Rush Limbaugh sums up Liberal Partisanship

Those of you with strong stomachs, consider these words from yesterday's program.

Now they [Democrats] are a walking laughingstock. And they become more so each and every day. And I firmly believe this, folks. I know a lot of you people are just scared to death of them, and I guess that's somewhat healthy. They're never going to go away and they're never going to be totally vanquished but this is a bunch of people that ought to be more scared of themselves than we need a to be afraid of them. You corner a lion, what's it going to do? You take a king of the jungle, king of whatever, corner it, a rat, whatever, it's got one chance to get away and that's kill you. That's destroy you. That's where they are. They are a bunch of cornered vermin, cornered rats, and their only way out of this is to destroy their enemies.

Cornered Vermin. That's how Rush Limbaugh sums up the Democratic Party. That's how his followers look at liberals.

Of course other people in history have demonized their enemies as vermin.

Nature is cruel; therefore we are also entitled to be cruel. When I send the flower of German youth into the steel hail of the war without feeling the slightest regret over the precious German blood that is being spilled, should I also not have the right to eliminate millions of an inferior race that multiply like vermin.

Not that Rush Limbaugh's hatred of Liberals is anything like Adolf Hitler's hatred of Jews.

Thank Goodness the Adults are In Charge Pt. 2

Of course you all know that Tom Delay has had to step down from his position of power because of questions of whether or not he solicited corporate moneys to support Texas campaigns. And of course Bill Frist is in trouble because he may have pulled a Martha Stewart and set up his own reality show ripping off Donald Trump. No I'm just kidding (but I would watch that show), he's actually possibly guilty of insider trading.

But another name high up in this little scandal you may not be ware of is a dude named Jack Abramoff. Actually you probably have heard of him, but if you haven't now you have. He's the subject of a recent article by Robert Sheer, and apparently a real piece of work.

It was reported last week that Timothy Flanigan, Tyco International Ltd. general counsel and Bush's nominee for deputy attorney general, stated that Abramoff's lobbying firm had boasted that his access to the highest levels of Congress could help Tyco fight tax liability legislation and that Abramoff later said he "had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" about the issue.

Comforting isn't it?

Republicans read that, throw up their hands and say "That sort of thing happens all the time. It's no big deal." And it isn't to them. If you expect government to fail, it's no big deal when it fails. But since I expect government to work, I do get annoyed when I read this kind of story.

This story takes on greater weight given the rebuilding of New Orleans.

The hurricane season is proving to be a windfall for GOP-connected companies such as Halliburton, which are being rewarded with lucrative contracts despite their shoddy performance in Iraq. In the vocabulary of crony capitalism, the word "shame" does not exist.

Indeed.

I Want You to Trip Like I Do

This is from the leadoff track from the Crystal Method's album Vegas. Why am I referencing the Crystal Method? Read on.

A couple of months ago, a black guy escaped from prison and took a white woman (Ashley Smith) prisoner. She, being a Christian and all, fed him and helped him realize he needed to go back to prison. This was a little parable for all us faithless blue-staters who doubted the power of God. Those of us who snicker at Touched by an Angel sure learned a valuable lesson. Women with pie and faith can sooth the savage criminal.

Now it turns out she gave him a bit more than pie. She gave him methamphetamine. Or, to use one of it's street names, Crystal Meth.

In her book, "Unlikely Angel," released Tuesday, Smith says Nichols had her bound on her bed with masking tape and an extension cord. She says he asked for marijuana, but she did not have any, and she dug into her illegal stash of crystal meth instead.

Praise the Lord, hallelujah.

The police have no intention of charging her for possession of illegal drugs. Presumably all that pie and faith works on them too.

If you haven't heard Trip Like I Do, it's a great little tune for getting the blood pumping.

Got this from The News Blog.

Do You Know What the Words "Fort Marcy Park" Mean?

They mean that, in the delusional right wing world of the Limbaugh, Hillary Clinton has murdered to further her political ambitions and she will kill again. Fort Marcy Park is where Vince Foster was found dead after he committed suicide.

