'nuff said.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
You've Got to be Kidding Me
New York Times story today talking about Chile's experience with PRIVATIZING retirement funds. Yes, I said PRIVATIZE, damn it!
Boxer's Spine Gets Her Cut Off at the Knees
Margaret Carlson (Jan. 27, Los Angeles Times)
You wouldn't know it from reading the newspapers, but Sen. Barbara Boxer served her country valiantly last week. In her grilling of Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice, Boxer finally named the elephant in the hearing room, which is more than the war itself. It's the lies that got us there.
Finally, a national television audience could watch a member of Congress ask tough questions in language that didn't pussyfoot around. From all the commissions, studies and news reports, we now know pretty much what Rice knew and when she knew it. What we don't yet have is an explanation for why Rice didn't tell us what she knew and at times even told us the opposite.
Boxer asked Rice if "your loyalty to the mission … to sell this war overwhelmed your respect for the truth." Rice, without explaining a thing, coolly accused Boxer of impugning her integrity. No explanation of why her stories of yellowcake uranium, aluminum tubes and a potential Saddam Hussein mushroom cloud did not constitute an (over)selling of the war.
For her trouble, Boxer was blasted — even by those who agreed with her — not so much on substance but on style. Sen. Robert Byrd gets called "irascible." Why can't women get called irascible? It's so much nicer than the other words we get called.
Women don't have a lot of leeway in how they comport themselves. Could any woman behave on TV like Bob Novak or Bill O'Reilly and get her own show? Female pundits are rarely called "sharp and incisive," only "shrill and strident." Women in politics have less margin for error. During his 30 years as a columnist, I can remember William Safire calling only one person a "congenital liar," and it just happened to be Hillary (D-Whitewater).
In the Senate, you still hear women described as "ladylike." The models for admission to the club are Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Dianne Feinstein, in their pumps and matronly dresses. If a woman takes on a man, she must do it in florid language or behind closed doors. If she takes on another woman, she'll be labeled a catfighter, unless she's a white-haired grandmother in triple strand pearls and does it in verse. (Remember when Barbara Bush called Geraldine Ferraro something that "rhymes with witch"?)
In a chamber where they still call each other "esteemed colleague" at the oddest times — as they were killing off Trent Lott, for instance — it was as if Boxer had said "liar, liar, pants on fire," when she hadn't said anything of the sort. If only Boxer could be a couple inches taller, have a deeper voice, do something with her hair — and be, as Henry Higgins sang, more like a man? Well, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), seated a few seats down, is 6 feet 4 with a basso profundo and the best hair in the business, and he couldn't land a punch. Mr. "I Voted For It Before I Voted Against It" lacked what Boxer showed: spine, and the simple courage to call "misinformation" by its right name.
But all she got for it was the pasting of a lifetime. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said such Democratic foolishness risked "adopting our enemy's view of the world." Even Boxer's supporters deducted points for style without adding any for degree of difficulty. She was ridiculed in a skit on "Saturday Night Live," looking like a homeless person with gray hair flying, ranting at the cool, composed, perfectly turned-out Rice.
The Los Angeles Daily News accused Boxer of embarrassing herself with uncivil bombast. "The edge in her voice was jarring," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle. The Washington Post's Colbert King took on Boxer for "slurring Rice." In blog- land, Boxer was called, among other things, "old, burnt out, shrill and saggy looking." Perhaps a more diplomatic interrogation could have saved herself some grief. But it's hard to find that pitch-perfect voice within the range of civility on these subjects. On Wednesday, the U.S. suffered its biggest one-day loss in Iraq. The war's body count is at 1,400. Insurgents vow a bloodbath on Sunday. In Washington, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice sail on, and everybody's mad at Barbara Boxer.
You wouldn't know it from reading the newspapers, but Sen. Barbara Boxer served her country valiantly last week. In her grilling of Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice, Boxer finally named the elephant in the hearing room, which is more than the war itself. It's the lies that got us there.
Finally, a national television audience could watch a member of Congress ask tough questions in language that didn't pussyfoot around. From all the commissions, studies and news reports, we now know pretty much what Rice knew and when she knew it. What we don't yet have is an explanation for why Rice didn't tell us what she knew and at times even told us the opposite.
