The president spoke last night, pleading for patience while his impromptu war in Iraq diverts our attention and treasure, and while his party uses their dysingenuity to frame letters like this one as unpatriotic.
I'd like some patience from my mortgage company. See, I need more time to work between payments because this president's aggressive bungling of US economic policy caused a plunging dollar and a doubling of energy prices, while Chinese voracity for resources are driving every other price higher, even as it cheapens the products Americans no longer make. This president confounds reason.
I'm not surprised he had the temerity to ask for patience, sending 200,000 US soliders and 20,000 contract killers to work in Iraq until his non-plan looks like it's working better than half the time. Think of 2,000 dead soldiers and unnumbered civilian deaths as a late fee on his war mortgage. Think of the invisible Dover flights of casualties as his ashamed and stammering excuses for not paying the bill on time.
His plan: We still have some soldiers left, and China is still covering our expenses, so let's see what happens if I'm allowed to continue this ridiculous money pit project to overpay my friends' companies to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars we raise by borrowing instead of taxing ourselves.
When Rumsfeld argued hard that the chemical weapons agents he sold Saddam when he ran Searle were an imminent threat to our security, he was lying. No patience.
When Wolfowitz argued hard that Iraq would finance its reconstruction and therefore we should destroy it, he knew better than anyone reading this that it was false- dramatically untrue, poppycock, nonsense. When dictatorships fall there is no capacity for self-governance, and after over a decade of sanctions no infrastructure can produce enough revenue to build a whole country. Certainly no patience for that.
When Bush lied about Yellowcake in Niger, when Cheney lied about Saddam cooperating with the rival Al-Quaeda, when Powell was lying to the rest of the world on our behalf, it was not at all like ignoring Japanese planes heading for Pearl Harbor. It was studied manipulation of the information we have access to in an effort to tie us up in an abstract unplannable war against an -ism, in a location where the -ism had nowhere to roost without our help.
No patience. Our opponent over there is killing people we need to defend our country against actual threats.
And what happened to those tens of Billions of Dollars Cheney's colleagues at the military-industrial complex misplaced, overbilled and otherwise stole from us? I want it back with interest.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Pensions
When you accept a job offer, you might be joining a startup or a speculative business. That's what I usually do. I think that in order to do something significant, I have to accept some risk.
But ten years ago, when you or someone you know joined a company as a worker, if you were offered stock options as a benefit you accepted a risky proposition. By contrast, if you accepted a retirement package or a defined-benefits pension, you got a contract, legally executable in the United States as specified in the Constitution.
I believe companies offering these pensions owe those pensions. Stockholders on the board are there for the risky possibility of a boon. Salaried employees made a square deal. Defaulting on that deal without taking some of the damage is unforgivable.
I want a law. I want the SEC to require quarterly pension fund reports from every company offering a pension. And for each quarter in which managers or board members are compensated, or for every instance where profits are distributed aside from dividends to common stockholders, they must meet their pension obligations. Any underfunding of a pension fund will be met with cash from the pockets of the management, or else their shares of the company will be sold to make up for the shortfall.
Executives have been above justice too long.
But ten years ago, when you or someone you know joined a company as a worker, if you were offered stock options as a benefit you accepted a risky proposition. By contrast, if you accepted a retirement package or a defined-benefits pension, you got a contract, legally executable in the United States as specified in the Constitution.
I believe companies offering these pensions owe those pensions. Stockholders on the board are there for the risky possibility of a boon. Salaried employees made a square deal. Defaulting on that deal without taking some of the damage is unforgivable.
I want a law. I want the SEC to require quarterly pension fund reports from every company offering a pension. And for each quarter in which managers or board members are compensated, or for every instance where profits are distributed aside from dividends to common stockholders, they must meet their pension obligations. Any underfunding of a pension fund will be met with cash from the pockets of the management, or else their shares of the company will be sold to make up for the shortfall.
Executives have been above justice too long.
Ignoring the middle
Our politicians are applying their trade in a way that increases polarization and pathology. As an extreme moderate, I think the Christian Right has turned satanic, failing to recognize the impiety, arrogance and pride they express when they deny the omnipotence of their deity.
Of course God can create the universe. And of course evolution can happen by design. But it happens, and to deny it is stupid! More properly, the Fundo-Mentals deny God's ability to do more than they can imagine.
And the progressives fail themselves by creating their platform as a reaction to the right. We should be proud to practice altruism and proud to protect our families', friends' and neighbors' jobs, lives, standing. And some of the stuff being done in the name of art and liberty is pretty yucky.