Excuse me, that should have read where he was found dead; his death was later ruled a suicide. Because of course in the delusional world of the Clinton-Hater, Foster's death was clearly the act of the Clintons in an attempt to . . . well it's not clear. Sometimes it's because he and Clinton were having an affair. Sometimes it's because Foster knew too much and "dead men tell no tales."

Of course Foster's Death was investigated numerous times (once by Kenneth Star) and ruled a suicide each time. Which just shows the enormous power of the Clintons to control the government.

Of course if they had such power and the will to kill, it's kind of odd how they let the whole Lewinsky mess happen, but I suppose it's best not to question that.

You might be thinking that this is old news and I shouldn't be wasting your time with it. I agree, but Rush Limbaugh felt the urge to recently bring it up. And he is America's Anchorman. So I felt I needed to bring it up too.

If you want a more thorough examination of the many deaths the Clinton's are supposed to have committed, check out this article by Snopes.

Return of the Haters

I hate President Bush, apparently. I think he's been a bad President, and after 5 years, I don't think I'm going to see anything that's going to change my mind. The problem is, if you are a Bush supporter, I've got plenty of ammo at this time. Even if we leave aside the recent embarrassment of "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," there's plenty of other things to bring up. So if you are a supporter of President Bush like, say, David Limbaugh or Dennis Prager, what do you do?

Well, it's preferable to shift the discussion away from the President's actual performance and onto some other aspect of this discussion. Let's see what they've come up with.

"Ever since President Bush took office, liberals have been rooting from one thing to another in a frenzied quest to find that one issue, one tragedy, one scandal that would bring him down. The list is too long to recite here.

"Bush's critics treat each of these issues, in turn, as the final straw that will break the back of this abominable presidency. Everything is blown out of proportion, every possible ambiguity is resolved in President Bush's disfavor, and every possible malevolent motive is attributed to him. The most innocuous of events is treated as scandalous. Hyperbole rules. Panic prevails. Fantastic conspiracy theories triumph. Sober, balanced analysis is absent." - David Limbaugh

"If you want to understand the Left, the best place to start is with an understanding of hysteria. Leading leftists either use hysteria as a political tactic or are actually hysterics." - Dennis Prager

Ah. So rather than focus on President Bush's failure to succeed, they'd rather talk about how my Bush-hatred distorts my views. This is probably smart politics. You should only sell your man when you've got something to sell, but it's never a bad idea to trash your opponents. And this form of attack makes it less likely that anybody in the middle will listen to the arguments of such unhinged people.

Very smart; but I'm not sure it's going to work. It does seem like the American people are making up their minds about President Bush, and it doesn't seem like their assessment is going the way Prager and Limbaugh would like.

Ideology vs. Practicality

Robert Novak's latest column deals with a divide in the Republican Party. You might call it a divide between ideology and practicality. Conservatism stresses cutting government programs and shrinking the government. Practical politics dictates bringing back federal money to improve your district and employ your constituents. How does a Republican negotiate this divide?

Well one method is to argue for cutting the programs benefiting some other state. I mean if you are the Republican Senator of Kentucky, why not try to cut the programs benefiting those people in New York who can't vote for you anyway. I'm reminded of a bit Michael Moore did back on TV Nation when good ol' Newt Gingrich was on his way up the ladder. He simply went around and pointed out all the federal money pouring into Newt's district and called on Newt and the citizens to eliminate such spending. Naturally nobody there was in favor of this idea.

But this method of cutting spending for other states while continuing to spend in your own only goes so far. Plus, if you squint your eyes, it seems a little hypocritical. So some of the younger members of Congress (as described by Novak) are coming into conflict with their seniors over cutting government spending. Because, see, they actually want to cut government spending and not just pretend to cut government spending.

In case you are wondering I'm in favor of smart government spending. That may involve some cuts and some increases.

Anyway Novak concludes with strong support for these younger "cut-government-spending-firsters."

