vote. As it stands right now, a lot of right-wing zealots are looking like they might just sit this one out and that is a plus for the Democrats because no matter what faults the religious right may have, a lack of discipline in voting is none of them. Had it not been for God-Gay wedge issue-laden campaigns, it is almost certain that George “The Accidental President” might never have been [s]elected.
Hillary Clinton will force the right to mobilize. And, when you combine that with their minority voter suppression tactics, their post-election storm troopers and the fact that Democrats aren’t always the most disciplined voting bloc, you have a recipe for another Republican win. She may end up being the most popular Democrat and god knows that if she wins the election I will work for her and give her money. And maybe I am wrong; during the first Gulf War I was certain that Bush the Elder would win a second term, so that goes to show what I know.
But I will tell you that none of the other Dems induce such a reactionary response as does Senator Clinton. Of all the people in this country, she may be the only one about whom everyone else has an opinion. Put another way, if you were to ask 10,000 people whether they had a favorable, unfavorable or no opinion about her, I think you could really get a “zero” next to the “no opinion” line. She is the one candidate who could rouse the great but dormant Falwellbeast.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Rudy CAN Fail
Anyone recall when Rudy Giuliani was bragging about having spent as much time at Ground Zero as the police and firemen who were there? Rudy said that all of his time down there made him "one of them." Not too long after that some firefighters and police registered some concern that perhaps the mayor was... overstating his own involvement at that scene of horror. Rudy later went on to "clarify" his remarks by stating that he "empathized with them because [he] feel[s] like [he has] that same risk."
Pretty soon thereafter some people started examining his mayoral archive (revised after trying to acount for scheduling changes and such) and they have learned that His Honor actually spent a total of 29 hours at Ground Zero between September 17 and December 16, 2001. By contrast, a Mount Sinai study of 1,138 rescue workers, debris removal workers and recovery personnel found that they h ad spent a median of 962 hours at the site. That is an average of 120 eight-hour days.
You know, I thought that Giuliani did a pretty good job on 9/11 and immediately thereafter. I am now starting to hear things that are suggesting that I revisit that opinion and maybe I will. But I think that most Americans have a pretty positive view of Giuliani and think he handled himself admirably on that horrible day. God knows our President and Vice-President were nowhere to be found. Why on Earth would Giuliani feel the need to infalte his own importance on that day and invite this type of scrutiny? I mean, I understand the desire to make your own accomplishments even more significant and I understand that he is running for President, but what kind of mouth-breathing drunk do you have to be to say something like this and think that no one is going to look into it? Right after 9/11 Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas, said that when she was driving in Missouri, a state famed for bad roads, she felt as if the terrorists had attacked there. And people went after her. And she apologized, which was entirely approrpaite. DId Rudy really think that he was going to get a pass to claim the mantle of hero on that sacred day? Does he not know that there are groups of firefighters and police who are making it their mission to "swift boat" him about his work that day?
Even though I thought Rudy did a pretty good job on 9/11/2001, I have never really been a fan of his. I had a law school professor who knew him from both of them being in the New York US Attorney's office and he said that Rudy was always too proud of himself, too happy to take credit and and too thin-skinned. I am hopeful that this will provide more ammunition to Rudy's enemies. It's the perfect Republican attack- go after his boggests trength and make it a weakness. It worked to perfection on John Kerry and I think it will be really cool to see this little bit of jiujitsu used on "America's" mayor.
Pretty soon thereafter some people started examining his mayoral archive (revised after trying to acount for scheduling changes and such) and they have learned that His Honor actually spent a total of 29 hours at Ground Zero between September 17 and December 16, 2001. By contrast, a Mount Sinai study of 1,138 rescue workers, debris removal workers and recovery personnel found that they h ad spent a median of 962 hours at the site. That is an average of 120 eight-hour days.