But the whole government is trying to master the wedge right now, Republicans tweezing social issues apart in a way that forces people to choose between Constitutional reality and should-be-hypothetical abberations.
Democrats are scrambling to find their own wedge, something they can apply to shave membership off the big dumb block of the bare-minimum majority. But they both have momentum, and we're getting more polarized. They practice extreme rhetoric because they can't contribute in society. They can only find their place seated ABOVE us.
Of course God can create the universe. And of course evolution can happen by design. But it happens, and to deny it is stupid! More properly, the Fundo-Mentals deny God's ability to do more than they can imagine.
And the progressives fail themselves by creating their platform as a reaction to the right. We should be proud to practice altruism and proud to protect our families', friends' and neighbors' jobs, lives, standing. And some of the stuff being done in the name of art and liberty is pretty yucky.
But the whole government is trying to master the wedge right now, Republicans tweezing social issues apart in a way that forces people to choose between Constitutional reality and should-be-hypothetical abberations.
Democrats are scrambling to find their own wedge, something they can apply to shave membership off the big dumb block of the bare-minimum majority. But they both have momentum, and we're getting more polarized. They practice extreme rhetoric because they can't contribute in society. They can only find their place seated ABOVE us.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
More on Brown, or Moron Brown
Judge Brown was on my mind again today. She called the New Deal a Socialist victory, remember? Fitting. People on her side, the opponents of freedom, deliberately overlook the irony of their leader, the worst American President ever, has handed to China the keys to our kingdom, even blowing 5 decades of work started by their favorite dead president, Nixon.
We've been trying hard for 50 years to help Taiwan and Hong Kong maintain some independence from Communist China. But since these Bet-it-All-on-Red-and-keep-betting-'til-it's-gone versions of what used to be Republicans are presiding over a runaway train, a stampede of the unwashed, they must live in fear that China will cash in their US Bonds and bury the Dollar.
The Republicans mean death to us all.
We've been trying hard for 50 years to help Taiwan and Hong Kong maintain some independence from Communist China. But since these Bet-it-All-on-Red-and-keep-betting-'til-it's-gone versions of what used to be Republicans are presiding over a runaway train, a stampede of the unwashed, they must live in fear that China will cash in their US Bonds and bury the Dollar.
The Republicans mean death to us all.
Those pathetic fucks: Rough draft- might get rougher.
They can't prosecute Enron for destroying thousands of retirement accounts, swindling entire states. They can't convict Andersen for cooperating with them. They can't do anything successfully when it's worthwhile, but those pathetic fucks sure know how to put a damper on culture.
Some things should be free, or at least public. But have you seen any deliberate attempt to protect municipal water supplies, even though they're listed as top terror threats? Well, the Republican leadership (and maybe some Democrats) don't want public water. They don't want to pay for it unless it helps their religious wackjob consituency (not the voters- you don't have money) achieve their goal of continental domination.
If it advocates appreciation for diversity, if it criticizes powerful positions, if it doesn't beat the drum for marching neo-Christianics, there's no room for it. Is that the argument? Or is it more a case of simple resentment of the critical unbiased reporting? Is it because Cookie Monster is Blue and Bert and Ernie live together?
If our leaders reclaimed 10% of the money simply lost by Halliburton in Iraq, a few decades of Clifford the Big Red Dog would help children learn about getting along with the other dogs. I want every leader in Congress drawn and quartered, but I'll settle for their financial ruin if it means their spouses and children turn to drugs and prostitution.
This isn't what Christians do. This is what the Nazis, the Communists and the Islamists have done. Sesame Street. Really.
If you're a Republican, you probably didn't get this far. You should be ashamed of yourself, at least enough to write your representative or senator. At least enough to vote America back. I'm not interested in making a rational appeal for calm and sober reconsideration. This is an emotional issue- HOW BAD ARE THESE REPUBLICANS? How bad can a human be? Empowered by religion, they descend into Lord of the Flies, demanding restrictions on their behavior, but if their mothers weren't evil they would be able to control themselves. But they are, so they can't.
Some things should be free, or at least public. But have you seen any deliberate attempt to protect municipal water supplies, even though they're listed as top terror threats? Well, the Republican leadership (and maybe some Democrats) don't want public water. They don't want to pay for it unless it helps their religious wackjob consituency (not the voters- you don't have money) achieve their goal of continental domination.