Boxer asked Rice if "your loyalty to the mission … to sell this war overwhelmed your respect for the truth." Rice, without explaining a thing, coolly accused Boxer of impugning her integrity. No explanation of why her stories of yellowcake uranium, aluminum tubes and a potential Saddam Hussein mushroom cloud did not constitute an (over)selling of the war.
For her trouble, Boxer was blasted — even by those who agreed with her — not so much on substance but on style. Sen. Robert Byrd gets called "irascible." Why can't women get called irascible? It's so much nicer than the other words we get called.
Women don't have a lot of leeway in how they comport themselves. Could any woman behave on TV like Bob Novak or Bill O'Reilly and get her own show? Female pundits are rarely called "sharp and incisive," only "shrill and strident." Women in politics have less margin for error. During his 30 years as a columnist, I can remember William Safire calling only one person a "congenital liar," and it just happened to be Hillary (D-Whitewater).
In the Senate, you still hear women described as "ladylike." The models for admission to the club are Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Dianne Feinstein, in their pumps and matronly dresses. If a woman takes on a man, she must do it in florid language or behind closed doors. If she takes on another woman, she'll be labeled a catfighter, unless she's a white-haired grandmother in triple strand pearls and does it in verse. (Remember when Barbara Bush called Geraldine Ferraro something that "rhymes with witch"?)
In a chamber where they still call each other "esteemed colleague" at the oddest times — as they were killing off Trent Lott, for instance — it was as if Boxer had said "liar, liar, pants on fire," when she hadn't said anything of the sort. If only Boxer could be a couple inches taller, have a deeper voice, do something with her hair — and be, as Henry Higgins sang, more like a man? Well, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), seated a few seats down, is 6 feet 4 with a basso profundo and the best hair in the business, and he couldn't land a punch. Mr. "I Voted For It Before I Voted Against It" lacked what Boxer showed: spine, and the simple courage to call "misinformation" by its right name.
But all she got for it was the pasting of a lifetime. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said such Democratic foolishness risked "adopting our enemy's view of the world." Even Boxer's supporters deducted points for style without adding any for degree of difficulty. She was ridiculed in a skit on "Saturday Night Live," looking like a homeless person with gray hair flying, ranting at the cool, composed, perfectly turned-out Rice.
The Los Angeles Daily News accused Boxer of embarrassing herself with uncivil bombast. "The edge in her voice was jarring," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle. The Washington Post's Colbert King took on Boxer for "slurring Rice." In blog- land, Boxer was called, among other things, "old, burnt out, shrill and saggy looking." Perhaps a more diplomatic interrogation could have saved herself some grief. But it's hard to find that pitch-perfect voice within the range of civility on these subjects. On Wednesday, the U.S. suffered its biggest one-day loss in Iraq. The war's body count is at 1,400. Insurgents vow a bloodbath on Sunday. In Washington, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice sail on, and everybody's mad at Barbara Boxer.
Wit and Wisdom
The first time Bob met my grandmother, she was just leaving a Christmas party at my uncle's house in Kentucky. She looked up at him and without missing a beat, said, "Well, I guess you're gonna miss our wit and wisdom." And she continued out the door. He never forgot that moment and neither have I. It was a perfect example of the strange way my mother's family sometimes talks...and acts.
I was reminded of my crazy family's sense of humor and love of words today when I received one of those silly email lists from my aunt, courtesy of her brother. Presumably it originated with the Washington Post, but who knows? In any event, it's typical of our family's sense of humor. Just for fun, here it is:
The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:
1 Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until yourealize it was your money to start with.
2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly
3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
4. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
5. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
9. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido: All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating. And the pick of the literature:
18. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
I was reminded of my crazy family's sense of humor and love of words today when I received one of those silly email lists from my aunt, courtesy of her brother. Presumably it originated with the Washington Post, but who knows? In any event, it's typical of our family's sense of humor. Just for fun, here it is:
The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:
1 Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until yourealize it was your money to start with.