The beleaguered conservatives see all this spending leading inexorably to a tax increase, which would redistribute the tax burden to the disadvantage of the successful and threaten an economic recession. Barry Goldwater long ago assailed Dwight D. Eisenhower for presiding over a "Dime Store New Deal." That stinging rebuke no longer would be appropriate for today's Republicans. They outdo Democrats on pork and are in the same ballpark on entitlements. Even Katrina and now Rita do not restrain them.

A bit of a scare tactic there isn't there? Redistributing the tax burden to the disadvantage of the successful? That's going to keep me up at night - thinking about people who have plenty still having plenty.

Under normal circumstances one would assume acclimitizing to Washington would smooth the ideological edges off of these younger Republicans. But right now the Republican base is ideologically charged. It's possible a congressperson could trade the benefits of bringing government spending back to his or her district for the benefits of being ideologically pure and trading on that with the national base. So perhaps this struggle between ideology and practicality may not take the expected route.

An Attempt at Humor

Boxey: Can I ride in your ship sir?
Apollo: Fighter planes are no places for little boys.

Watching the original Battlestar Galactaca. I enjoyed it a lot as a kid, but I was a kid and so my standards weren't that high. I am really enjoying the new series on the Sci Fi Channel. It's really about as good as any thing on television. Anyway this little exchange takes place just after Cylon's have wiped out pretty much everything, and Lorne Green/Commander Adama and Apollo have landed on earth to visit Adama's old home and get photo albums. A crowd of survivors gathers around (armed with futuristic torches and pitchforks), seeking confirmation that the world has ended. Commander Adama confirms that, yes, the world has ended. Suddenly bolting out of the crowd runs little space-kid Boxey who has this heart-warming exchange.

Yeah one advantage the new version has over the older one is no annoying space kid.

In a more serious vein, the Wall Street Journal has a story with this title and sub-title.

Why German Nudists
Are Wearing Frowns
As Others Disrobe

Baring It All in Public Is
Nothing Special Anymore;
Joining Camps is Passe

My first thought was slow news day. And then I thought, hey, isn't there some kind of hurricane bearing down on Texas? Isn't that, you know, news?

Thank Goodness the Adults are In Charge

Joe Klein has written an article for Time this week. It's a recit of the Bush Administration's failures in persuing the Iraq war as well as the difficulties they face and would not be remarkable save for the lucid writing style of Mr. Klein.

At any rate, for those of you who want to believe the Bush Adminsitration, being Republican, will automatically wage war more effectively than the hated Democrats, you might want to skip it. Frankly, it's filled with passages like this.

It is no secret that General Tommy Franks didn't want to hang around Iraq very long. As Franks led the U.S. assault on Baghdad in April 2003, his goal--and that of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld--was to get to the capital as quickly as possible with a minimal number of troops. Franks succeeded brilliantly at that task. But military-intelligence officers contend that he did not seem interested in what would come next. "He never once asked us for a briefing about what happened once we got to Baghdad," says a former Army intelligence officer attached to the invasion force. "He said, 'It's not my job.' We figured all he wanted to do was get in, get out and write his book." (Franks, through a spokesman, declined to comment for this article.)

The rush to Baghdad, critics say, laid the groundwork for trouble to come. In one prewar briefing, for example, Lieut. General David McKiernan--who commanded the land component of the coalition forces--asked Franks what should be done if his troops found Iraqi arms caches on the way to Baghdad. "Just put a lock on 'em and go, Dave," Franks replied, according to a former U.S. Central Command (Centcom) officer. Of course, you couldn't simply put a lock on ammunition dumps that stretched for several square miles--dumps that would soon be stripped and provide a steady source of weaponry for the insurgency.

Something to think about. Still it's lucky we don't have Kerry in there; he might have really messed things up.

Seeking Justice is un-American.

Seeking the Truth is un-American.

Standing up for people who are suffering is un-American.

Trying to make this Country better is un-American.

or, to put it another way, Whining is un-American. That's the title of a column at Townhall by Jennifer Roback Morse. Whining is un-American. I haven't read the article yet; frankly I'm not sure I want to. Just reading the title makes me want to put my fist through the window of my car. Well, that and the fact that it's covered in dead bugs.

OK I read it - basically it's crap. Childish crap.