You know, I thought that Giuliani did a pretty good job on 9/11 and immediately thereafter. I am now starting to hear things that are suggesting that I revisit that opinion and maybe I will. But I think that most Americans have a pretty positive view of Giuliani and think he handled himself admirably on that horrible day. God knows our President and Vice-President were nowhere to be found. Why on Earth would Giuliani feel the need to infalte his own importance on that day and invite this type of scrutiny? I mean, I understand the desire to make your own accomplishments even more significant and I understand that he is running for President, but what kind of mouth-breathing drunk do you have to be to say something like this and think that no one is going to look into it? Right after 9/11 Kathleen Sebelius, Governor of Kansas, said that when she was driving in Missouri, a state famed for bad roads, she felt as if the terrorists had attacked there. And people went after her. And she apologized, which was entirely approrpaite. DId Rudy really think that he was going to get a pass to claim the mantle of hero on that sacred day? Does he not know that there are groups of firefighters and police who are making it their mission to "swift boat" him about his work that day?
Even though I thought Rudy did a pretty good job on 9/11/2001, I have never really been a fan of his. I had a law school professor who knew him from both of them being in the New York US Attorney's office and he said that Rudy was always too proud of himself, too happy to take credit and and too thin-skinned. I am hopeful that this will provide more ammunition to Rudy's enemies. It's the perfect Republican attack- go after his boggests trength and make it a weakness. It worked to perfection on John Kerry and I think it will be really cool to see this little bit of jiujitsu used on "America's" mayor.
Monday, August 6, 2007
And Now For Something Completely Different...
Sorry. I don't even know if anyone is reading this, but I haven't posted anything for awhile. I've been out of town, been busy, been tired, etc. Anyway, I am taking a short break from politics and I am going to write about Neifi Perez of the Detroit Tigers. This really has nothing to do with politics, but I just love this story so much.
As you may know, Neifi Perez recently had his third positive test for banned substances. This test occurred while he was serving his suspension for his second violation. So, like I was saying, he just had his third positive test. For amphetamines. Speed, in other words. As you may know, pro sports, especially baseball and football, have been using speed for decades. Some say it’s been a much bigger problem than steroids. They may be right.
Anyway, Neifi tested positive for speed. Again, his third positive test came while he was serving his suspension for his SECOND positive test. But that’s not why I think this story is so fucking awesome. Neifi noticed he was having some problems concentrating so he saw a sports psychologist. So far so good. His shrink decided that Perez had ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Still, no problem, it’s a real condition. My kid has ADD which is the same thing but without the hyperactivity. Weirdly, the thing they give you when you have ADD or ADHD is amphetamines. I don't know exactly why it works because I would think that the last thing you need when you have an attention deficit and/or hyperactivity is some kind of stimulant. You’d think they’d prescribe some sort of tranquilizer, right? But no. They prescribe amphetamines and it works. My kid's on them and it has made a huge difference, I don’t give a fuck WHAT Tom Cruise says. There are several different types of amphetamines but one of the most popular is called “Adderall.” It’s a very good drug but, because it is speed, it is possible to abuse it and it is a highly controlled drug. When we get it for our kid, we have to get a written prescription every month. It’s against federal law to accept a phoned-in prescription so you have to physically go to a doctor’s office and get a written prescription and you take that straight to the drug store. And you can only get a one-month supply at a time.
Anyway, am I boring you? Because I haven’t gotten to the awesome part yet.
Neifi takes his Adderall and it works really well for him, or so he says. But then he says that after he has taken it for a month or two, his drugstore refused to fill his prescription anymore. Now, given everything I described about how you have to get a written script, etc., I think that what really happened is that he didn’t see why he should have to get a written script and go through all that hoopla. I doubt that they said “We’re sorry, Mr. Perez, but we refuse to sell you any more Adderall.” So I will give him the benefit of the doubt and just say that he got a little confused about why he was having trouble gtting his meds. I can believe that because I have been through similar issues.
Here’s where it gets awesome: One of Neifi’s teammates tells Neifi “you don’t need Adderall. You can take any kind of amphetamine you want and it will work just as well.” So what does Neifi do? He buys black market speed, in god knows what form, and takes that. And now he is trying to say that he took it under a doctor’s orders and he is going to protest his suspension. Because one of his teammates (I am not aware that there are ANY ballplayers who are also MDs, but I am almost certain that there are no medical doctors on the Detroit Tigers roster. That being said, I do believe that the Tigers have a team physician that Neifi could have asked if he didn’t fel like taking the opinion of Kenny Rogers or Pudge Rodriguez.) said that he could take any kind of speed he wanted to treat his medical condition.
