Tuesday, August 31, 2004

The Miscreant’s Dictionary:  “Politician”

politician

1. a professional liar

2. a quasi-legal criminal

3. a member of what might be considered the most powerful special-interest group in the United States

The Micro-Pundit:  The GOP Convention

I’m disgusted, but not surprised, at how the GOP is using moderate Republicans at the GOP convention to spin the far-right-wing, liberal agenda of the party.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the GOP is no longer run by conservatives, it’s run by liberals of the worst stripe.  “Liberal” is apparently a nasty word in this country, and so it’s about time Bush and his cronies get it slapped all over them.  True conservatives tend to prefer the inertia of current laws, institutions, etc.  True conservatives tend to be cautious and prefer moderation to extreme change.  I ask you this – does this define the Republican party as it is currently being led?  Or does it meet the dictionary definition of “liberal” (from the Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary) as “given or provided in a generous and openhanded way” and “broad-minded; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms.” Last I checked, the current GOP is remarkably generous in giving tax breaks to the rich, shafting the poor, and trying to open up the nation to energy exploration.  And they’ve been unbound by the orthodoxy of any number of international treaties, international low, even our own Constitution.  The Democratic party is now the truly conservative party, not the Republicans, and I hope that some of them catch on to this argument – it could be a killer in this election if we can get it to stick.  If anyone knows how to get this idea to the decision-makers in the Democratic party, I’d love to hear from you.

If you want to vote for a conservative, vote for John Kerry.

Sunday, August 29, 2004

The Daily Mantra:  Multitasking

Editor’s Note:  I reserve to edit and/or remove comments if I deem the content too inflamatory, etc.  And please, PLEASE, if you want to send a personal comment to me, please do so via email, rather than via the comments section.  Some things simply aren’t appropriate for the comments section.

Thank you.

And now, for your Daily Mantra.

Multitasking is great, but it is best to be careful when multitasking filling the sink with hot water and troubleshooting the home network.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

The Miscreant’s Dictionary:  “Obstetrician”

obstetrician

a physician specializing in the care of women during and after birth and who is likely being driven out of the field due to the high cost of malpractice insurance

Friday, August 27, 2004

The Daily Mantra:  Creativity

Creativity is best practiced daily.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

The Micro-Pundit:  Abu Ghraib

I heard something that, were I not so cynical, would be unbelievable.  NPR’s Morning Edition interviewed a member of the Schlesinger panel appointed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Retired Air Force General Charles Horner (click here and then on the “Abuse Panel Member Horner Defends Rumsfeld” audio link).  While I can hardly expect Gen. Horner to come down against Rumsfeld, he made the claim that Rumsfeld is one of the best Secretaries of Defense we’ve ever had.  To say that a man who’s systematically ignored the best advice of his generals, driven several decorated and respected generals out of the service, and been responsible for some of the worst moral failings of our military since Vietnam (or earlier even) is “one of the best” is laughable at best.  But Gen. Horner went further.  He acknowledged that Rumsfeld not resigning would have PR consequences, but that since, in Jim Schlesinger’s words (which Horner agreed with), “the best thing that we could do for our enemies was have Rumsfeld resign,” we’d just have to deal with those PR consequences.  After all, according to Horner, “…we have to be who we are: we’re moral, honest, and open.” A moral US government doesn’t have problems like Abu Ghraib.  An honest US government doesn’t lie about weapons of mass destruction and non-existent al-Qaeda links to Hussein in order to start a war.  And an open US government doesn’t hide energy industry influence on energy policy or hide behind a 527 called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to try and tear down an opponent.  Either Gen. Horner is frightening naïve, or he’s a political hack appointed by a chickenhawk to spout the party line.

I doubt you get to be a General in the Air Force by being frightening naïve.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

The Micro-Pundit:  The Assault Weapons Ban

The assault weapons ban that passed in 1994 is due to expire on September 13.  When I heard this initially, I was disgusted.  Not surprised, unfortunately – we do, after all, have a Republican Congress and White House.  But I recently heard something I didn’t know.  Gun manufacturers figured out almost immediately how to circumvent the law and so the law has been unenforceable almost since it was signed.  It seems that the assault weapons ban was way too specific as to what qualified as an assault weapon.  All the gun makers did was tweak a few of the key characteristics some and Voila! The gun stopped being an assault weapon.  Seeing as this is the case, I don’t really care whether the weapon ban dies or not.  Hell, in some respects I’d prefer it actually die.  If a law (any law, really, not just the assault weapon ban) with no teeth stays on the books, it prevents future “good” laws that can actually address the problem from being written.  And, in my not so humble opinion, toothless laws are worse than no laws at all.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