When I heard Mayor Nagin whining, I thought to myself, this sounds positively French. Maybe this lame attitude is part of the French heritage of Louisiana and New Orleans and all that. And then I’m chiding myself for tasteless ethnic stereotyping.

I just have one thing to say to that crap.

Cheery here. We're sorry but the remainder of Bryant's commentary has been deleted; once again he has lapsed into fairly salty language, and we want this website to be safe for children.

Everybody Likes to Pitch In

The right wing Heritage foundation has some suggestions on how to best rebuild New Orleans. They'd like to see us drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and institute a school voucher program. Don't believe me? Check out this memo.

There's some comfort in knowing that no matter what the tragedy, the Right Wing always has the same damn answer.

Got this from Salon's War Room.

The Mentality of Bush

Well we are going to rebuild New Orleans. President Bush said so. Hooray. But wait, maybe we should consider the words of Paul Krugman.

President Bush subscribes to a political philosophy that opposes government activism - that's why he has tried to downsize and privatize programs wherever he can. (He still hopes to privatize Social Security, F.D.R.'s biggest legacy.) So even his policy failures don't bother his strongest supporters: many conservatives view the inept response to Katrina as a vindication of their lack of faith in government, rather than as a reason to reconsider their faith in Mr. Bush.

And to date the Bush administration, which has no stake in showing that good government is possible, has been averse to investigating itself. On the contrary, it has consistently stonewalled corruption investigations and punished its own investigators if they try to do their jobs.

Interesting. But it does seem to follow a pattern.

Back on the Road

Well we are on our way back to Tallahassee - in the same care we came down here with. How did I know this was going to happen? We did get some nice pictures out of it - which I will be posting later.

I did catch some bits of the speech last night - I have to say I agree with the analysis in this New York Times Editorial.

Last night, the president was particularly strong when discussing the nation's shocking lack of preparedness for disaster, and the stark fact - obvious to every television viewer around the globe - that the people left homeless and endangered by Katrina were in the main poor and black.

The entire nation, he said, saw the poverty that "has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America." Polls show that black Americans are far angrier and more skeptical than whites about the administration's actions since the storm. Mr. Bush's words could begin a much-needed healing process. But that will happen only if they are followed by deeds that are as principled, disciplined and ambitious as Mr. Bush's speech.

A lot of people will say that this President does what he says. I say, well, not necessarily. Take the aid to Africa to fight AIDS. Only a fraction has gone through because of stringent rules on how the money is to be spent; not to prevent waste but to prevent even an acknowledgement of the existence of abortion.

On the other hand, it's safe to say nobody was watching Bush at that time - and now plenty of people are watching him. So maybe he will fill compelled to live up to his promises.

The Legend of Spoomonger the One Noble Soul in the Blog-O-Sphere

Gather real children and listen to the tale of Spoomonger.

It was in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that he revealed himself. Those were dark days for those virtuous souls who loved America. For President Bush's response to Katrina had been seen as base and ignoble, and Spoomonger's mighty heart was troubled. And he stepped to the Blog-O-Sphere and asked these immortal questions.

Am I the only one not buying all the mud slung at President Bush over Katrina? Am I the only one who is fed up with all the petty garbage the media seeks out in the midst of a serious catastrophe?

Yes poor noble Spoomonger was all alone in asking these questions. For behold an amazing thing - the Republican National Committee, the various Conservative Pundits in Print, on Radio, or on the Television, and his fellow conservative bloggers had all ignored these questions. They had all unquestioningly accepted the mud slung at President Bush. Only Spoomonger, the only noble soul in the internet, had stepped forward to ask these questions and to defend President Bush.

And if you believest that, you would also have no trouble believing the rest of his statement. But do not read such documents as this timeline, for this may cast doubts in your mind as to the truthfulness of the mighty Spoomonger, the one noble soul of the internet. Simply remember that not that many people died and the Mayor and the Governor are responsible for those dead.

Remember this question - are you going to be a citizen or a critic? A citizen of the United States would never question his president - particularly not in the middle of a tragedy like this.