Let’s apply that reasoning in another context, shall we? “You don’t need to take that physician-prescribed Vicodin to manage your pain after that surgery. You can take heroin!” Or “Your doctor said that you should take a topical cortical steroid for that skin inflammation, but they key is “steroid” and you could take dianabol instead.” Or “I know that the police and your pediatrician say that you have to bring home your newborn baby in an approved child seat in a car, but the important thing is the child seat and that you get him home, so you should be able to mount the child’s seat on the back of your motorcycle!”
I just love this so much, I wanna take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.
As you may know, Neifi Perez recently had his third positive test for banned substances. This test occurred while he was serving his suspension for his second violation. So, like I was saying, he just had his third positive test. For amphetamines. Speed, in other words. As you may know, pro sports, especially baseball and football, have been using speed for decades. Some say it’s been a much bigger problem than steroids. They may be right.
Anyway, Neifi tested positive for speed. Again, his third positive test came while he was serving his suspension for his SECOND positive test. But that’s not why I think this story is so fucking awesome. Neifi noticed he was having some problems concentrating so he saw a sports psychologist. So far so good. His shrink decided that Perez had ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Still, no problem, it’s a real condition. My kid has ADD which is the same thing but without the hyperactivity. Weirdly, the thing they give you when you have ADD or ADHD is amphetamines. I don't know exactly why it works because I would think that the last thing you need when you have an attention deficit and/or hyperactivity is some kind of stimulant. You’d think they’d prescribe some sort of tranquilizer, right? But no. They prescribe amphetamines and it works. My kid's on them and it has made a huge difference, I don’t give a fuck WHAT Tom Cruise says. There are several different types of amphetamines but one of the most popular is called “Adderall.” It’s a very good drug but, because it is speed, it is possible to abuse it and it is a highly controlled drug. When we get it for our kid, we have to get a written prescription every month. It’s against federal law to accept a phoned-in prescription so you have to physically go to a doctor’s office and get a written prescription and you take that straight to the drug store. And you can only get a one-month supply at a time.
Anyway, am I boring you? Because I haven’t gotten to the awesome part yet.
Neifi takes his Adderall and it works really well for him, or so he says. But then he says that after he has taken it for a month or two, his drugstore refused to fill his prescription anymore. Now, given everything I described about how you have to get a written script, etc., I think that what really happened is that he didn’t see why he should have to get a written script and go through all that hoopla. I doubt that they said “We’re sorry, Mr. Perez, but we refuse to sell you any more Adderall.” So I will give him the benefit of the doubt and just say that he got a little confused about why he was having trouble gtting his meds. I can believe that because I have been through similar issues.
Here’s where it gets awesome: One of Neifi’s teammates tells Neifi “you don’t need Adderall. You can take any kind of amphetamine you want and it will work just as well.” So what does Neifi do? He buys black market speed, in god knows what form, and takes that. And now he is trying to say that he took it under a doctor’s orders and he is going to protest his suspension. Because one of his teammates (I am not aware that there are ANY ballplayers who are also MDs, but I am almost certain that there are no medical doctors on the Detroit Tigers roster. That being said, I do believe that the Tigers have a team physician that Neifi could have asked if he didn’t fel like taking the opinion of Kenny Rogers or Pudge Rodriguez.) said that he could take any kind of speed he wanted to treat his medical condition.
Let’s apply that reasoning in another context, shall we? “You don’t need to take that physician-prescribed Vicodin to manage your pain after that surgery. You can take heroin!” Or “Your doctor said that you should take a topical cortical steroid for that skin inflammation, but they key is “steroid” and you could take dianabol instead.” Or “I know that the police and your pediatrician say that you have to bring home your newborn baby in an approved child seat in a car, but the important thing is the child seat and that you get him home, so you should be able to mount the child’s seat on the back of your motorcycle!”
I just love this so much, I wanna take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.
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