The Miscreant’s Dictionary:  “Newsmonger”

newsmonger

a person who gathers and repeats gossip, opinion, and political spin as news {example:  FoxNews anchor Bill O’Reilly}

Monday, August 23, 2004

Mr. Brain rants on Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and George W. Bush

Mr. Brain here.  My friend Sam Smith of The Lullaby Pit came up with a downright scary piece on Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) and asked everyone he knows to forward it out to everyone they know.  This was the first time I’ve ever known him to make this unusual request except when it was about new computer viruses, so Brian (the Daedalnexus editor/writer) and I (Mr. Brain) took notice and read the bit, and we both agree that it’s too damn important not to propagate.

Here’s the link:  The Truth About the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (and the Corresponding Truth About George W. Bush) As Sam asked, please, please forward this on to anyone you think might be wondering who to vote for in November.  It might help make up their mind for them to vote for Kerry.

But I just wanted to add a few additional comments myself, and since no-one expect me, Brian’s evil twin, to be tactful and polite, I won’t be.

Sam talks about chickenhawks, those war-mongering sons(and daughters)-of-bitches who have the audacity to scream “bring it on” from the safety of aircraft carriers in port and from behind two dozen Secret Service bodyguards.  But there’s another name for them, a name that applies to Bush less than some of the SVBT pricks like former Rear Adm. Hoffman - REMF, or rear-echelon motherfucker.

REMF is a term that may predate Vietnam, but was popularized during that “conflict.” My understanding is that the term referred to the dumbshits behind the lines who got people killed for no good reason, like taking a hill with no strategic value somewhere in the middle of the goddamn jungle.  It applied to officers, quartermasters, even the politicos whose kids weren’t out bleeding their last drops fighting a bullshit war.

I won’t claim that most of the SBVT members are REMFs, but I sure as shit will say that Bush is one.  And there’s no fucking way that Kerry will be.  Kerry volunteered for Naval duty in Vietnam.  He had enough connections at the time that he could have pulled some strings and got himself a cushy job in the States like Bush did.  But Kerry didn’t.  Maybe he wanted to emulate Kennedy and serve on the Vietnam equivalent of a PT-Boat, the swift boat.  But who in his right mind would WANT to draw duty that saw an 86% casualty rate?  Last I checked, getting killed is a sure-fire way to end a budding political career.

The Daedalnexus has gone out of its way to never use the President’s name and the word “President” in the same sentence.  Bush doesn’t deserve the honor.  No-one who would dare to claim the mantle of “patriot” and shred the patriotism of people who gave blood, sweat, tears, limbs, and years of their lives in service to the United States of America deserves the honor of having their name follow the word “President” in print.  And no-one who would use hypocritical, racist bastards as surrogate assassins in an attempt to keep their own hands clean deserves it either.

And if you get all pissy about Kerry being just as bad, remember that MoveOn.org (Ed. note:  do NOT visit Move-On.org - it’s a ultraconservative site trying to paint Kerry and Hillary Clinton as the anti-Christ.  Thanks to Anne Lafferty for pointing out Mr. Brain’s screw-up.)had the decency to take down two submitted ads that featured Hitler, while Bush’s campaign resurrected those very ads and the used them to try and paint Kerry as a sicko.

Bush’s cronies don’t just see themselves as kingmakers - they see themselves as gods, separate from us meer mortals and better than us.  Well, I’m looking forward to a chance to prove them utterly wrong in November.

Mr. Brain, signing off. 

Sunday, August 22, 2004

The Micro-Pundit:  Statistics

Sam Smith of The Lullaby Pit forwarded me an interesting Washington Post article (Tax Burden Shifts to the Middle Class) about how, on a percentage basis, the middle class is paying more in taxes than the wealthy.  Considering the tilt of the Bush tax cuts (toward the wealthy), no one should be surprised.  But the same report points out that, if certain federal programs are removed from the calculations (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) the rich are actually paying more, not less.

Whatever.

Every statistic I’ve seen can be tweaked by someone sufficiently versed in mathematics and/or spinning information.