In Sarasota

Hey all. We are in Sarasota now. The Monster got us into a pretty nice place. The Lido Beach Resort. Anyway it's pretty nice. All the shampoo and bath products have marine themes. We have Kelp Shampoo and Conditioner, Algea Body Wash, and Sea Cucumber Soap. I'm not sure what the properties of these various products are - but will be using them later on.

For now I'm going to catch some shut-eye while the monster goes down and hangs around the pool.

A Clarification

The Monster wanted me to reassure you all that we were swamped with animal impalas and not Chevy impalas.

He also wants to say that he has nothing against Chevrolets. In fact he really likes that Taj Mahal song "Chevrolet." I like it too.

Now he is saying that he likes that song so much that we need to drive to Sarasota and purchase a Chevrolet for the office. I don't know why we can't buy a Chevrolet here, but apparently Sarasota is the place to buy a Chevrolet.

So, uh, I guess we are going to Sarasota. The Monster does not always think in the same way you and I might think. Well I, at any rate. Anyway we'll have to see how this goes.

Oh, and I know President Bush took full responsibility for the screw-ups around New Orleans - I am not yet sure what to think of that, so don't have much to say. Part of it I think is very nice to see for a change and part of it reads like "I'm sorry those other guys screwed up; I guess I should have stopped them." Anyway I'll probably have more thoughts someday soon - but for the moment, I have to go pack so we can leave for Sarasota. In the middle of the night.

Yeah, I have a great gig here.

Low Posting today

Hey the office is being fumigated, due to an unexpected visit from a herd of impalas. Don't ask. Anyway these weren't particularly clean impalas, so we are getting fumigated - we might have posts this evening.

Yet Another Piece of the Puzzle

Conservatives like to believe they are the only virtuous people in America. Us liberals? We are scum sucking jerks who don't give a shit about anybody but ourselves. And don't get them started on anybody who isn't from the United States. Nope, Conservatives are pretty much the sum total of all virtuous people around.

Consider, for example, the comments of Ann Coulter on a recent episode of Hannity and Colmes.

Moveon.com is down protesting outside the White House today. How about putting together some evacuee bags? How about actually helping out? And you know, speaking of that, I think, you know, I'd like to see a breakdown at the end of this -- how much churches are contributing versus, say, Barry Lynn's church.

Of course Moveon.org did participate in hurricane relief - arranging for temporary residences for some 250,000 people. But that doesn't fit the pattern, so it's convienently edited out of Ann Coulter and other Conservative's realities. Instead, in their little mythology, we have the President valiantly trying to save people (instead of, you know, attending birthday parties and goofing around with Country Music stars) while pathetic liberals carp on what a jerk he is and do nothing of value.

Ann Coulter is, by the way, the id of the modern Republican / Conservative movement. If you want to know what your Conservative Friends think but are embarrassed to say outloud, just give her a listen.

Incidently for those of you who don't know who Barry Lynn is, he's the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, another fact Ann was blissfully unaware of as evidenced by this exchange.

COULTER: I'd like to see a breakdown at the end of this -- how much churches are contributing versus, say, Barry Lynn's church.

HANNITY: What church?

COULTER: Right, that was a joke.

HANNITY: Did he actually have one?

After all you can't admit that some liberals go to church can you? That would fly in the face of the self evident conservative truth that they are the only virtuous people in America.

Another Piece of the Puzzle

One of the issues I've been grappling with is how, given the massive incompetence of the Bush Administration in the face of Hurricane Katrina, people still continue to support him. One piece I already discussed; the fact that they are more focused on how much they dislike Liberals than they are on the President. According to Jinx, I am full of crap.

Another piece of the puzzle I've alluded to is this; Conservatives expect government to fail. They don't believe in the power of government to accomplish anything; so when the government fails in the face of Hurricane Katrina, they shrug their shoulders and say "It's tragic, but what do you expect?"

I don't know what they think about such events as the Normandy Invasion or the Apollo Program or the G.I. Bill.

I, on the other hand, believe that government can accomplish great things. So when the government fails so spectacularly; well, I'm upset. I want to see those leaders responsible held accountable. I'm not willing to just shrug and say, "Well that's the way the cookie crumbles."