If it advocates appreciation for diversity, if it criticizes powerful positions, if it doesn't beat the drum for marching neo-Christianics, there's no room for it. Is that the argument? Or is it more a case of simple resentment of the critical unbiased reporting? Is it because Cookie Monster is Blue and Bert and Ernie live together?
If our leaders reclaimed 10% of the money simply lost by Halliburton in Iraq, a few decades of Clifford the Big Red Dog would help children learn about getting along with the other dogs. I want every leader in Congress drawn and quartered, but I'll settle for their financial ruin if it means their spouses and children turn to drugs and prostitution.
This isn't what Christians do. This is what the Nazis, the Communists and the Islamists have done. Sesame Street. Really.
If you're a Republican, you probably didn't get this far. You should be ashamed of yourself, at least enough to write your representative or senator. At least enough to vote America back. I'm not interested in making a rational appeal for calm and sober reconsideration. This is an emotional issue- HOW BAD ARE THESE REPUBLICANS? How bad can a human be? Empowered by religion, they descend into Lord of the Flies, demanding restrictions on their behavior, but if their mothers weren't evil they would be able to control themselves. But they are, so they can't.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Oy, these Judges !
Dear Senator Specter,
Brown's all wrong. Mr. Specter, she's so far out, she's so far right she's left right.
The New Deal was not a victory for Socialism. It was a victory for SOCIETY, in which People live among us. Her inability to grasp that nuance should disqualify her from any role in government of the people, whose authority rests in the consent of the people.
And Pryor! Wow. Imagine believing the Constitution and Bill of Rights don't apply to People. And then, imagine believing in Jailing the gay people for what they do in bed!
Senator Santorum, you can leave the room, if the door isn't too complicated for you to operate. I know how you feel about individuals and their right to privacy, and how you think Americans are incapable of guiding their own lives. It must comfort you or something. But really, Senator Specter, you have to understand how completely inappropriate these people are to be sitting on the court where individuals appeal for their rights to be protected.
Vote against both of these nominees, and bounce Bolton, and get on with your work. This administration can't last forever. Just seems like it.
Thank you,
Joe
Brown's all wrong. Mr. Specter, she's so far out, she's so far right she's left right.
The New Deal was not a victory for Socialism. It was a victory for SOCIETY, in which People live among us. Her inability to grasp that nuance should disqualify her from any role in government of the people, whose authority rests in the consent of the people.
And Pryor! Wow. Imagine believing the Constitution and Bill of Rights don't apply to People. And then, imagine believing in Jailing the gay people for what they do in bed!
Senator Santorum, you can leave the room, if the door isn't too complicated for you to operate. I know how you feel about individuals and their right to privacy, and how you think Americans are incapable of guiding their own lives. It must comfort you or something. But really, Senator Specter, you have to understand how completely inappropriate these people are to be sitting on the court where individuals appeal for their rights to be protected.
Vote against both of these nominees, and bounce Bolton, and get on with your work. This administration can't last forever. Just seems like it.
Thank you,
Joe
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Judge Janice Rogers Brown
Judge Janice Rogers Brown decries the New Deal as a 'Victory for Socialism', but she's an idiot. It was a victory for SOCIETY. The New Deal was a triumphant expression of our culture too.
But you know what is a victory for socialism? The fact that through the absurdity of the Bush administration our flaccid economy is currently underwritten by robust communist China.
Way to go, conservatives, you can't even see it, can you?
But you know what is a victory for socialism? The fact that through the absurdity of the Bush administration our flaccid economy is currently underwritten by robust communist China.
Way to go, conservatives, you can't even see it, can you?
Globally mediocre idealist fish seeks pinheaded bicycle
Can John Bolton be good for the United Nations? Ironically, yes. But predictably, he will not be good for us.
A sworn enemy of the UN, Bolton can be expected to take the battle to it, and carry with him the elitist psychopath attitudes toward everyone on the planet best expressed by President Bush and the Republican Party. Voinovich didn't vote against him, he held his nose and did the opposite of what his proper upbringing told him. And rather than advise and consent, this Senate Rubbers and Stamps to curry favor with the moneybringing juggernaut of the GOP. He is the worst person for the job of Ambassador to the UN, and illustrates a pattern.