2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly
3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
4. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
5. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
9. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido: All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating. And the pick of the literature:
18. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Thinking Blue
I'm not sure I like this whole "everybody wear the same bracelet" trend. My hairdresser gave me one of the Lance Armstrong yellow bracelets that all kinds of celebrities and real folks are wearing, but I can't bring myself to actually put it on.
Same goes for all the new blue bracelets that seem to be popping up. Here's an example. I can see the point, but somehow it just seems a little too ... much.
Same goes for all the new blue bracelets that seem to be popping up. Here's an example. I can see the point, but somehow it just seems a little too ... much.
Morning Sedition...I'm hooked
Air America's 'Morning Sedition' is my new favorite early morning radio program...a lot more bite than my old favorites on NPR, which by now has become just another cog in the MSM (mainstream media) machine. Check it out on the web or try a local radio station. In Boston, WKOX 1200 AM and WXKS 1430 AM from 6-9 a.m, on XM Radio, channel 167.
Losing Money by Privitizing Social Security
Interesting article from NBC News showing that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist invested campaign money in the stock market, ending up losing a great deal of his investment when the high tech bubble burst. If he can't protect his money, what makes anyone think that average, non-expert Americans will not lose their personal nesteggs just as easily?
Say no to privitization. Say it loudly. Say it often.
Say no to privitization. Say it loudly. Say it often.
Opposition to Alberto Gonzales
I oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and urge every United States Senator to vote against him.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.
In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales's endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions "quaint."
Legal opinions at the highest level have grave consequences. What were the consequences of Gonzales's actions? The policies for which Gonzales provided a cover of legality - views which he expressly reasserted in his Senate confirmation hearings - inexorably led to abuses that have undermined military discipline and the moral authority our nation once carried. His actions led directly to documented violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and widespread abusive conduct in locales around the world.
Michael Posner of Human Rights First observed: "After the horrific images from Abu Ghraib became public last year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the world should 'judge us by our actions [and] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our own mistakes.'" We agree. It is because of this that we believe the only proper course of action is for the Senate to reject Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General. As Posner notes, "[t]he world is indeed watching." Will the Senate condone torture? Will the Senate condone the rejection of the rule of law?
With this nomination, we have arrived at a crossroads as a nation. Now is the time for all citizens of conscience to stand up and take responsibility for what the world saw, and, truly, much that we have not seen, at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We oppose the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States, and we urge the Senate to reject him.
Thanks to dailykos.com for the inspiration.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.
In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales's endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions "quaint."
Legal opinions at the highest level have grave consequences. What were the consequences of Gonzales's actions? The policies for which Gonzales provided a cover of legality - views which he expressly reasserted in his Senate confirmation hearings - inexorably led to abuses that have undermined military discipline and the moral authority our nation once carried. His actions led directly to documented violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and widespread abusive conduct in locales around the world.
Michael Posner of Human Rights First observed: "After the horrific images from Abu Ghraib became public last year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the world should 'judge us by our actions [and] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our own mistakes.'" We agree. It is because of this that we believe the only proper course of action is for the Senate to reject Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General. As Posner notes, "[t]he world is indeed watching." Will the Senate condone torture? Will the Senate condone the rejection of the rule of law?
With this nomination, we have arrived at a crossroads as a nation. Now is the time for all citizens of conscience to stand up and take responsibility for what the world saw, and, truly, much that we have not seen, at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We oppose the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States, and we urge the Senate to reject him.
Thanks to dailykos.com for the inspiration.
Winning Cases, Losing Voters
I don't know anything about Paul Starr of The American Prospect, but I found his perspective interesting in today's New York Times. He's calling for Democrats to move to the center, saying we've been too dependent on the courts to provide answers to issues like abortion, gay marriage, affirmative action. Now, with the expectation of the courts changing in the years ahead, this option may no longer hold. What do you think?
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Required Reading List: Operation Truth
Want the soldiers' points of view? Check out this very interesting site. Some sad stories, some realism, some youthful vigor...a little of everything. Every American should be required to read this.
Teddy Kennedy may be a lot of things...
...but he is not scared of a fight. And, he's been on the right side of the war question since the very beginning, unlike Massachusetts' junior senator. Read today's heroics here.
Stop Republicans from Tying Social Security Benefits to Race and Gender
Sign the Democrat's Petition here.
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