All This Time

I strongly urge you to all read Joe Conason's latest article, even though doing so requires you to watch a short ad at Salon (unless you are a member).

It's strong indictment of the Bush Administration for it's failures and it's betrayal of the American people.

And we can have no doubt now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, that critical agencies of the United States government are staffed by patronage hacks unable to fulfill the most basic responsibilities of the modern state. The outstanding example, of course, is Michael D. Brown -- apparently known as "Brownie" to the admiring president -- the FEMA chief whose résumé contains nothing to recommend him to one of the most critical positions in government, although he had amply padded it with unearned honors and bogus titles. He claimed, for instance, to have worked as an assistant city manager, when he was actually a glorified intern. (The holder of a degree from an unaccredited law school, Brown's most significant lifetime work experience was as a "commissioner" for a horse show association, a position he departed involuntarily and left off his official biography.)

For four years, since the tragedy of September 11th, President Bush and his followers have been resolute in telling us how lucky we are to have him in charge, in these dangerous and trying times.

I don't know about anybody else, but I don't feel all that lucky.

Incidentally you might also check out Paul Krugman's latest, in which he suggests that "Brownie" may not be an exception but an example of President Bush's hiring standards. It's always been clear that this president values loyalty and doesn't give a damn about any other qualities a person might have. So if you like how Michael Brown performed in the face of Hurricane Katrina just imagine how President Bush's other office holders are performing. Or instead of imagining, here's a quote.

Unfortunately, it's easy to find other agencies suffering from some version of the FEMA syndrome.

The first example won't surprise you: the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a key role to play in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, but which has seen a major exodus of experienced officials over the past few years. In particular, senior officials have left in protest over what they say is the Bush administration's unwillingness to enforce environmental law.

Maybe this is just me, but isn't there likely to be a lot of gunk floating around New Orleans? Isn't that sort of the Environmental Protection Agency's mandate, to clean up gunk? Hmmmmmm.

Still when you elect a President who doesn't believe in the power of Government to help people, I suppose it's no surprise that he appoints lunkheads to positions of power which, to him, are totally useless.

A Question Presents Itself

One might reasonably wonder how far Bush supporters are willing to go to stand by their man. The answer, as evidenced by their performance (and his) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina presents itself.

How far are they willing to go? All the way.

Rebuilding New Orleans

A lot of people have pointed to an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that commented on how the wealthy of New Orleans are doing. Apparently they are doing fine. People like Jimmy Reiss, descendent of an old line New Orleans family, are well able to take care of themselves.

Mr. Reiss commented to the Wall Street Journal, "Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way: demographically, geographically, and politically. I'm not just peaking for myself here. The way we've been living is not going to happen again or we're out."

I wonder how they want to change the city demographically? I mean that, to me, has a bit of an ominous ring to it. But maybe I'm reading too much into it.

I can't link to the article, but it was a front page article that continued on page A12.

A Clarification

Some of you may find some of what Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk says about New Orleans hard to understand, particularly as he pontificates about the terrible damage welfare has caused to New Orleans. This may be particularly confusing if you realize that the majority of New Orleans was not on welfare. Poor, yes, but on welfare? No.

What you need to understand is that to Rush Limbaugh and those who follow his philosophy there is absolutely no difference between a poor black person who has a job and a poor black person who is on welfare. In both cases they are parasites, and in both cases they pretty much deserve what they get.

If they wanted to qualify for our sympathy they would be middle class white people, or, at worst, middle class black people.

Hope that helps you follow along.

Katrina Timeline

I'm not interested in pillorying President Bush for things he didn't do, nor am I interested in shielding the Democratic Mayor of New Orleans or the Governor of Louisiana from legitimate criticism.

Of course, the Bush Administration reporting that the Governor of New Orleans failed to declare a state of emergency when she had (on August 26) is an example of illegitimate criticism. And you have to wonder how Bush Supporters feel about their guys telling such transparent lies.