Bush's decisions have disgraced Colin Powell as a marionette, who must be bound and gagged in some Foggy Bottom basement right now. So the UN knew what to expect when Condosleasa Rice earned her Secretary of State job by ignoring the PDB titled "Osama Bin Laden is Going to Hijack Planes and Crash them into Major Sites in the US". Hey- isn't she the Russia expert presiding over the security apparatus of the US? The same one who helped Bush stop securing portable Russian Nukes? The one in charge of State when Russia got a new Oil Pipeline because despite their terrible mideast relations they're better than ours are? And hey- she has Africa experience, sitting on the Chevron board when the machine-gunned all those dangerous Nigerians.
But good for the UN; Bolton will be singularly ineffective in furthering our interests but a uniter of our competitors. He already disgraced our partners in the North Korea project so badly the State Department stopped letting him speak for himself. The only interest he serves is conflict. There's a difference between tough guy and asshole, and this guy is the latter.
The secret CIA documents Senate Democrats are rightly demanding probably indicate the name of the CIA operative the Republican Party leaked to Novack. Since we'll probably be needing the UN to unite to protect us from the oligarchy being cultivated- Andersen's aquittal by the Supreme Court and inaction in the Cheney/Enron task force case indicate our best chance for justice will be the International Criminal Court. And we can expect our international neighbors to fight hard FOR strengthening it and AGAINST Bolton.
When are the sane Republicans going to redeem themselves and jettison this administration? Not until China stops underwriting Bush's insane spending and bounced us from the Security Council as obstructionist paupers.
A sworn enemy of the UN, Bolton can be expected to take the battle to it, and carry with him the elitist psychopath attitudes toward everyone on the planet best expressed by President Bush and the Republican Party. Voinovich didn't vote against him, he held his nose and did the opposite of what his proper upbringing told him. And rather than advise and consent, this Senate Rubbers and Stamps to curry favor with the moneybringing juggernaut of the GOP. He is the worst person for the job of Ambassador to the UN, and illustrates a pattern.
Bush's decisions have disgraced Colin Powell as a marionette, who must be bound and gagged in some Foggy Bottom basement right now. So the UN knew what to expect when Condosleasa Rice earned her Secretary of State job by ignoring the PDB titled "Osama Bin Laden is Going to Hijack Planes and Crash them into Major Sites in the US". Hey- isn't she the Russia expert presiding over the security apparatus of the US? The same one who helped Bush stop securing portable Russian Nukes? The one in charge of State when Russia got a new Oil Pipeline because despite their terrible mideast relations they're better than ours are? And hey- she has Africa experience, sitting on the Chevron board when the machine-gunned all those dangerous Nigerians.
But good for the UN; Bolton will be singularly ineffective in furthering our interests but a uniter of our competitors. He already disgraced our partners in the North Korea project so badly the State Department stopped letting him speak for himself. The only interest he serves is conflict. There's a difference between tough guy and asshole, and this guy is the latter.
The secret CIA documents Senate Democrats are rightly demanding probably indicate the name of the CIA operative the Republican Party leaked to Novack. Since we'll probably be needing the UN to unite to protect us from the oligarchy being cultivated- Andersen's aquittal by the Supreme Court and inaction in the Cheney/Enron task force case indicate our best chance for justice will be the International Criminal Court. And we can expect our international neighbors to fight hard FOR strengthening it and AGAINST Bolton.
When are the sane Republicans going to redeem themselves and jettison this administration? Not until China stops underwriting Bush's insane spending and bounced us from the Security Council as obstructionist paupers.
Newsweek
What will Newsweek do? I may stop reading because they're doing anything to apologize for their indictment of the Administration's disgusting behavior. Turns out it was kinda true, that the Koran was involved in the psychological torture practiced at Guantanamo.
A few dozen people died protesting behavior now shown to be at least substantially close to the truth. Big deal. Bush and his liar cabal got it nowhere near the bulls-eye and killed over 1,600 Americans. And they won't admit a thing.
Newsweek, I'm offended you're entertaining this false indignant posturing from the administration. You're endangering us. We need an independent media, and you did the right thing.
But since you brought it up, what will the administration do to make up for killing 1600 of us over false accusations?
Nothing, because they know their constituency, and their constituency wants liars to kill Americans.
A few dozen people died protesting behavior now shown to be at least substantially close to the truth. Big deal. Bush and his liar cabal got it nowhere near the bulls-eye and killed over 1,600 Americans. And they won't admit a thing.
Newsweek, I'm offended you're entertaining this false indignant posturing from the administration. You're endangering us. We need an independent media, and you did the right thing.
But since you brought it up, what will the administration do to make up for killing 1600 of us over false accusations?
Nothing, because they know their constituency, and their constituency wants liars to kill Americans.
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