But that's where it's helpful to have a timeline of the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Think Progress has done a pretty nice one, and it seems easily verifiable. In particular it's nice to see how little Hurricane Katrina impacted President Bush's vacation. After all, a rested President is an effective President. That's why things have gone so smoothly - think about how cranky and unpleasant President Bush would be if he hadn't been able to celebrate Senator McCain's Birthday or goof around with Country Singer Mark Willis.

One might ask, well what could President Bush have done? He could have engaged. He could have gotten involved and treated this like a national disaster that has killed thousands instead of as an inconvenience to his personal life. I'll be blunt, President Bush is an idiot, so maybe we're all better off with him goofing around with Mark Willis. But those of you who support President Bush or who voted for him, well, don't you have a higher opinion of him than I do?

Being President of the United States is difficult. Ask Abraham Lincoln. Ask Franklin Roosevelt. Ask John F. Kennedy. You either rise to the occasion or you don't. And if you don't, well, I'd think you'd want a stronger defense than "well I couldn't think of anything that the president could do to help."

Quotations from Ann Coulter

Those of you from the Big Apple might not want to read her remarks from the Radio Factor.

COULTER: Yes. No, I know, I thought the exact same thing. And in the same way the rest of the country ran to support New York, I'm waiting to see if New Yorkers will run to support the suffering victims of Katrina.

RANTEL: Do you have doubts?

COULTER: New Yorkers don't really consider themselves a part of the rest of America.

I'm not sure how New Yorkers might respond to this particular statement.

Got this from Media Matters.

A Question Answers it

It's hard to make the argument that President Bush has done well in responding to Katrina. Even charitably it's clear that President Bush has failed the citizens of New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama. So one might wonder in the face of this manifest failure, how do Bush supporters go on?

There is a great secret here.

They've trained themselves not to look at President Bush at all. Paying any attention on President Bush at all would expose his weakness as a President and a man. So they must direct their attention elsewhere.

You see when many conservatives relate to President Bush they relate to him in a very specific way. They feel like they have been held back by forces beyond their control, which they have named Liberals or Elitists or Democrats or Northerners and so on and so forth. They feel like those forces have hurt them; and they see those same forces lined up against President Bush.

So rather than focus their attention on President Bush and his heroism (which clearly doesn't exist (they don't even have the low-grade machismo of "Bring it On")), they focus on us. Because if they can't build up President Bush they can always attack liberals!

Of course, I could be wrong. And there are, of course, plenty of Conservatives who don't give a damn so long as they get their tax cut.

A Proud Day for American Conservatism

Yet another opportunity for pride for all those American Conservatives who voted for President Bush. Here are some comments he made about the disaster in New Orleans.

Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house--he's lost his entire house, there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch.

Yep - that's what this disaster means to President Bush - a chance for his wealthy friends (in so far as Trent Lott is one of his friends) to have an even nicer house. For more on how President Bush is doing in the face of this tragedy, check out this article by Time Magazine.

Cindy Sheehan and Hurricane Katrina; the Unholy Alliance

According to Suzanne Fields, Cindy Sheehan and Hurricane Katrina are similar tests of the American Spirit. Yep - American must stand up and deal with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the terrible actions of Cindy Sheehan. Yep. The two are equivalent.

The Hurricane death toll may be in the thousands, but consider the spiritual devastation caused by a mother questioning the war in Iraq.

Hitler was surprised when the British did not give up when he blitzed London, so he set out to break the British spirit with "Coventrieren," a tactic to extend the destruction of Coventry to 20 additional cities. But instead of breaking the British spirit, "Coventrieren" strengthened it. The people of Coventry began rebuilding their houses and factories at once.

Hurricane Katrina and Cindy Sheehan must be similar tests of the spirit. The winds of the storm, like the winds of war, beat against our emotions and our will, and the American will to survive must prevail against the despairing voices that, as the poet says, will wake us only to drown.

Yep, Cindy Sheehan is not only an equivalent test to Hurricane Katrina, but also to the battle of London.

Pretty impressive for one anti-war protester.

At any rate, if the foundation of this war in Iraq were strong (which it's not), than this wouldn't be an issue. She'd be a crank. Instead Americans are listening to what she has to say because it dovetails with their own opinions on the war. Republicans can continue to paint hazy pictures of "liberated Iraq" but shouldn't be surprised if the American people find Ms. Sheehan's views more compelling.

Prediction

I, the Amazing Bryant, will predict the future. We will soon hear Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives talking about how Liberal Environmentalists want high gas prices and so are happy about Hurricane Katrina.

Watch for it.

It might already have happened, but this being labor day I'm unwilling to labor. So I don't know if someone is already saying.

Round the Horn. An Irwin J. McIckleson Production

Good morning all. This is Irwin J. McIckleson, fictional 1910's plutocrat, providing a review of the Liberal Coalition for the week. As you know, there has been a terrible disaster in New Orleans. I have visited New Orleans on a few separate occasions - most recently to arrange a warehouse for storing my products on their way to South America. I've always found it a beautiful city. I generally dislike the south due to their baffling racial mores (Frankly I don't care whether a working man is black, white, or green; I'm ready and willing to exploit his labor), but New Orleans is a bit different.

Plus they have the most lively music there.

I guess I'm saying that even though I'm fictional, I still wish the people of New Orleans courage and strength to face this tragedy, and I hope their country men will come to their aid.

Anyway most of the posts reviewed will do with this tragedy.

Iddybud has a good collection of thoughts on how the Bush administration has failed to plan for this particular disaster and is not doing very well at responding to it. Which is a shame.

LEFT is RIGHT has more on President Bush's disingenuous claim that "No one could have foreseen the levee's breaking" or words to that effect. I must say such a claim strikes me as the worst kind of nonsense. Even in our day we knew what could happen if those levees broke.

Apparently Mr. Bush has responded to these criticisms by asking American's not to play politics right now, according to Sooner Thought. That's an interesting response because the way America deals with problems is to play politics. That's what democracy is all about. I should know, I've purchased enough politicians in my life.

archy has the news that one of the two relief organizations suggested by the Governmental Site on Helping Disasters (FEMA?) is headed by the same blackguard who called for the assassination of the President of Venezuela.

First Draft has some information on how other nations are coming to the aid of the United States, which is heartening.

The Countess has the story on a gentleman who is in New Orleans in some kind of hideout who is posting on what he sees around the city. It is very interesting.

The Fulcrum has other information on what is going on in the city. Apparently the army tried to use some kind of flying machine based on Di Vinci principles to rescue some people, and were shot upon. The author asks why we are not ready to deal with such banditry?

Words on a Page has a letter by a former supporter of President Bush confronting him on his failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. I must say, I'm all for Presidents being shamelessly pro-business (as it appears this Bush fellow is), but there's something to be said for general competence as well.

Gamer's Nook has the words to a song, which are quite poetic and meaningful. But the song does not contain any reference to Turkeys or Straw.

And that is it for another week. Please do what you can to help those suffering people in New Orleans. I would commit my entire fortune to the rebuilding and rescue efforts, but my fortune is, like me, fictional.

Liberal America Doesn't Give a Damn About the South

This is the message of Matt Towery's latest article. Doubt me? Here's the last of paragraph of said article.

But this week, I speak the words no one else wants to say: The South has been hit with the equivalent of a nuclear bomb. And too much of America didn't want to notice until it had to.

There's a lot I could say about this, but too much of it would be mean-spirted and hurtful; so I'll just suggest that Mr. Towery stacks the deck a bit in his presentation in order to reach this answer.

What is an American Liberal?

Yes this question has been puzzling us for generations, but Emmett Tyrell has the answer in his latest article.

What is the American liberal? I conceive the American liberal as a fat, florid-faced archbishop from some declining episcopacy in New England waiting around the buffet table late in the dinner hoping to scoop up a few extra desserts, another bon bon to put in his pocket or her purse, an extra glass of sauterne, and to burp when no one is within listening range.

Now a further question presents itself. What is Emmett Tyrell? Well let me tell you . . .

I'm sorry, the rest of this post has been deleted. While I (this is Cheery) appreciate Mr. Bryant's passion, this is a family site. Have a nice morning all. : )